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Virtue Ethics Research Paper

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Virtue ethics is the ethical belief that ethics are based on who a person is, not on their actions. The idea of virtue ethics dates back to Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) and his work The Nicomachean Ethics (349 BC). Virtue ethics believes that, like any other skill, practicing virtue is the best way to become virtuous. Being virtuous does not solely mean being a good person, there are two types of desirable virtues. The first group of virtues, intellectual virtues, are characteristics that would cause a person to become virtuous and are taught and honed throughout schooling; the intellectual virtues are wisdom, knowledge, rationality, clarity of understanding, and cognitive intelligence. The second grouping, moral virtues, are trained through …show more content…

The idea was created by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and further expanded upon by his student, John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), and brought into modern times by Peter Singer (1946-). Utilitarianism is also a hedonistic ethical belief, meaning that all people can achieve pure pleasure. Deciding whether an action is right or wrong is based on seven measures: intensity, duration, certainty of pleasure, propinquity (how close in relation you are to the person(s) affected), fecundity (the likelihood that a pleasurable action will cause more pleasurable actions in the future), purity, and extent (number of people affected). Utilitarianism states that all actions are morally neutral and that the result is what makes an action morally right or wrong. Mill expanded upon the hedonist nature of utilitarianism by saying that there are different levels of pleasure, and that higher, more mentally stimulating pleasures are better than lower, basic pleasures. Mill states that a society where everyone attempts to obtain higher forms of pleasure is better than one that settles for the lower pleasures that are more easily available. Finally, Singer stated that utilitarianism should not be applied only to humans, but also to animals. Those with higher power and intelligence should use those qualities to benefit the beings weaker than them to allow for more pleasure to be experienced

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