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My Ethical Perspective

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Submitted By samanthasacco
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My Ethical Perspective
Samantha Sacco
Westminster

Ethics add value to a person and in turn, to society. Ethics require a personal code, a set of beliefs and values that help us to make meaningful choices. The key word in this last statement is, “choice.” Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of humanity is the diversity of thought and lifestyle. I believe that ethics and diversity go hand in hand, as each individual has developed their codes based on their personal experiences and backgrounds. It is this fact that I do not believe in one set of ethics for all people, but rather a mix of ethics. I found each set of ethics interesting and could relate, on some level, to all of them. Behind each set of ethics, there is an underlying motive driving the choices that we make.
Ancient philosophers believed that ethics were a means to perfecting human existence. The code that existed for the theorists of the ancients reflects the time that they lived. There is a comforting simplicity that was drawn in ancient ethics and in ideal world these ethics make sense, to me. For instance, Socrates compares human values to the tools of a carpenter, a carpenter must not only possess such tools, but he must know how to use his tools, in order to be successful (Euthyd. 280b-d) I love the idea of values being tools. Tools exist to build, our values also help us to build the existences we wish for ourselves and those around us. This fundamental idea is simple but profound and powerful when analyzing values.
Aristotle had some interesting views on what makes a person virtuous. Although criticized for being self-serving, I tend to agree with Aristotle’s outlook. He says, that the ultimate and complete end in a human’s life is happiness and all other activity is a means to achieve happiness. Happiness is not chosen for the sake of anything else (1097a 25-1097b5). Aristotle’s view on

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