Philosophy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Running Head: Philosophy

 

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Discussion Question 1

A virtue is a characteristic in an individual, which makes that person admirable. It is another word for good behavior, conduct or morals. Virtue in a person is determined by their way of life. Virtuous people possess many good characteristics that govern their relationships with other people. Aristotle uses the word virtue to describe anything that works perfectly and refers to it as arête. According to him, a person has virtue when they are able to control themselves, including their emotions. Protagoras believed that every individual is virtuous in his or her own capacity and that there is nothing like absolute virtue. Socrates believed that virtue was in the way people lived with much focus on personal development and not material development (Chapman & Galston, 1992). In fact he asserted that the most important quality in a person was virtue. Another theorist, Kant displays virtue as a will in people which compels them to perform their duties.

Discussion Question 2

Care ethics are the theories that give emphasis to the necessity of relationships. Care ethics is usually based on feelings such as sympathy, happiness, remorse and so on (Slote, 2007). If these feelings never existed, then care ethics would also not be in existence. Reason also plays an important role in care ethics since ethical laws are derived from it. It makes clear the extent of morality. The ethical theories are mostly based on human reasoning.

Discussion Question 3

A. J. Ayer argues that there is nothing like objectivism. According to him, arguments that arise concerning ethical matters have other origins that are related to the ethics in other ways (Ayer & Griffiths, 1991). He claims that values are intentional entities, and that the terms commonly used to describe ethics such as poor, good, unattractive, beautiful are all meaningless in the real world. He refers to them as mere feelings.

Discussion Question 4

The ethical theory that makes the hardest demands is utilitarianism. This theory believes in the standard of utility, which puts into consideration the consequences of actions. Utilitarianisms support the adage that the end justifies the means. The best action to take is the one that will bring about good consequences to the majority. This is considered demanding because it is focused on making most of the people happy, irrespective of the consequences of the action on the individual.

The other demanding ethical theory is deontology. Deontology believes that an action is considered right based on any other feature, besides the consequence (Hill, 1950). It is mainly based on the aspect of fulfilling duties such that a person is considered ethical when they perform there duties. The outcome of these actions is not important. This is considered demanding, since it is the nature of human beings to think about consequences before doing any action.

Human beings are naturally ethical, because they all have the desire for good things. Everyone attempts to do well and make his or her environment better.

Discussion Question 5

Campbell asserts that morality cannot exist without freewill. He holds that every individual has the will to decide what to do when faced with a situation. Sartre on the other hand is of the idea that a person is what they do. Free will is within a person and it determines the actions of people as well as there personalities (Kane, 2002). The things that I do tell everything about me and are considered by other people as the freedom to choose my actions. This differs from Campbell’s idea in that Sartre’s idea of free will defines who a person is while that of Campbell only determines a person’s action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

Ayer, A. J., & Griffiths, A. P. (1991). A.J. Ayer memorial essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Chapman, J. W., & Galston, W. A. (1992). Virtue. New York, NY: New York University Press.

Hill, T. E. (1950). Contemporary ethical theories. New York, NY: Macmillan.

Kane, R. (2002). Free will. Blackwell readings in philosophy. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

Slote, M. A. (2007). The ethics of care and empathy. London, UK: Routledge.