...1. Courage involves confidence in the face of fear, best exhibited on the battlefield, where men show themselves unafraid to die an honorable death. Aristotle says that the most frightening thing is death but the courageous is not concerned with this and the most terrible things. Death of these men that are considered courageous happen on the battlefield amongst the greatest and noblest danger. A courageous man is one who is fearless in facing a noble death. A courageous person is fearless, but his fearlessness must exist under certain circumstances to be considered courageous. A circumstance as when a person faces death on the battlefield. He continues to say that the truly brave person fears the proper things in the proper amounts....
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...Virtue: conformity to a standard of right Virtues contribute to people’s actions in today’s society. Society as a whole has a common set of virtues that many people agree on. In today’s society, these are known as laws. Virtues also mold the individual outlook on life, and give them the moral’s to do what is right. In The Republic, Plato divides the city into three classes: gold, silver, as well as bronze and iron souls. Each class is designated to posses a specific virtue. He believes that wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice combine together to form The Republic. However, Plato’s four virtues individually do not necessarily produce a utopian society. A combination of the four in each citizen is imperative in producing the ideal society. In Plato’s search for the perfect “republic”, he decides that the basis of the city will be on four virtues. The first of them is wisdom. Plato defines wisdom, in Greek terms “Sophia”, as knowledge of the city as a whole. Of the three classes, the gold souls posses the virtue of wisdom. The gold souls are the only class whose knowledge goes beyond the mere facts to the level of true wisdom. “…This class, which properly has a share in that knowledge which alone among the various kinds of knowledge ought to be called wisdom, has, as it seems, the fewest members by nature” (429a). The second virtue that Plato defines is courage, which in Greek terms is “Andreia”. Courage is the preservation of the opinion produced by law, through education...
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...Imagine a newborn baby crying in the hospital. This baby was not born with the knowledge of being kind nor evil but with a pure state of mind. Not knowing what is right and wrong, virtue can guide people to knowing what is good. But what exactly is virtue? According to Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics, virtue is described as neither a feeling nor capacity but a settled state or disposition. It is shown as a state that allows people to aim for what is transitional and also what decides the mean between two practices, one of being overly full and the other being a lack of. A great example of a common virtue would be courage. People usually depict courage as being strong and facing danger without fear. But this common assumption isn’t what true courage is. In reference to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, there are those who appear to be courageous and those who are actual courageous people. Therefore what exactly is a courageous person and how do we distinguish from one to another? Aristotle describes courage in the text through the various principles taken from virtue and examples of those who have a part of what is considered courageous. It starts out with the balance of the mean between fear and confidence. People portray fear as everything that seems bad. They fear all bad things such as bad reputation, poverty, sickness, savage and death but none of these should be a concern for a courageous person. For example, fear of bad reputation is actually considered a normal and...
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...completion. In addition, we learn to protect ourselves from others, and sometimes from yourself. Protecting yourself means protecting your heart and your beliefs. Learn from the mistakes and make something out of what only used to be. As a nurse, professionally, our backbone of the career itself relies on the trust of others. Numerous healthcare situations call for courage. Examples include: breaking bad news regarding a poor prognosis, challenging a colleague who appears to be incompetent, delivering care to an infectious patient, confronting an angry relative, and raising concerns about unethical practice. What is common to all of these situations is the fear that may be experienced as the practitioner considers the cost of the action and the consequences of a particular intervention or of getting it wrong. There may be a fear of an extreme emotional reaction, of violence, of contamination, of negative reactions from colleagues, or of losing one’s job. Such fears may inhibit nurses and other practitioners from acting ethically. Organizational constraints may cause nurses to feel as though they lack the courage to do the right thing or raise concerns about poor standards of care. This is where protecting your heart comes into play. Regardless of...
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...Unlike utilitarianism, which focuses on the consequences of an action, and deontological ethics, which focuses on moral rules; virtue ethics focuses on doing something simply because it’s the right thing to do based on established virtues. Aristotle (Irbe, 2000) listed several virtues and vices that correspond to different “actions” or “feelings”. Each virtue has two corresponding vices that accompany it, one of the vices occurs when there is an excess of the virtue, and the other occurs when the virtue is deficient. The feeling associated with modesty is shame. If there is too much shame, it would be shyness; however not enough shame would be shamelessness. Virtue ethics focuses on choices that an individual should make based on morals that hold true regardless of the laws and customs of a person’s specific culture. Essentially everyone should be held accountable to the same virtues even if local laws and customs allow the behavior. One should apply virtue ethics to both their personal lives as well as their professional lives. In the 1990’s major concerns were exposed in the manufacturing community about working conditions in factories located in third-world countries (Sethi, Veral, Shapiro, & Emelianova, 2010). Major pressure was then placed on numerous manufacturing companies in an attempt to force them to change their practices and improve working conditions in their factories. While it is the goal of every company to continually increase profits, a company should...
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...The story not only show the struggle between the two clans, but also represents the code of Bushido that samurai’s followed in life. The text “The Tales of the Heike” gives examples of Samurai that abides to “The Bushido Code: The Eight Virtues of the Samurai.” Four of those virtues practiced in the text are rectitude, benevolence, loyalty, courage. Rectitude deciding one’s way of conduct without wavering like choosing to fight or dying. A...
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...between the two clans, but also represents the code of Bushido that a Samurai followed in life. The text “The Tales of the Heike” gives examples of a Samurai that abides to “The Bushido Code: The Eight Virtues of the Samurai.” Four of those virtues practiced in the text are rectitude, benevolence, loyalty, courage....
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...Furthermore, they take the argument into another form. Both Socrates and Protagoras have different ideas and views on the requirements of becoming good citizens. People could be good citizens by obeying the laws yet damaging the city differently. We cannot tell how virtuously they are or good citizens to the city because madness is not a function of virtue. Socrates takes another form to ask what virtue really stand for. He believes that virtue is a singular thing and is trying to convince Protagoras to agree as well. However, Protagoras states that virtue is a single entity and the four to five things are its parts (329e). And the parts are justice, holiness, wisdom, temperance and somehow courage. Yet, Socrates still argues and trying to...
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...Virtue is a word that defines the morally excellent. Morally excellent meaning, a person who who is inwardly upright; a person who will die for one they love. A person who will put the benefit and happiness of others before their own. There are many leaders in the world and a virtuous leader sounds almost the same, but they are a thousand times more important. A regular leader can lead and can lead his men to victory, but cannot put his own life in the midst of his men, and fight with them and for them. A virtuous leader is a person who is willing to put themselves to the least of their concerns for others. A virtuous leader must be courageous, loyal, and trustworthy but not too trusting. A virtuous leader must have courage, in order to fight...
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...Topic: The interpretation of the definition of the word “Courage”. Essay Questions: What feelings does the word courage provoke in you? How courage is traditionally interpreted? How important is courage for any personality type? Thesis Statement: The definitions of this word are numerous, but since the world around us changes the definitions change, too. For instance, if we talk about the liberty of word we can define “courage” as the person’s ability to say what he thinks on this matter. Courage, what feelings do you get when you hear this word? Do you feel Inspiration, Admiration, Respect, Fear, or maybe nothing at all? To some people courage is just another word, and for others it means so much more. The word courage comes from the Latin word coraticum. The root”cor” means heart. Then after the world entered English through French it was completed with an English suffix- age, which expressed action or the result of action. So the word courage really means an action that comes from the heart, in other words it is a noble action. How is this word used by contemporary people? The main usage of this term of this term of the word is, to describe people who have a type of mind that allows them not to think rational, and face danger without fear. Which is also referred to as bravery or boldness? This word is usually used when talking about man, because from its original form it was considered to be more of manly virtue. The definitions of this word are numerous, but since...
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...Aristotle’s golden mean which is a component of virtue ethics he introduced. Unlike the others, Aristotle ethics did not include a set of rules of what to do or what not to do and how to systemically approach situations, but more of focusing...
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...justice using an ideal society, the soul of an individual in an ideal society, and the greek social virtues. By using a mathematical argument to link the tasks in society, with the parts of the soul, and matching them to social virtues, Plato is able to provide an acceptable definition of justice that embodies both the ideals of a society and of an individual. In order to locate justice, Plato performs a though experiment where he creates an ideal society. In the ideal society everyone has a merit-based assignment. Plato states that in the perfect society there are three categories of people. There are the rulers, the auxiliaries, and the craftsmen. The rulers are in charge of ruling the ideal society, the auxiliaries are in charge of policing the ideal society, and the craftsmen are in charge of creating the basic tools to fulfill society’s needs. In Greece many accept that in an ideal society there are four standard virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice. Plato argues that since his society is ideal the standard virtues must be within the society. He also argues that if we are able to locate the standard values in society we will be able to locate justice. Plato uses an elimination method to locate justice. Plato links the value of wisdom to the rulers because in order to make a proper judgment on social matters one must clearly use wisdom. Plato links courage to the auxiliaries because in order to go to war and defend the city the army must have no fear. Finally...
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...Business Ethics and Virtue Ethics Virtue ethics is “a broad term for theories that emphasize the role of character and virtue in moral philosophy rather than either doing one’s duty or acting in order to bring about good consequences” (Athanassoulis, 2010). Virtue ethics are certain principles, such as merit or loyalty in which we should make every effort to consent to the full development in our organizations; these ideals are a reflection of what we ultimately have the potential to become. According to Velasquez, et.al, (1998), “Virtues are attitudes, dispositions, or character traits that enable us to be and to act in ways that develop this potential. They enable us to pursue the ideals we have adopted. Honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence are all examples of virtues”. Virtue ethics also does not provide guidance on how we should act, as there are no clear principles for guiding action other than “act as a virtuous person would act given the situation.” (2010). In this paper, I will address and define three of these virtues, apply each virtue respectively to the Mattel: GMP case, and describe which normative ethic was the most useful in evaluating the case. Courage, Fairness and Honesty According to Dictionary.com, courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear. Courage is being brave in the face of adversity. Dictionary.com describes...
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...to conventional belief, they are not truly courageous if they give in to the urging of their allies and immediately went to war with Athens. Rather, self-control, expressed in the form of prudent decision-making, represents true courage because the exercise of self-control is able to endow its possessor with other Spartan ideals—namely, good judgment, a sense of shame, and moderation. Through tying his conception of courage with other highly esteemed traditional Spartan ideals, Archidamus espouses a vision of the...
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...remained true to their own empirical philosophies that are different from more traditional accounts with the overall theme of how a virtuous person would live their life. In contrast, David Hume developed his own account of sentimentalist virtue ethics that challenges, or pushes back on, the virtue ethics Aristotle. According to Aristotle, we should be virtuous people – and as virtuous people do virtuous things. Instead of talking about particular actions and the rules according to which they are undertaken, then, Aristotle requires us to look at virtues, or qualities of character. Within Aristotle, the emphasis is more on character traits than on rules or obligations. Moral agency is not merely a matter of which rules to follow, but a whole way of life, which requires a unity of thought and feeling, which is characteristic of what Aristotle called ‘virtue’. What is a virtue, and what is the virtuous life? Aristotle’s definition is cited by Boetzkes and Waluchow: virtue is “a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean, i.e., the mean relative to us, this being determined by rational principle, that principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it.” Virtue is a kind of disposition, but that’s not all – for virtue is a disposition to choose well. For Aristotle, virtuous action is action that emerges from one’s disposition to choose the middle point (or golden mean) between two vicious extremes; one extreme is the vice of excess, the other is a vice...
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