Ethics Based on the Development of Virtue - Essay Example

Ethics based on the development of virtue and Section # of The below essay discusses the ethics and virtue and their implications in the real world. First the definitions of ethics and morality are discussed, which is usually considered as the same and the ideas of Socrates and Aristotle are discussed. Socrates and Aristotle gave their clear views about the ethics and virtue and both of them agreed that the self-awareness is very important. People should know what they actually want and believe and this will help them a lot in choosing between right and wrong or good and bad. Ethics and Morality Ethics is a branch of philosophy and it includes the good demeanor, behavior and life. It not only comprises of the common conception of analyzing right and wrong, but also it gives the concept of "the good life", a life which is worth living and pleasing. And this is considered to be more important than the manners and behaviors. Though, both the terms have different meanings but are often used in a same way. And it is considered that ethics and morality is related to good and bad manners and behaviors. Socrates was one of the first Greek philosophers and he did a great work for mankind. According to him people should be well aware of the facts of life, hence they should attain self-knowledge, and after attaining self-knowledge, it will be easier and natural for them to do what is good and to avoid doing the wrong deeds. As he said that evil or ghastly actions are the result of ignorance and unawareness, even if a criminal or a sinner is really aware of the results of his actions and deeds, he would never ever do anything bad. And a person, who is aware of good and bad, tries to do the good things and always tries to stop doing the wrong and bad things. And Socrates associated knowledge with virtue, and virtue is directly associated with pleasure and happiness, a man, who truly knows the difference between right and wrong and is familiar with virtue will never do anything bad, and will always try to do good things which will make him happy and will add pleasure in his life (Sahakian, Ideas of the Great Philosophers. pp 32-33). Aristotle was a famous philosopher, and according to him, ethical system is "self-realizationism". He gave an idea that when a person acts according to his nature and his true self, then he will do well and will be happy with doing it. He said that unhappiness and frustration develops the unrealized potential or prospective of a person, and it further leads to the failure of achieving goals in life, which increases the frustration inside the man. He emphasized on the idea that every person acts in accordance with his or her nature and it is the only way to live a happy life, all the facilities of life and also the moral values are dependent on this. So the self-realization is more necessary and helps in other aspects of life. Like Socrates, he also emphasized on the self-awareness, which will make the person realize his true self and will help him in making decisions. And he said that man should not only live, but should live well with behaviors, which are directed by the moderate virtue, and the concept of virtue is same as given by the Socrates. "Virtue denotes doing the right thing, to the right person, at the right time, to the proper extent, in the correct fashion, for the right reason." (Sahakian, Ideas of the Great Philosophers. pp 32-33). Describing ethics in people behavior is not so difficult, because it is the way that people behave. People usually say that they think of the things, which are bad, and they know this properly. Despite knowing that the act is wrong, they will keep on doing it and will never realize that they are doing the same thing, which they think is wrong. For example, almost all the people agree that stealing is wrong and many people agree that it is a crime, but they still download hundreds of songs, in the format of .mp3, audio or even different images from the web, which is not legal and they download it without the permission of the owner. This is a type of stealing but people don't usually consider it as stealing and they will never admit that it is something unethical which they are doing. They are actually denying their own moral values and beliefs, which they think is right for them under certain circumstances. And it is understood that people do not even meet their own standard of ethics and moralities. Hypocrisy is another example, where double standards are observed and it is observed that people don't do the things, which they think is good, and never tries to avoid the acts, which they think is bad; they can only advice people about the good and the bad but they will never act upon it themselves, and will never adopt their own moral codes. People learn ethics at every age, it cannot be said that they will always act upon the ethics and morality, which they are taught in their childhood. When they grew up, they realized many new things and their moral principles changes with time and age. They get inspire with their teachers and with their surroundings, and also with the society. There are many things, which they might be hearing and considering wrong but they start doing it after some years. Media is another factor, which changes the moral principles of people. There are few things, which are important while discussing ethics and moral values. When someone does something wrong and he or she gets along with it fine, then they may not think it as unethical or there is chance that they will start thinking wrong acts at right time. For example, if a drunken driver reached home safely, it will be harder for anyone to believe that morality has something to do with it, he himself will believe that he did something wrong but it doesn't harmed him. And may be he will keep on doing it again and again until he put himself into trouble. Bibliography Alban McCoy, An Intelligent Guide to Christian Ethics. Baron M.W., (1995) Kantian Ethics Almost Without Apology USA: Cornell University Press. Baron M.W., Pettit P. and Slote M., (1997) Three Methods of Ethics GB: Blackwell Driver J., (2001) Uneasy Virtue Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Herman B., (1993) The Practice of Moral Judgement (Cambridge: Harvard University Press Hooker B., (2000) Ideal Code, Real World Oxford: Clarendon Press Nussbaum M., (1990) Love's Knowledge, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nussbaum M., (1986) The Fragility of Goodness Cambridge: Cambridge University Press O'Neill, "Kant's Virtues", in Crisp R. and Slote M., (1996) How Should One Live Oxford: Clarendon Press Sahakian, William S. & Sahakian, Mabel Lewis. (1993). Ideas of the Great Philosophers. pp 31-32. Barnes and Noble Books Statman D., (1993) Moral Luck USA: State University of New York Press. Read More