Virtue Ethics Flashcards, test questions and answers
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What is Virtue Ethics?
Virtue Ethics is an ethical approach that emphasizes the role of character and virtue in ethical decision making. It focuses on how virtues, such as integrity, courage, and temperance, help a person to become a good person. The idea behind Virtue Ethics is that if a person has developed their character through cultivating these virtues, they will be able to make moral decisions without having to rely on rules or consequences. At its core, Virtue Ethics is about becoming the best version of yourself. By developing your own strengths and weaknesses and striving for excellence in all areas of life from relationships with others to work performance you will become better equipped to make ethical choices in any situation. This doesn’t mean that you have all the answers; rather it means that you have enough knowledge and wisdom to discern what is right or wrong based on your character traits and values. The ultimate goal of Virtue Ethics is for individuals to develop their own sense of morality by cultivating certain moral virtues within themselves. These include being truthful, honest, kind, compassionate, generous and just. In so doing they can more easily recognize right from wrong when faced with difficult decisions or situations where there are no clear cut answers as to what constitutes right behaviour or action. A major criticism leveled at Virtue Ethics is that it lacks standards by which moral decisions can be judged objectively; however this overlooks the fact that characteristics such as honesty or kindness become universal standards when shared among people who share similar values. Ultimately then it appears that while Virtue Ethics cannot provide definitive answers as to how one should behave in any given situation; it does provide guidance towards self-improvement and personal development which can result in good moral judgement being made more often than not.