...Jonathan Aguilera 10/25/14 Ethics PHI 151 851 Virtue Ethics “Virtue ethics is currently one of three major approaches in normative ethics. It may, initially, be identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to the approach in which emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that which emphasizes the consequences of actions (consequentialism). Suppose it is obvious that someone in need should be helped. A utilitarian will point to the fact that the consequences of doing so will maximize well-being, a deontologist to the fact that, in doing so the agent will be acting in accordance with a moral rule such as “Do unto others as you would be done by” and a virtue ethicist to the fact that helping the person would be charitable or benevolent” (Stanford). Virtue ethics has a variety of arguments for and against as well as weaknesses and strengths when compared to other moral philosophies. Some strength include promoting happiness, flourishing, and harmony, while weaknesses entail issues when dealing with laws, various conflicting virtues, as well as religious objections. All moral philosophies that have been discussed thus far have included arguments for and against the said philosophy and virtue ethics is no different. Strengths included in virtue ethics include promoting happiness. By practicing moral virtues we can attain a state of eudaimonia (Pojman). Moral virtues usually lie between vices of two corresponding vices, on of excess and...
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...Affirmative Action The intention of this paper is to make a real argument against the performance of affirmative action using logical arguments ethical theories, and perspectives. This paper will examine in what way a Utilitarian, Deontologist, Virtue Ethicist, Relativist and an Ethical Egoist would debate against the use of affirmative action. The case will be made by demonstrating why this practice is unquestionably unethical and discriminatory. Affirmative action is frequently used to give subgroups a benefit when applying for jobs, colleges or other organizations. In some cases, companies are financially incentivized to be racially diverse and in other instances extra points are given for test results. The result of these practices enables candidates, which could be less experienced to satisfy a position, to be chosen in order to achieve minority quotas. Affirmative action was passed to push back opposed to racism after segregation was viewed unlawful in order to get the government and employers to employ minorities; however, it is twisted by issues. In order to comprehend how an ethical perspective or theory would deal with affirmative action, it is necessary to first comprehend the view or approach. Utilitarianism is acknowledged as an important ethical theory, which only means that it centers on the expected result of an act, instead of the principles of the act itself or the agent involved in the action. The Utilitarian may endorse using the motto, “the ends justify...
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...EXAM PAPER Ethics in Business and Society Exam Paper 2015-2016 Exam duration: 1.5 hours Answer ONE of the following FOUR questions. All questions have been written deliberately to direct you to answer using virtue ethics. You must demonstrate your knowledge of this ethical framework and the principles you are using to inform your answer and show how they are relevant in each case. 1. You work for an under-water exploration company. Your dearest friend is on exercises in a company submersible and there has been an explosion while the submersible is under the sea carrying out tests. Your friend is in an air locker, isolated from 20 crew. If the air locker is flooded the 20 crew will be saved but your closest companion will die. There is a slim chance that everyone can be rescued but it will take four hours - and if that attempt fails the ship will be so damaged that all the crew will be lost. Use virtue ethical theory to decide whether to kill your loved one to save 20 lives, or of taking a risk by waiting, knowing that you could perhaps save all 21 people or perhaps cause all their deaths. 2. ‘A listed company’s duty is to its shareholders and only to its shareholders’. Discuss this statement, using virtue ethical theory to argue for and against this statement. 3. As you sit in the exam room writing your answer to a question, you look up and see that a class-mate is looking at notes they have hidden up their sleeves. This is not only breaking the rule...
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...Hume’s Ethics Contents 1. Introduction 2. Hume’s ethics as an emotive theory of ethics 3. Conclusion 4. Bibliography David Hume is an outstanding Scottish philosopher of the 18th century whose views has a significant impact on the following generations of thinkers throughout the world. His sceptical arguments concerning induction, causation and especially religion, including his famous thesis that human knowledge arises only from sense experience and not from rational judgments, shaped the 19th and 20th century empiricist philosophy. His famous saying that ‘reason is the slave of the passions’ is a cornerstone of his ethical views largely explains the emotive character of his ethics. Hume’s ethics as an emotive theory of ethics In his works David Hume paid a lot of attention to ethical and moral problems he wanted to discuss these issues and presented his own particular views. At this respect it is worth to mention his moral theory basically depicted in Book 3 of the Treatise, titled “Of Morals”. The author basically discusses the principle issue of his ethics whether moral distinctions are derived from reason. To put it more precisely David Hume discusses the question concerning whether human moral approval is a rational judgment about conceptual relations and facts or an emotional response. On analysing such a dilemma, Hume arrives to the conclusion that it is rather an emotional response that has little, if has any at all, in common with reason. Moreover, it is necessary...
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...CHAPTER SUMMARY – CHAPTER 1 – ETHICS IN THE WORLD OF BUSINESS Frequently, the ethically correct course of action is clear, and people in business act accordingly. Exceptions occur when there is uncertainty about ethical obligations in particular situations or when considerations of ethics come into conflict with the practical demands of business. In deciding on an ethical course of action, we can rely to some extent on the rules of right conduct that we employ in everyday life. However, business activity also has some features that might limit the applicability of our ordinary ethical views. One distinguishing feature of business is its economic character which can be summarized as the conduct of buyers and seller and employers and employees. A second distinguishing feature of business is that it typically takes place in organizations which is a hierarchical system of functionally defined positions designed to achieve some goal or set of goals. Because business involves economic relations and transactions that take place in markets and also in organizations, it raises ethical issues for which the ethics of everyday life has not prepared us. Decisions making occurs on several distinct levels: the level of the individual, the organization, and the business system. The level of the individual represents situations that confront them in the workplace and require them to make a decision about their own well-being. The level of the organization can be identified...
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...Threats on Virtue Ethics Situationist theories is now known to pose a threat on to virtue ethics like Aristotle’s. Aristotle’s theory is very simple and straight forward, once people have the ‘right’ or ‘proper’ virtues, with practice it will never change. In this paper I am going to argue against Aristotelian ethics because people do not always keep their virtues in certain situations. Aristotle claims that once a virtue is learned, ‘come to light’, practice and lived by, the person practicing it will never change it. Aristotelian ethics is the practice of virtues, a median between the two vices that is “right”, also known as virtue ethics. Once someone finds the correct balance or the golden median between the extremes, vices, it becomes a virtue once practiced. This is something someone can practice and it becomes habit. Once done enough, it becomes who you are, the very thing you stand for and “will never change”. An Aristotelian argument would go something like this: (P1) A golden mean is practiced. (P2) Golden mean becomes a virtue. (P3) Virtue is something that is never broken. (C1)Virtue is practiced and never broken no matter the situation. This is where I do not agree, “Will never change”. I will provide an example of what I perceive as virtue ethics. This can be related to boot camp. Kids go to boot camp because they are misbehaving, or not acting the way their parents think they should. They don’t value the right things, they have no virtues. Once at boot...
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...Part A (a): Ethical dilemma The ethical dilemma that Kate faces is whether to report the potential milk contamination to the Queensland Food Safety Authority (FSA). Ethical Egoism Under ethical egoism, Kate would follow Ben’s decision and not pursue the milk contamination issue further. Kate’s main self-interest is that she keeps her job at the restaurant to provide for her family and fund her university degree. Therefore, upholding Ben’s self-interest of not saying anything, will not only ensure Kate her job, it may also result in her being seen as more trustworthy and loyal to the restaurant owners. Hence, Kate not saying anything is justified under egoism. Utilitarianism To solve a dilemma under utilitarianism, all the positives and negatives must be evaluated in order to ascertain what will give the greatest good. The following are positives and negative if Kate chooses not to alert authorities of the contamination. Positives: Kate’s job will be safe as Ben threatened her that she may be fired if she pursues the matter. Ben and the restaurant owner would be pleased as any bad publicity associated with the restaurant could severely affect business. Bad publicity may also force employees to become retrenched, including Kate and the close friends she has made at her work. Furthermore, the risk that anyone has contaminated milk is miniscule, and lastly, FSA inspectors won’t disrupt Service because they won’t be called out. Negatives: Innocent members of the community...
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...Pornography & Its Ethical Issues SOC 120 Introduction to Ethics & Social Responsibility February 3, 2014 Many argue that pornography is degrading, and believed that it denigrates women and in some cases even men. Feminists argue that it’s harmful to society promoting rape, violence, and sex discrimination. Pornography is often seen by others as an erotic art that has been around for thousands of years. Technology today makes access to pornography very easy by video, text, and the internet. Pornography raises many moral questions, but mainly, are pornographic materials morally offensive or not? The ethical issues pertaining to pornography are abundant, considering protecting personal privacy, computer crimes, materialism and cultural expansionism. Anti-pornographic believe that it’s immoral and that pornography should be censor. Pro-pornographic, believe to be education and inspirational, and argue that by taking away the constitutional rights are begging violated. Even though there are many different opinions about pornography, does not seem to be an accurate definition. Some argue that porn is violent, portrays unequal power in sexual relations and showing that many of its acts are judged as immoral. What does pornography mean in the dictionary? Pornography stems from the Greek word porno, meaning prostitutes and the word graphos meaning writing. Pornography is defined to include the definition of actual sexual contact, meaning hard core, and portrayal...
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...Search the SEP • Advanced Search • Tools • Random Entry Table of Contents • What's New • Archives • Projected Contents Editorial Information • About the SEP • Editorial Board • How to Cite the SEP • Special Characters Support the SEP • PDFs for SEP Friends • Make a Donation • SEPIA for Libraries Contact the SEP SEP logo © Metaphysics Research Lab, CSLI, Stanford University Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Open access to the SEP is made possible by a world-wide funding initiative. Please Read How You Can Help Keep the Encyclopedia Free Author & Citation Info | Friends PDF Preview | InPho Search | PhilPapers Bibliography Kant and Hume on Morality First published Wed Mar 26, 2008; substantive revision Sun Aug 12, 2012 The ethics of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) is often contrasted with that of David Hume (1711–1776). Hume's method of moral philosophy is experimental and empirical; Kant emphasizes the necessity of grounding morality in a priori principles. Hume says that reason is properly a “slave to the passions,” while Kant bases morality in his conception of a reason that is practical in itself. Hume identifies such feelings as benevolence and generosity as proper moral motivations; Kant sees the motive of duty—a motive that Hume usually views as a second best or fall back motive—as uniquely expressing an agent's commitment to morality and thus as conveying a special moral worth to actions. Although there are many points at which Kant's and Hume's ethics...
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...Euthanasia faces ethical problems that question’s the caregivers medical integrity, the common argument that God is the only one can take someone’s life, and the fact that it is considered murder. I will discuss which one of the three classical theories would resolve these problems, as well as discuss one out of three contrary perspectives. We don’t want to see our love ones suffer just as much as we do not want to see some one end their life. A decision that is life threating with any decision that is made. There are three classical theories in ethics that describes the reasoning behind ones actions or thought process. Those theories are utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics. The theory that would resolve the problem of euthanasia would be that of virtue ethics. “Virtue Ethics is an ethical theory that evaluates the morality of the person doing a given act, rather than the act itself. Virtue ethics thus emphasizes that the various virtues and whether a person reflects those virtues in his or her actions are crucial to moral evaluation” Mosser (2010). Where some believe that this will help to end the pain and suffering of ones agony to continue on with an unwanted life due to drastic symptoms of a fatal disease. This would be the reason given from a patient so that their physician can administer euthanasia and complete the request of the victim. The physician using a virtue ethics theory would be one who believes in helping others. A person with this theoretical belief...
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...Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a teleological form of ethics which promotes the action which will achieve the greatest net total happiness (Barnes, 1971). This action is usually identified through a consequential theory analysis – by identifying stakeholders, and their relevant utility payoffs from each action available. Whichever action results in the greatest net happiness, is the action that should be taken (Barnes, 1971). Samantha is the first stakeholder identified from the case. Samantha’s life and general well-being, along with her life-savings invested in the business are at stake, depending on Nathan’s decision. If Nathan is to tell Samantha of the unethical actions of Beth, Beth will be sacked and will face even greater financial hardship, thus Beth is also a key stakeholder. The customers are also stakeholders. If Nathan does not tell Samantha, prices will increase – negatively impacting customers. The final key stakeholder identified is Nathan. If Samantha finds that Beth has been stealing, and Nathan did not report this - Samantha will lose trust in Nathan and he will be considered a disloyal employee. The consequential analysis has been displayed in the table below, listing the stakeholders and their consequential payoffs if Nathan chooses to tell, or not tell Samantha of Beth’s wrong-doing. Each unit represents one utility point on a scale of -10 to 10 units of happiness. Through the consequential analysis of the stakeholders identified, and their relevant...
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...HCE 430: Healthcare Ethics Regis University October 10, 2012 Introduction To die with dignity should be a given. Death will present itself to everyone eventually and presumably no one in their right mind would choose not to die with dignity. That being said why is it that so many people who would choose to die a good death are no allowed to. For some people no death is a good death, but that is silly because as everyone knows death is inevitable. No one can escape this fact. The controversy herein lies within the circumstances people who are suffering or lingering with a terminal illness that debilitates them such that they have no quality of life are not afforded the comfort of dying with dignity. It seems that this high merit is available to our beloved pets, but not our beloved family members. Aunt Bessie is forced to endure unrelenting pain from here incurable pancreatic cancer. No amount of pain medication is available to treat her pain and allow her to maintain consciousness. She knows her time is limited and she does not feel she should have to wait out the inevitable in such a terrible state. At the same time the family pet Bassett hound is found to have a mass in her intestines. She cannot eat and barely moves as she is in so much pain. The veterinarian has given the option of putting her to sleep or euthanizing her to put her out of her misery as she is suffering so. This sits well with most people. Aunt Bessie requesting euthanization though is out of the...
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...“The moral view that everyone ought always to do those acts that will best serve his or her own best self-interest.” (Pojman & Fieser page87) It is contrasted with altruism, “an unselfish regard of concern for others”. This essay will explain the relation between psychological egoism and ethical egoism. It will examine how someone who believes in psychological egoism explains the apparent instances of altruism. It will also discuss some arguments in favor of universal ethical egoism, and exam Pojman's critique of arguments for and against universal ethical egoism. Psychological egoism, a descriptive claim about human nature, states that humans by nature are motivated only by self-interest. To act in one's self-interest is to act mainly for one's own good and loving what is one's own (i.e. ego, body, family, house, belongings in general). It means to give one's own interests higher priority than others'. "It (psychological egoism) claims that we cannot do other than act from self-interest motivation, so that altruism-the theory that we can and should sometimes act in favor of others' interests-is simply invalid because it's impossible" (Pojman 85). According to psychological egoists, any act no matter how altruistic it might seem, is actually motivated by some selfish desire of the agent (i.e., desire for reward, avoidance of guilt, personal happiness). For someone who believes in psychological egoism, it is difficult to find an action that would be acknowledged...
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...ETHICS Revision Summary Notes Revision Notes Foundation for the Study of Religion Part One: Philosophy of Religion Plato and the Forms Influence of Socrates • Socrates said that virtue is knowledge – to know what is right is to do what is right. • All wrongdoing is the result of ignorance – nobody chooses to do wrong deliberately. • Therefore, to be moral you must have true knowledge. The problem of the One and the Many Plato was trying to find a solution to the problem that although there is underlying stability in the world (sun comes up every morning), it is constantly changing (you never step into the same river twice). 1. An old theory about this problem is that we gain all knowledge from our senses – empirically. 2. Plato disagreed with this. He said that because the world is constantly changing, our senses cannot be trusted. Plato illustrated his idea in the dialogue, ‘Meno’: Socrates sets a slave boy a mathematical problem. The slave boy knows the answer, yet he has not been taught maths. Plato suggests that the slave boy remembers the answer to the problem, which has been in his mind all along. So, according to Plato, we don't learn new things, we remember them. In other words, knowledge is innate. Plato’s Theory of the Forms Plato believed that the world was divided into: 1. Reality and; 2. Appearance |REALITY |APPEARANCE | |An intelligible...
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...Ethics The field of ethics (or moral philosophy) involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. Philosophers today usually divide ethical theories into three general subject areas: metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. Metaethics investigates where our ethical principles come from, and what they mean. Are they merely social inventions? Do they involve more than expressions of our individual emotions? Metaethical answers to these questions focus on the issues of universal truths, the will of God, the role of reason in ethical judgments, and the meaning of ethical terms themselves. Normative ethics takes on a more practical task, which is to arrive at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. This may involve articulating the good habits that we should acquire, the duties that we should follow, or the consequences of our behavior on others. Finally, applied ethics involves examining specific controversial issues, such as abortion, infanticide, animal rights, environmental concerns, homosexuality, capital punishment, or nuclear war. By using the conceptual tools of metaethics and normative ethics, discussions in applied ethics try to resolve these controversial issues. The lines of distinction between metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics are often blurry. For example, the issue of abortion is an applied ethical topic since it involves a specific type of controversial behavior. But it also depends...
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