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Ethics And Virtue Research Paper

Virtue as an Ethical Concept The objective of this study is to examine virtue as an ethical concept. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy states that 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." (2014, p. 1)

Virtue Defined

The virtue ethics theorist adheres to Aristotle's definition of the virtuous person as being "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." (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2014, p. 1)

Examples of Virtue

The virtuous person has behavior that demonstrates such traits as kindness, honesty and fairness. For example, it is reported that the 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 to do her duty." (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2014, p. 1) The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy reports that a virtue "such as honesty or generosity is not just a tendency to do what is honest or generous, nor is it to be helpfully specified as a "desirable" or "morally valuable" character trait. It is indeed a character trait -- that is, a disposition...

It is concerned with many other actions as well, with emotions and emotional reactions, choices, values, desires, perceptions, attitudes, interests, expectations and sensibilities. To possess a virtue is to be a certain sort of person with a certain complex mindset." (2014, p. 1)
Kindness

Joseph B. Wirthin, of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles writes that kindness "is the essence of a celestial life. Kindness is how a Christlike person treats others. Christ instructed his followers to do unto others as they would have done unto them. In other words, treat others as one wants to be treated. Kindness is a virtue because kindness requires that the individual always attempt to view life from the eyes of those that they interact with so that they are able to be kind to the other person from the other person's individual and unique point-of-view.

Honesty

One of the Ten Commandments stated in the Holy Bible contains the commandment stating "Thou shalt not lie." Treating other people with respect by being honest with them is a virtue that is valued by the most of society. Honest is an…

Sources used in this document:
References

Biddle, C. (2013) The Virtue of Honesty. The Objective Standard. Aug 2013. Retrieved from: https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/2013/08/the-virtue-of-honesty/

DeMarco, D. (2013) The Virtue of Fairness. Catholic Education. Retrieved from: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0310.html

Virtue Ethics (2014) Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from: http://www.iep.utm.edu/virtue/?

Virtue Ethics (2014) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-virtue/
Wirthlin, JB (2014) The Virtue of Kindness. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Retrieved from: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/04/the-virtue-of-kindness?lang=eng
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