Assess The Difference Between Virtue Ethics And Ethical Egoism

Ethics is the study of how people should live. People have many different beliefs and views of how they're supposed to live their life. People from all over the globe have different ethical beliefs and different ways to differentiate which beliefs are right and which are wrong. Virtue ethics and Ethical egoism are two of many types of theories. Here I will be talking about the similarities and differences between Virtue ethics and Ethical egoism. Ethical egoism was introduced by the philosopher Henry Sedgwick. He wrote his own book which is called “The Methods of Ethics”. Henry states that there are three different types of categories which are divided into individual, personal, and universal. Ethical egoists argue that everyone should act
I feel that people really do what’s in their personal best interest on a daily basis. People are naturally being told to worry about themselves, before they worry about anyone else from the minute we are raised as children. Generally, people are not comfortable with the idea of always putting themselves first. For example, if your house is on fire the moral choice using ethical egoism is to preserve yourself first, which is not always something that everyone likes to do. Another example, let’s say you’re a child who’s walking on the side walk with your mom who’s on an important phone call. You see a homeless person who’s begging for money, and naturally as a child you say “mommy can I give him a dollar?” In most cases, the mom would say no honey you don’t talk to strangers, and walk away. The mother in most of these situations was looking out for her own best interest, and her child’s best interest, by not giving money to the homeless person. How you ask? Most mothers in this case would think that the homeless person could possibly grab the child or even the mother herself, and put the two of them in possible danger. In this example specifically, it is shown how people will think about themselves in situations and what’s best for them rather than what’s best for someone else by putting themselves first. I feel that in many
These two theories define so many of us every day and it’s so interesting to apply these theories to certain people that I know. The purpose of this paper was to outline the two theories of my choice, Ethical egoism and Virtue ethics. The discussion of ethics provides an understanding of human behavior and decision making. The examination of ethics in this paper reveals the crucial component which moral principles play in society. Each and every person has to be aware how our actions affect people directly or indirectly. Personal and professional ethics influence each other and provide an indication of individual character. Our actions and decisions in any type of situation defines how our society views us. We must learn to be mindful about how other people view us and our decisions we make as well as our actions. Negative ethical decision making are noticed more frequently and provide a basis for judgment rather than a positive ethical decision. Each and every individual has the responsibility to make the right decision and moral choice each time an ethical situation