Module 7- Lesther Papa

Summary and Reflection: Ethics and Virtue



According to the article Ethics and Virtue, Manuel Velasquez et al contrast the difference between “ethics” and “virtue”. They suggest that “ethics” are basic rules of moral principals that tell what and what not to do. These rules are also to be applied in context with what is required of us as professionals, through our social policies, and our institutions. Examples of such ethics stated in the article were: “‘business ethics’, ‘legal ethics’, ‘medical ethics’, and ‘ethics in public policy’”.
But on the other hand “ethics” should be a guide of what kind of person one should be and that is where “virtue” comes in. “Virtues”, as defined by the article, are “attitudes, dispositions, or character traits that enable us to be and to act in ways that develop this potential [of what human beings can become]”. Examples of what virtues are also listed in the article: “honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence are all examples of virtues”.
The article suggests that virtues are developed by learning and practice, which then leads to habits and eventually become a person’s characteristic. Virtues are learned through “‘community’”, like a person’s family, church, school, etc. Whatever virtues are considered important by the community will also affect that person’s personality.
Therefore, “moral life” should be more than trying to apply rules to certain situations and be more about what kind of people we come.
This article brought up many thought-provoking subjects, one of them being the affect of the “community” on a person’s personality. This affect could serve as a guide to decision making because a person’s choices inevitably are influenced by his or her own personality. But this isn’t meant to mean that he or she will always conform to what the “mass” consciousness is. He or she may not accept the cultural virtues and form his or her own virtues that can be radically different. One example may be in religion, a person may have been brought up to accept the virtues their church and will ask themselves if their actions or behaviors conform to what the church sees as right. But that same person may not agree with the church and decide to perform that action or behavior anyway.
This disagreement with the virtues that a person is brought up with may spark a need for change. If enough people agree that there is a change that needs to be made the only ethical thing to do would be to make it happen, as long as it’s for the common good.
Another way that disagreement with virtues can be seen is if someone isn’t acting “properly” as defined by the “community’s” virtues. Those acts would have to be evaluated by the community and action would take place to correct it.
So one could suspect that by being more concerned about “how” a person should be, instead of “what” a person should do, would be a more ethical rule for more productive human relations. The questions of “how” a person should be would have to be defined by the community he or she is brought up in and whether or not that person “applies” them.