Aristotle had a few theories of ethics. Aristotle believed that one attains happiness by living a virtuous life and through the development of reason and the faculty of theoretical wisdom. He believed that moral virtue is a relative mean between extremes of excess and deficiency and in general the moral life is one of moderation in all things except virtue. He believed that virtuous acts require conscious choice and moral purpose or motivation. Finally‚ he believed that moral virtue cannot be achieved
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ETHICAL THEORIES 1. Utilitarianism The utilitarian ethical theory is founded on the ability to predict the consequences of an action. To a utilitarian‚ the choice that yields the greatest benefit to the most people is the choice that is ethically correct. One benefit of this ethical theory is that the utilitarian can compare similar predicted solutions and use a point system to determine which choice is more beneficial for more people. This point system provides a logical and rationale argument
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Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics The philosophy of virtue ethics‚ which primarily deals with the ways in which a person should live‚ has puzzled philosophers from the beginning of time. There are many contrasting interpretations regarding how one should live his or her life in the best way possible. It is in my opinion that the Greeks‚ especially Aristotle‚ have exhibited the most logical explanation of how to live the "good life". The following paper will attempt to offer a detailed understanding
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discussed at length within the thesis provides abundant evidence for strong similarities in Aristotle and Confucius’s outlooks concerning ethics. Emerging from the point that both of their works can be classified as examples of virtue ethics and building upon the numerous areas of convergence between them too it is clear that both Aristotelian and Confucian virtue ethics can be discussed in terms with each other and are not exclusionary of the ideas or concepts‚ nor the internal workings‚ of the other
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ethical theories that ethicists use to make decisions. If an alien civilization were to come to Earth and offer a cure for all human diseases‚ but would only do it if they were allowed to choose 10‚000 involuntary human subjects for experiments that were most likely harmful‚ different theories would offer different explanations of why they think this situation is morally right or wrong. Two important theories that ethicists could use to help them make this decision are Ethical Relativism and Utilitarianism
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Ethics Essay ETH/316 May 28th‚ 2012 Ethics Essay There are many differences and similarities between ethical theories‚ such as virtue‚ utilitarianism‚ and deontological ethics. In this paper you will find more differences than similarities‚ as each theory has a definite characteristic to in that defines it. Along with that you will also find some similarities on how they connect thru morals. Utilitarianism is my favorite‚ because it is defined as putting the good of other people before
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Outline the theory of Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is the theory that an action is better if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number. The 18th and 19th century saw rise to the theory of Utilitarianism which can be traced back to Jeremy Bentham. Francis Hutcheson put forward the initial principle of Utilitarianism ’The greatest happiness of the greatest number’. Utilitarianism is a teleological theory where depending on the consequences of the action‚ that action will either be good
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In this essay‚ with all the information I have gathered from the readings and lectures‚ I will be discussing an essential concept of Aristotle’s virtue ethics; his “doctrine of the mean”. I will provide a detailed explanation of Aristotle’s mean‚ how it is meant to be applied when making decisions‚ provide arguments from various sources that agree with the main concept of the “doctrine of the mean” and with all of the information gathered‚ I will prove that this doctrine is extremely useful to people
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Due to the many ethical issues surrounding free samples of medications‚ they should not be prescribed to the uninsured or underinsured. The basic principle underlying utilitarianism ethics is an action is right or moral if it maximizes utility or happiness. Very simply‚ happiness can be explained as an absence of pain. The patient in this scenario receiving the free drug sample will not only be upset about the quality of care but also of the quality of medicine he or she is receiving. Moreover‚ no
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Strengths and Weaknesses Of Virtue Ethics The virtue ethicist suggests that this theory avoids the complicated tasks of using a formula to figure out what we should do‚ by instead focusing on the kinds of persons we sould be. The problem lies in determining how we know what kinds of persons we should be. How are we to determine just what the virtues are? If we don’t know what the virtues are‚ then telling people to live virtuously would be ignorant. The virtues are whatever character
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