Eth/316 Ethics Research Paper
Ethics Essay
Rebekah Stovall
Prof. Scott Sowers
ETH 316
June 27, 2012
In this essay it is required to compare and contrast the similarities and the differences between three major ethical viewpoints or theories. The three that will be explained are virtue theory, utilitarianism and deontological ethics. Since its revival in the twentieth century, virtue ethics have been broadly termed for a theory that focuses on the role of character and virtue in moral judgment. Most virtue ethics theories take their inspiration from Aristotle who said that a virtuous person is anyone who has ideal or good character traits. This theory judges a person on their character rather than an action that at some times maybe different from their normal behavior. …show more content…
The utilitarian’s believe that the main thing that make an act morally right or wrong can be based on the consequences being beneficial. An ethics of virtue is based on the general idea or principle that a morally right act is the moral decision of what a virtuous person would do in any given situation. This is the key difference in utilitarianism and virtue ethics. The deontological theory says that people should stick to their obligations and duties when analyzing an ethical dilemma. They believe that a person should follow their own responsibilities to any other person as well as to society because doing what you are obligated to do is deemed morally right and ethically correct. Virtue ethics describes that the character is the moral force for the ethical behavior rather than rules of deontological and utilitarianisms. The difference between these three views is that the morality seems to depend more on the way the moral issues are approached than in the moral conclusion
Rebekah Stovall
Prof. Scott Sowers
ETH 316
June 27, 2012
In this essay it is required to compare and contrast the similarities and the differences between three major ethical viewpoints or theories. The three that will be explained are virtue theory, utilitarianism and deontological ethics. Since its revival in the twentieth century, virtue ethics have been broadly termed for a theory that focuses on the role of character and virtue in moral judgment. Most virtue ethics theories take their inspiration from Aristotle who said that a virtuous person is anyone who has ideal or good character traits. This theory judges a person on their character rather than an action that at some times maybe different from their normal behavior. …show more content…
The utilitarian’s believe that the main thing that make an act morally right or wrong can be based on the consequences being beneficial. An ethics of virtue is based on the general idea or principle that a morally right act is the moral decision of what a virtuous person would do in any given situation. This is the key difference in utilitarianism and virtue ethics. The deontological theory says that people should stick to their obligations and duties when analyzing an ethical dilemma. They believe that a person should follow their own responsibilities to any other person as well as to society because doing what you are obligated to do is deemed morally right and ethically correct. Virtue ethics describes that the character is the moral force for the ethical behavior rather than rules of deontological and utilitarianisms. The difference between these three views is that the morality seems to depend more on the way the moral issues are approached than in the moral conclusion