Happiness, Virtue and Tyranny. Psychology Matthew Pianalto looks at the difference between psychological and philosophical concepts of happiness. Several accessible books detailing the history and the psychology of happiness have landed on bookshelves in the past few years. With limited exceptions, contemporary philosophers have only a small voice in this renewed and well-received discussion of happiness.
‘Positive psychologists’ such as Jonathan Haidt are friendly to ancient Greek philosophical conceptions of happiness, but critical of the later abandonment of happiness by philosophers in the modern period. Other happiness researchers, including Daniel Gilbert and Daniel Nettle, warn that the philosophical tendency to moralize happiness beginning with the Greeks may lead to undue confusion, ambiguity and intellectual bigotry. SUMMA THEOLOGICA: Religion (Secunda Secundae Partis, Q. 81)
Ethics and Virtue. Ethics and Virtue Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer For many of us, the fundamental question of ethics is, "What should I do? " or "How should I act? " Moral principles like these focus primarily on people's actions and doings. But are moral principles all that ethics consists of? According to "virtue ethics", there are certain ideals, such as excellence or dedication to the common good, toward which we should strive and which allow the full development of our humanity.
"Virtues" are attitudes, dispositions, or character traits that enable us to be and to act in ways that develop this potential. How does a person develop virtues? Virtues are habits. At the heart of the virtue approach to ethics is the idea of "community". The moral life, then, is not simply a matter of following moral rules and of learning to apply them to specific situations.
This article appeared originally in Issues in Ethics V1 N3 (Spring 1988) The Virtues: Various Traditions. 0 CommentsYou are here:Index Character Improvement Benjamin Franklin During the early 1700s and while in his late 20s, Benjamin Franklin gathered thirteen virtues that he felt were a guide to live by. These virtues consisted of temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. "My list of virtues contain'd at first but twelve; but a Quaker friend having kindly informed me that I was generally thought proud; that my pride show'd itself frequently in conversation; that I was not content with being in the right when discussing any point, but was overbearing, and rather insolent, of which he convinc'd me by mentioning several instances; I determined endeavouring to cure myself, if I could, of this vice or folly among the rest, and I added Humility to my list).
In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Virtues Franklin's 13 virtues are as follows: The Bible. Virtue Ethics: Morality and Character - What Are Virtue Ethics? Both teleological and deontological ethical theories are called deontic or action-based theories of morality because they focus entirely upon the actions which a person performs. Those theories focus on the question, "Which action should I choose?
" Virtue ethics, however, take a very different perspective. Virtue-based ethical theories place less emphasis on which rules people should follow and instead focus on helping people develop good character traits, such as kindness and generosity. These character traits will, in turn, allow a person to make the correct decisions later on in life. Virtue theorists also emphasize the need for people to learn how to break bad habits of character, like greed or anger. Recently virtue ethics has not been a very common topic for study, but it dates back to the ancient Greek thinkers and is thus the oldest type of ethical theory in Western philosophy. Key questions which virtue ethical systems ask include: What sort of person do I want to be? 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. A virtue ethicist is likely to give you this kind of moral advice: “Act as a virtuous person would act in your situation.”
Most virtue ethics theories take their inspiration from Aristotle who declared that a virtuous person is someone who has ideal character traits. These traits derive from natural internal tendencies, but need to be nurtured; however, once established, they will become stable. For example, a virtuous person is someone who is kind across many situations over a lifetime because that is her character and not because she wants to maximize utility or gain favors or simply do her duty. Unlike deontological and consequentialist theories, theories of virtue ethics do not aim primarily to identify universal principles that can be applied in any moral situation. Table of Contents.