They enable us to pursue the ideals we have adopted. "Virtues" are attitudes, dispositions, or character traits that enable us to be and to act in ways that develop this potential. These ideals are discovered through thoughtful reflection on what we as human beings have the potential to become.
#Aristotle on intellectual virtues and vices list full#
In other words, the fundamental question of ethics is not "What should I do?" but "What kind of person should I be?"Īccording to "virtue ethics", there are certain ideals, such as excellence or dedication to the common good, toward which we should strive and which allow the full development of our humanity. These ethicists point our that by focusing on what people should do or how people should act, the "moral principles approach" neglects the more important issue-what people should be. Fortunately, this obsession with principles and rules has been recently challenged by several ethicists who argue that the emphasis on principles ignores a fundamental component of ethics-virtue. These centers are designed to examine the implications moral principles have for our lives.īut are moral principles all that ethics consists of? Critics have rightly claimed that this emphasis on moral principles smacks of a thoughtless and slavish worship of rules, as if the moral life was a matter of scrupulously checking our every action against a table of do's and don'ts. In the last decade, dozens of ethics centers and programs devoted to "business ethics", "legal ethics", "medical ethics", and "ethics in public policy" have sprung up. We also apply them when we ask what they require of us as professionals, e.g., lawyers, doctors, or business people, or what they require of our social policies and institutions. We "apply" them by asking what these principles require of us in particular circumstances, e.g., when considering whether to lie or to commit suicide.
Moral principles like these focus primarily on people's actions and doings.
Many people, for example, read passionate adherents of the moral principle of utilitarianism: "Everyone is obligated to do whatever will achieve the greatest good for the greatest number." Others are just as devoted to the basic principle of Immanuel Kant: "Everyone is obligated to act only in ways that respect the human dignity and moral rights of all persons." For many of us, the fundamental question of ethics is, "What should I do?" or "How should I act?" Ethics is supposed to provide us with "moral principles" or universal rules that tell us what to do.
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