...In this paper I want to focus on Virtue ethics and why I believe virtue ethics is the way to go when it comes down to personal and professional development in life and business. In personal/life development, virtue ethics transforms the paradigm of doing “what is right and wrong?” to a freedom of thinking in “what kind of person you are and does this action fit into what you are?”. Virtue ethics in personal development allows a dynamic way of thinking that allows a person to grow and learn that everything isn’t black and white as Kantian ethics suggest neither is it as dutiful as Utilitarian ethics. Virtue ethics in professional and business development allows for definition or a guiding light in a sense, in terms of question if your business is performing for your patients best interests if you’re in medicine or are you looking to provide a real solution for your prospects financial trouble and not stealing homes, if you’re in the buying real estate business. To explain and understand virtue ethics, you would first need to know Aristotle and understand his philosophies on virtuous society and what he considers virtuous behavior. Aristotle was an intelligent man being a student of Plato and teaching Alexander the Great. Aristotle’s written and spoken works were very serious and influential in subjects from logic to biology, meta physics to ethics and poetry that he was literally known to his colleagues as “The Philosopher”. With...
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...Virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics are all examples of morals and ethics and have their similarities and differences. In this paper the similarities and differences will be explored a personal experience shared. Virtue theory is how a person acts and does not take into consideration particular acts, rules, or consequences, the only consideration is if the person is acting morally or unmorally. Virtue theory is composed of three main ideas eudemonism, agent-based theories, and the ethics of care. Eudemonism is based in reasoning, agent-based theories are based in common sense and intuition, and ethics of care is solely based on justice and it should be noted as a primarily feminist idea. Utilitarianism is maximizing pleasure over pain not for only oneself but for the greatest number of people possible. Utilitarianism is often seen in a religious sense and can be attributed to the Christian teaching of Jesus Christ or the Buddhist teaching of the Buddha. Utilitarianism can also be seen as a hedonist as written about by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, since the act does not cause a negative effect for others. Utilitarianism’s main lesson is maximizing pleasure over pain, but can be interpreted in more than one way. Deontological ethics is basically making the correct moral choices; this can be seen through a religious spectrum as following the rules of the (Christian) church and doing the Lord God’s will. The person committing an act may...
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...Ethics and ethical theories: a road map for teaching ethics in business schools Joan Fontrodona (IESE Business School, Spain), Manuel Guillén (University of Valencia, Spain), and Alfredo Rodríguez-Sedano (University of Navarre, Spain) Introduction A three-dimensional framework to explain ethical theories Ethical approaches of business firms Teaching ethics experiences using this framework Discussion of the teaching experiences Conclusions References 1 2 6 9 10 12 13 Introduction This paper tries to contribute, in some way, to the urgent need recently warned by Benedict XVI: “the university, for its part, must never lose sight of its particular calling to be a "universitas" in which the various disciplines, each in its own way, are seen as part of a greater unum. How urgent is the need to rediscover the unity of knowledge and to counter the tendency to fragmentation and lack of communicability that is all too often the case in our schools!”1 This seems to be a challenge for both, Catholic and non-Catholic universities. The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical framework that helps to conceptualize ethics and to clarify the characteristics and limits of the different ethical theories. In other words, students without philosophical background will find here a synthetic “road map” of ethical approaches. This framework has been previously published in a book in Spain2. In this paper, authors will describe the model and discuss how it has been successfully tested...
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...but writers from Paper Masters have researched and found that Aristotle takes much of his notion on friendship from politics. Research papers on Aristotle's view of friendship looks at the philosophy of Aristotle and explicates how this philosophy boils down to politics and virtue in a man. Aristotle's treatment of friendship, including his definitions of friendship, is found within his work on ethics, the "Nicomachean Ethics." Friendship is included within his discussion of his general ethical theory. Aristotle bases his ethical theory on two constructs: Politics Virtue In most of the "Nicomachean Ethics," Aristotle discusses these two major subjects as separate subjects; or when they are discussed in relation to each other, they are discussed mostly with respect to what proportion of each is found in political activities or the conditions or state of a person's life. For instance, the more political an action is, the less virtuous it may be. And the more virtuous is an individual, the less he may be involved in the practical ends of politics. As mentioned earlier, friendship is a blending of politics and virtue; it can be looked at as an ideal blending. The Philosophy of Friendship According to Aristotle Friendship is included as a subject in term papers about Aristotle as a part of his general ethical theory because friendship has to do with the good which is the fundamental of the general ethical theory. As Aristotle begins the "Nicomachean Ethics," "Every art and...
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...Ethics ETH/316 University of Phoenix December 1, 2011 Ethics Ethical development is an important tool needed in today’s society. In this paper, the topic will discuss the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics. In addition this papers topic will address how each theory addresses ethics and morality in relation to the authors’ personal experiences with virtue, values, and moral concepts. Similarities and Differences in Ethics Theories To understand the similarities between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics the first order is to define the meaning of each. According to Boylan (2009), virtue theory has a definition of cultivating excellence in life and constituting an aspect of the “good person” (Boylan, 2009). Utilitarianism according to Boylan (2009),” is a theory that suggests that an action is morally right when that action produces more total utility for the group than any other alternative” (p. 153). Deontological ethics have a definition as an analysis of reason, this analysis position decisions based for the morally justified good. The similarities between the three theories represent the good in people and how they strive for excellence and justified good. The differences in the three theories begin with the ethics and morality. Virtue theory describes a person’s character, cultivating “excellence in all we do” (Boylan, 2009, p. 43). Striving for excellence can be challenging at times by...
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...Ethic Essay Virtue ethics is a choice of what the outcome will become. It would be the best choice for yourself even it would break a law or rule. It's what you believe in; that will benefit you after you realize it will cause you dearly also. It will also boost your morality. It's like breaking to a nightclub without paying the entrance fee and never got caught. For this situation, you can able to save the money and spend it on drinks instead of paying to enter only. Utilitarianism is a part of virtue ethics, and this could be a non-moral situation. It avoids suffering in which rightful or wrongful will be a result of some consequences. This ethics is for the greatness of numbers. It more relates to a religious-like Christianity. They decide to believe in happiness even it's against the religious law, and the consequences are not healthy. An example is to lie at to anyone to have happiness in life or for a better life. In medicine, it has its cure but will have its side effect. The cure is more important for most people than thinking about the side effect of the medicine. Deontological ethics is against utilitarianism. It's all about the rule in either they suffer or not the needs to follow. Following your duties is the correct moral rule. If you don't do your duty, you will be immorally behaving. Society and religion make their rules that need to be followed even it will have suffered. Some examples are food; we have to kill a living thing to live. These living things are...
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...and Accounting Professor Gates February 12, 2013 In this paper, I am going to discuss the philosopher Aristotle. This paper will discuss how Aristotle perspective of distributive justice is applicable to ethics. Also, I will discuss Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics philosophy, why it is valuable and how it potentially connects to accounting and business. There have been many excellent philosophers and thinkers through past time. There are three main ones that I liked and truly had an accountant and business ethics philosophy. They are Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. I decided to choose Aristotle as the greatest of them all on this subject. Aristotle was a student of Plato, and he possessed extraordinarily strong ethics. Aristotle born in northern Greece. He was a notable product of an educational program devised by Plato. He studied at an academy for twenty years. His view on individual human beings is they invariably linked together in a social context. Aristotle disagreed with Plato’s view but defended his own vision of ultimate reality. According to Britannica.com, he was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, one of the greatest intellectual figures of Western history. He had a wide and a vast range of intellectual pieces. He was the founder of formal logic and the most outstanding as a philosopher among many. This paper will discuss how Aristotle philosopher’s perspective of virtue ethics is applicable to ethical practices in business and accounting....
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...Ethics Comparisons and Similarities ETH/316 December 18, 2012 Abstract This paper will identify similarities and differences between the virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics. This paper will also highlight how each theory addresses ethics and morality differently. In this paper, personal experience will be used to explain the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts as they relate to one of the three principles. Ethics Comparisons and Similarities Virtue is referred to as a character ethic. It theorizes that in the life we live we should try to cultivate excellence in everything that we do as well as in everything that others do. In fact, the Greek word for “virtue” translates to “excellence.” Virtues are considered to be both moral and non-moral (Boylan, 2009). Morally, what makes a good person? (Boylan, 2009). Non-morally, what does a person do to be the best he or she can be? As a personal example I am reminded of my youth during middle school and high school. As a student and participant in concert band and marching band, I would practice and continuously train myself to be a better musician. The more I practiced the music the correct way, the better I became. I strove for excellence. This is a good non-moral example. Utilitarianism is a theory that means an action is morally right when that action produces more total utility for a group than any other alternative (Boylan, 2009). As an example...
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...Joseph Krois Philosophy paper 1 PHIL 1110 Ethics Instructor Bearden A case for Virtue Ethics In this paper I will write about virtue ethics, a normative moral theory that emphasizes moral virtues, or character in contrast to following rules or duties (deontology) or that emphasizes the consequences of actions (consequentialiasm). Plato, and perhaps more famously, Aristotle laid out the teachings and characteristics of virtue ethics which was the preeminent school of thought in western philosophy until the enlightenment. After a brief period of relative obscurity virtue ethics reemerged in the late 1950's as the dominant form of moral philosophy in Anglo-American culture. The defining characteristics of virtue ethics over other normative theories is the concepts of practical wisdom, virtuous character traits, and eudamonia which roughly translates to 'flourishing' or 'well being'(Vaughn pg 134). In essence virtue ethics asks the question, 'who should I be?' rather than 'what should I do?'. Because our actions cannot be determined by one set of overarching rules, nor can the outcome of action and therefore its goodness truly be predicted prior to the commitance of the action, it is my belief that virtue ethics is the most practical, and therefore useful theory of moral philosophy. How virtue ethics help us determine right and wrong action is through the development of good character traits, such as honesty, empathy, kindess etc...
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...Ethics Many people have different assumptions of what ethics is or what ethics is about. The dictionary says that ethics are a system of a moral principle and morals is what we consider to be principles of wrong or right conduct. Ethically some people believe this requires he or she to have a reason and justification for what he or she believes (Weber, 2008). This paper will compare the similarities and differences between virtue, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics theory’s with a description of differences in how each address ethics and morality. With a personal experience that will explain the relationship between virtue, values, and moral beliefs as they relate to one of the three theories. Virtue Theory Similarities between virtue, utilitarianism, and deontological theory’s are they all recognize and support justice and responsibility towards ethics and a standard of action. Virtue focuses on what he or she should choose as their own personal innermost behavior or character and not solely on what customs or laws of a person’s culture are. When his or her character is good, then his or her choices or actions are good ("Virtue Ethics", 2009-2011). Utilitarianism This is an ethical structure that is steered toward outcomes and the results of actions. Making decisions and taking some sort of action that would benefit others by doing something good to the best of one’s ability and preventing anything bad from happening. Goals, results,...
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...People often ask questions like, “what should I do?” or “How should I act?” However, the fundamental questions that define ethics allow individuals to evaluate the moral principles behind the rationalization of their actions. Three forms of ethics come to mind and they are virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics. Each has differences, which distinguish one from the other, a point this paper will advocate to readers. In addition, this paper explains and addresses each theory in conjunction to ethics and morality, in addition to the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts as they relate to each theory. Virtue Theory One of the principles reading into the virtue theory is excellence. Virtue theorizes that when living life, it aims to excelling in everything an individual does. When judging based on this theory, an individual bases their judgment on the exceedingly excellence of others actions. Boylan, 2009 states, “It takes the viewpoint that living your life you should try to cultivate excellence in all that you do and all that others do” (p. 133). In other words, virtue ethics aligns to the absolute good and emphasizes rationalization on the results of their actions that is likely to bring absolute good (Boylan, 2009, p. 62). A virtue theorist may ask what traits and dispositions enable them to act in a way that develops this potential. The answer is attitudes and dispositions that define an individual’s character that consist of traits...
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...Ethics Essay ETH/316 Kevin Forsberg Ethics Essay Ethics are a set of moral principles that guide a person’s behavior and are shaped by social norms, cultural practices and one’s religious upbringing. Ethics are beliefs that help direct people to know what is right and wrong, good or bad in terms of human behavior. There are many different theories that involve ethics such as virtue theory, utilitarianism and deontological. These theories have many similarities as well as differences. Virtue Theory Virtue is character traits that make up a moral life such as honesty, compassion, courage, unselfishness, integrity and generosity. According to Plato’s writings, the four ultimate virtues are justice, wisdom, courage and temperance. (Monroe & Till, 2013). The virtue theory judges a person by their character. It takes into consideration their morals and reputation. For example when writing a paper and a passage in the paper is plagiarized. If an instructor personally knows the student and their character, which is someone who normally follows the rules and is in good standing with the university, the instructor may be more willing to question the student as to what happened rather than give an automatic bad grade. However if the student is one who has been on academic probation before or is not in good standing with the university, the instructor may give the grade automatically. This example also shows the weakness...
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...University of phoenix | Ethics Essay | ETH/316 | | Crystal Burrell | 2/20/2013 | . | How do people in society make decisions when faced with obstacles in life on a daily basis? Do people tend to choose what is right or what is easy and convenient no matter if it may be wrong in the end? This paper will discuss the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontology ethics. This paper will also explore descriptions of the differences in how each theory addresses ethics and morality. This paper will als0 give a personal reflection of how virtue ethics and moral concepts and how they relate to one of the three theories. These three theories together have a common similarity that they all deal with how an individual judges morality and ethics and how they obtain results. These theories work toward what may be the best result based in what the individual believes the best result may be. The difference between these theories is that an individual will make decisions based on what seems to best at the moment or best for the future. Virtue ethics deals with how a person strives for excellence, performs duties, and advances the traits that others would admire. Utilitarianism is how an individual makes decisions based on the best results. Deontology is when a person makes decisions based on what they think is morally correct but not based on the results for the majority of the people but the well-being of the individual. These theories...
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...Ethics Ethical development is an important tool needed in today’s society. In this paper, the topic will discuss the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics. In addition this papers topic will address how each theory addresses ethics and morality in relation to the authors’ personal experiences with virtue, values, and moral concepts. Similarities and Differences in Ethics Theories To understand the similarities between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics the first order is to define the meaning of each. According to Boylan (2009), virtue theory has a definition of cultivating excellence in life and constituting an aspect of the “good person” (Boylan, 2009). Utilitarianism according to Boylan (2009),” is a theory that suggests that an action is morally right when that action produces more total utility for the group than any other alternative” (p. 153). Deontological ethics have a definition as an analysis of reason, this analysis position decisions based for the morally justified good. The similarities between the three theories represent the good in people and how they strive for excellence and justified good. The differences in the three theories begin with the ethics and morality. Virtue theory describes a person’s character, cultivating “excellence in all we do” (Boylan, 2009, p. 43). Striving for excellence can be challenging at times by deciding what is the most choice worthy decision in life. Utilitarianism...
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...Team Ethics Paper July 27, 2013 MGTOP593 Section 3 Team 4 Normative Ethical Decision Making Frameworks 1. Utilitarian approach is an ethical theory stating that the rightness and wrongness of an act depends on the consequences the act produces not the act itself. There are four components of the utilitarian approach: 1) the act does not need to maximize benefits but rather focuses on utility, 2) when calculating benefits, utilitarian’s consider themselves equally with others in the equation, 3) utilitarian’s focus on long-term consequences in addition to the short-term benefit-harm ratio. According to utilitarianism an act is not moral only because its benefits outweighs its harm, instead one where utility i.e. satisfaction has been maximized. (Frederick, 1999, pp. 17-19) 2. Unlike the utilitarian approach, the Virtue ethics approach does not take into account the principles of the action, the action itself, or the consequences of the action, rather focusing on the values and moral character of the person performing the act. Characteristics are the personal virtues. (Frederick, p. 30) The shortcomings of virtue ethics are its inability to solve the problem of dilemma when a person has contradictory values. Second, the justification problem, because every culture has different virtues how do you justify which character traits are virtues. (Hursthouse, 2013) 3. Deontological ethics approach judges the morality of an action based on expectations from the person based...
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