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The 3 ethical theories
Aristotle's view of virtue
Happiness as virtue
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According to Aristotle, “Virtues, then, are dispositions engendered in us through practice or habituation” (Aristotle’s Ethics), here he is talking about virtue of character, he says that it is something that in created in us through habit. There are two types of virtue – virtue of character and intellectual virtues. He differentiated between virtue of character and intellectual virtue. “Intellectual virtue is acquired primarily through teaching, while the virtues of character arise through habit” (Aristotle’s Ethics). For example, when someone is born they might have a very good talent like dancing and singing, but then in terms of virtue of character one has to learn, for example, learning how to paint. Aristotle seem to focus more on …show more content…
“Virtue, according to the utilitarian doctrine, is not naturally and originally part of the end, but is capable of becoming so; and in those who live it disinterestedly it has become so, and is desired and cherished, not as a means to happiness, but as a part of their happiness.” (Mill 37), Mill is trying to say that virtue is sometimes a part of happiness, he says that “the desire of virtue is not as universal, nut it is as authentic a fact as the desire of happiness” (Mill 36), Mill here is comparing virtue to happiness, what he means is that yes people desire virtue, but they don’t desire virtue as happiness is desired. So technically, his trying to prove to us that happiness has a greater value than virtue. One can desire virtue as an end and a means to happiness, but through experience, they may come to understand virtue as a vital links in the end, so vital that they may come to regard it as an end in itself. (Professor Whited). For example, so many desire money and the see money as a means to their own happiness, they believe that without money they can’t be happy, as time goes by and the enjoy the money and see all the things they can get with money, they might come to regard money as an end. The way money can change people’s mind, is the way virtue can and make people regard it as an it
...f it is unrecognizable to the eye. The standard that he is referring to is the principle of utility, which is also referred to as the “greatest happiness principle.” Mill makes it clear that utilitarianism has had great impact in shaping a moral basis of principles.
In utilitarianism, the word utility is used in a very formal sense and not in the dry vernacular of everyday language. At first glance it would seem that unity and pleasure cannot coexist in Mill's world. But Mill argues that attainment of pleasure is the very center of utilitarianism. According to his Greatest Happiness Principle, any action that promotes happiness and prevents pain is right and any action that produces the reverse of happiness is wrong. For utilitarianism the entirety of moral inquiry lies in the possession of happiness. But it is important to realize that to Mill Individual happiness is secondary to the happiness of the society as a whole. Furthermore, he argues that even though the "noble character" of an individual may give him dissatisfaction it is desirable because “there can be no doubt that it makes other people happy” (Mill). Even though nobleness of character may decrease the pleasure for an individual, the aggregate happiness increases from the presence of such character. Accordingly, happiness is not only the promotion of pleasure but also the absence...
John Stuart Mill claims that people often misinterpret utility as the test for right and wrong. This definition of utility restricts the term and denounces its meaning to being opposed to pleasure. Mill defines utility as units of happiness caused by an action without the unhappiness caused by an action. He calls this the Greatest Happiness Principle or the Principle of Utility. Mill’s principle states that actions are right when they tend to promote happiness and are wrong when they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. Happiness is defined as intended pleasure and the absence of pain while unhappiness is defined as pain and the lack of pleasure. Therefore, Mill claims, pleasure and happiness are the only things desirable and good. Mill’s definition of utilitarianism claims that act...
Ogien defines “character broadly speaking, [as] a certain way of acting or feeling that is consistent, that is, stable over time and unvarying from one situation to the next” (Ogien 123). For Aristotle, “virtue, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean…relative to us, this being determined by…that principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine…and acquired by repetition” (Aristotle 124, 129). Mark Timmons, a moral philosopher, also makes a slight distinction between character and virtue by defining virtue as “(1) a relatively fixed trait of character (2) typically involving dispositions to think, feel, and act in certain ways in certain circumstance, and (3) is a primary basis for judging the overall moral goodness or worth of persons” (Timmons 212). Lastly, philosophers Tom Beauchamp and James Childress, define virtue in terms of “a trait of character that is socially valuable and a moral virtue [as] a trait of character that is morally valuable” (Beauchamp 31). Now, there are four reasons why I go through the ways in which philosophers have defined virtue. (1) To show that Ogien critiques virtue ethics without defining virtue at all. (2) To show that among philosophers (at least read for this week) there is commonality in defining virtue in some way or another as a fixed character. (3) Just because a person possesses a certain character trait that does not
Aristotle believes that happiness is the ultimate goal in life. You can’t reach happiness unless you work hard and become successful. That is where virtue comes into play. A human’s function is to engage in “an activity of the soul which is in accordance with virtue” and which “is in conformity with reason” (page 76, Palmer). The two kinds of virtue are intellectual and moral. Our virtues are what make us all individual and all different. Intellectual virtues are what we are born with and what we learn. It is our nature as humans and what we have inherited that makes desire to learn. As humans, we develop wisdom to help guide us to a good life. With the intellectual virtue you develop two different kinds of wisdom: practical and philosophical. Practical wisdom is your rational actions. The highest virtue is philosophical wisdom, which is scientific, disinterested, and contemplative. Moral virtues are what we learn from imitation, practice and our habits we developed. Moral virtues are what we have learned from our society. “Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to nature do the virtues arise in us; rather we are adapted by nature to receive them, and are made perfect by habit” (page 223, Mayfield). This quote is explaining how you need both the intellectual virtue (nature) and the moral virtue (habit).
He does this by explaining that humans would probably not be in the right mindset. Mill clarifies this by saying, “ If they ever fancy they would, it is only in cases of unhappiness so extreme, that to escape from it they would exchange their lot for almost any other, however undesirable in their own eyes,” (120). Mill is suggesting that if someone would want to have animal pleasures, then it would be because they would want to escape their unhappiness. Also implying that this would coincide with his own view of utilitarianism that anything desirable derives from pleasure or the absence of pain. For clarity, let’s say that a human was in a situation where in order to survive, they needed to be cannibalistic to feel the pleasure of surviving through a very animalistic way of survival of the fittest. Mill would understand that it would be very unlikely for someone to go to this extreme to achieve absolute utility or to be even put in this situation. This is valuable to his argument in that it helps contradict the criticism towards his view. Some critics argue that human pleasures are equal to animal pleasures. Mill contradicts what they say because he says that animal pleasures would only be desirable if it were to escape from pain, which would apply to his view. Mill also uses the unlikelihood of this scenario as a defense for his counterargument because in order for the criticism to have sufficient effect on his view, it would need to be more
Before even beginning to examine the idea of higher and lower pleasures, Mill firstly gives a clear definition of what utilitarianism is. He does this at the beginning of the second chapter, stating the core principle, or the ‘Greatest Happiness Principle,’ of this moral philosophy. Specifically, it is for one to take actions such that they maximize the total good. He further clarifies that by good, he means specifically
In What Utilitarianism Is by Mill, we can see that society is very ambivalent about utilitarianism as a moral compass. “Utilitarianism is an ethical philosophy in which the happiness of the greatest number of people in the society os considered the greatest good.” In this theory anything that ends in happiness is considered as good and wring if it concludes in unhappiness. There is no moral ground rules when it comes to this ethical philosophy because overall happiness is the aim and not the actions that are taken to get there. Mill spends this chapter responding to the common criticism utilitarianism is faced with. Mill suggests that pleasure or happiness is the only criterion for deciding what is good and bad. He simply says that defines
Aristotle explains that the morals and virtues of a person are infact the development of the character of a person, that our viciousness and our virtues are development through training of character; tabula rasa, the epistemological idea that our knowledge comes from our experiences.
Mill states that the goal of utilitarianism is to reach the “ultimate end” which is happiness overall. Mill holds some truth in this idea since the purpose in life for most humans will be to reach a state of happiness that satisfies them which in turn will lead to a proper morality. What we study, were we live, who we associate with, where we work, and who we love all contribute to the “ultimate end” and in turn will lead to an ethical morality. A good ethical morality is the goal of utilitarianism Mill states that it is what all humans strive to achieve. By humans satisfying their desires that lead to happiness, they will have a good ethical morality. Mill goes on to state that everyone has components of happiness and these all contribute to the individual’s happiness although critics say that these are selfish traits. Your desires are what push you to seek happiness but may lead to your will. Mill states that your will differs from desire in the sense that good moral people do not seek the pleasures that your will manifests. The reason being is that once you have a moral will, it becomes an end in itself and you will begin to force it which becomes a habit and thus is selfish as his
In his book he states, “The Greatest Happiness Principle holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure” (Mill). Although this passage is pretty straightforward I will explain it in simpler terms in order to better understand it. Basically, what Mill is proposing is that according to a Utilitarian, actions are unjustifiably right if they produce happiness, or pleasure, and have an absence of pain. This is a key point into looking at the connection of utilitarianism and the liberty principle. According to the liberty principle a person has the right to do what makes them happy, unless of course it will harm others in the process of doing so. What “harm” entails is a much deeper thought that I explained in the previous paragraph dedicated to the liberty principle. Another thought on the GHP (Greatest Happiness Principle) is the way pleasure is measured. According to Mill, pleasure (happiness) is measured on both a qualitative and quantitative scale. We will first talk about quantity and how this affects pleasure. In regards to the two measurements of pleasure, quantity is the simpler of the two meaning that the goal is to just garner the greatest amount of pleasure. The qualitative side is a little more complex offering that two actions or events when compared are not going to have the same amount of pleasure, and that there are higher and lower pleasures. As humans, we tend to always look for the higher pleasures. A quick definition of a higher pleasure is that a pleasure is higher quality if someone would choose it over
By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure” (82, John Stuart Mill). The Greatest Happiness Principle said that happiness if pleasure and the absence of pain are the only desirable things that are “inherently good” or “moral inherently”. John Stuart Mill argues that engagements are principled when they indication to a higher level of happiness, and not corrupted when they tend to lend to a lower level of happiness. According to John Stuart Mill, anything is desirable as it is a source of for such pleasure. John Stuart Mill believes that “life has (as they express it) no higher end than pleasure” (82, John Stuart Mill). According to John Stuart Mill, buying the food for the children will bring me much higher
Mill, in the chapter labeled “Of What Sort of Proof the Principle of Utility Is Susceptible”, postulates that utilitarianism does not preclude a pursuit of virtue, but rather that a desire for virtue sprouts from a desire for happiness. Mill likens the aspiration for virtue to the pursuit of money: many desire money for money’s sake, because they have grown to associate the happiness acquired by money with money itself. Likewise, Mill puts forward the idea that people grow to associate virtue with the consequential happiness, and thus pursue virtue as an end in and of itself, instead of merely a means to the end of happiness. This argument is vital to Mill’s assertion that the only true end is happiness, while everything else is “only desirable as a means to that end.” However, one need only find an example of a pursuit of virtue for a sake other than happiness to disprove both the assertion that virtue is desired only due to its association with happiness and the assertion that happiness is the only desirable end.
Not all companies are viewed equally, as some companies happen to be harmful to their consumer’s health. The alcohol industry is one such company with their addictive products people get hooked and for some they find it difficult to put the bottle down and walk away. Yes, we all should be held accountable or in this case held responsible for our actions and/or decisions. Why should we blame the alcohol companies for our bad decisions? The alcohol companies do not exactly make it easy for us to just walk away with all commercials and advertising going on. This is just a ploy or an enticement for us to try their product.
Using the language of virtue ethics, character can be seen as the unity or sum of virtue in the person (Hursthouse, 2007) and manifests itself in relationships with others and our surroundings. Virtuous character traits must be learned from a young age or gained through moral training, as opposed to personality traits which can be acquired at will. Regarding this, Hursthouse (2007) states that