Five Ethical Perspectives Of Virtue In Ethics

The very first of the five ethical viewpoints that I believe relates back to sanitation is Utilitarianism. The definition as stated by the, ‘Online Guide to Ethics and Moral Philosophy’ as, “A normative ethical theory that places the locus of right and wrong solely on the outcomes (consequences) of choosing one action/policy over other actions/policies. As such, it moves beyond the scope of one 's own interests and takes into account the interests of others” (Utilitarian Theories, 2016). This means that the goal of the Utilitarianism Theories goal is to promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. This theory is based off of a whole society factor instead of just basing its ideas with a single individual in mind. The creator

Virtue in ethics is defined by Stanford University as, “One of three major approaches in normative ethics. It may, initially, be identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to the approach which emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that which emphasizes the consequences of actions (consequentialism)” (Stanford, 2016). This means that this theory is more people oriented than action based in a sense, it looks at the mortal and duties of the person who is going to carry out an action. One who is doing a clean and moral duty is more inclined to bring about good consequences. The idea of Virtue was mostly derived from Aristotle and like Unitarianism there is a strong concept of utilizing maximum utility. Virtue in ethics is also about asking a lot of self-pertaining questions of which can be applied to society. Questions like, “How should I live?” and “What is the good life?” (Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2016). Once a person is able to answer some self-defining questions they are able apply it to their society and try and relate a solution back to them. Cleanliness is an important virtue to some cultures and according to the ‘National Library of Medicine’, there is an old dictum that states, “Cleanliness is next to godliness… about 800 years ago, godliness was the highest moral virtue to which believers aspired; and cleanliness of the body, spirit and home was next” (NCBI, 2005). What this means is if certain cultures can attain cleanliness then it starts to burden their morals and the ability to maximize utilities. Without proper sanitation people in some countries defecate in the street which frequently mixes in with drinking water. Not only are being people contaminated from the inside but when they ingest that water they are being plagued from the inside as well. The right thing to do is to take care of sanitation and make sure people don’t get sick