Virtue Ethics
This ethical philosophy draws back from the thought and work of the ancient and great Greek philosopher Aristotle (Brown, 2001; SPI, n.d.; Fahey, 2010). The philosophy centers on persons who are moral agents themselves, rather than from their actions or their consequences. A person lives an ethical or the good life if he possesses a right character, also know as virtues. As such he possesses a moral character, according to the philosophy. These character traits or virtues include courage, temperance, justice, wisdom, patience, generosity and compassion. By observing or living by this philosophy, a person develops good habits that build and make up his character. Because of such a character, he is naturally disposed to act in a certain moral or virtuous way towards situations and persons. He or she does not possess undesirable or vicious traits of character (Brown, SPI. Fahey).
The main objections to this philosophy are the difficulty of ascertaining what traits should be considered virtues and at arriving at a normative standard for living a moral life (Brown, 2001; sPI, n.d.; Fahey, 2010).
Kantian Ethics
Immanuel Kant advocated deontological ethics, based on concrete duties or obligations, whereby certain actions are intrinsically...
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