Thursday, January 29, 2009

Our society would not be where it is without breaking some rules ;)

My ethical philosophy primarily lies with Aristotle, which is virtue-based. I believe in being a good person, despite rules or restrictions. If I do something wrong I am guilt-ridden.

We are given rules either by religion, government or society and I believe life is more about living or having good character that causes us act morally. Developing good character, such as kindness or honesty, is more important than simply being honest because it is a “rule”. In an idyllic society, rules would not be necessary, but people would do good because they were simply a good person. Although decisions may not be “right” or “wrong”, especially for journalists we’ve learned, having good character should help us when we are faced with dilemmas.

When I researched different philosophies, I found that to act on virtue ethics means to act from particular motivations. And, I decided, I would be able to do math if I had the motivation to put time into it. My whole life revolves around what I am passionate about and if I have motivation for something, I do it well. If I make good decisions, I have the right motives. If we are good people, we should act with good intensions and therefore acting morally should come easily.

Of course, everyone may have their own ideas about what a moral person is, but I think being true to yourself is key to becoming happy, which is the ultimate human good according to Aristotle.

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