What is Ethics or moral philosophy?

Moral philosophy is basically attempting to achieve a basic understanding of nature

of morality and the things that is requires of us as humans. This is so because each individual has a different perspective
of what is good or what is even right. I say this because we all may see the same thing on paper and read it the same but,
what happens when our minds process the information it is done much different because some persons might
understand it straight forward meanwhile the other interprets the same information differently. A simple example would
be that in Africa a girl can be engaged in marriage from a very young age which in Africa that is not wrong at all because,
that is somewhat apart of their custom however, in the US that is not quite wrong if the young girl has a parent’s
consent. However, in Belize it is illegal which can lead the man to years behind bars.

What is morality? Morality is a term that is basically used to just too express right or good conduct. Morals are the
prevailing standards of behavior that enable people to live cooperatively in groups. Moral refers to what societies have
the world believe as right and acceptable. This is just a simple and more in-depth definition of morals / morality. Morality
also describes particular values of a specific group at a specific given point in time.

However, as Fieser, says an ethical theory is based on systematic efforts to understand the moral concept. This will then
allow us to basically understand what wrongs are and what can be considered. An example would be murder is normally
wrong but in all honesty is right. The ethical theory that stands by this is used as a guide to help is understood which
behaviors are right from wrong.

Now to conclude sometimes thing that are seen as wrong might just be right. This is so because most of the right things
are built based on reasoning and impartiality with many more thing that works hand in hand with these two.

References

The University of Tennessee at Martin. (n.d.). Retrieved February 08, 2021, from
https://www.utm.edu/staff/jfieser/class/160/1-ethical-theory.htm#:~:text=Theoretical%20ethics%E2%80%94or
%20ethical%20theory,%2C%20euthanasia%2C%20and%20animal%20rights.

Morality and moral theories. (n.d.). Retrieved February 08, 2021, from
https://home.sandiego.edu/~baber/gender/MoralTheories.html

Amy Morin, L. (2020, November 09). What does morality really mean? Retrieved February 08, 2021, from
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-morality-5076160#what-is-morality

Morals. (2021, January 25). Retrieved February 08, 2021, from https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/morals

Forum 2 Virtue Ethics

According to Aristotle, and other Philosophers such as Socrates and Plato approached Ethics by asking questions such as
“What trait of Character make one a good person?” As an outcome of their question “Virtues” was defined as the main
topic for their discussions and findings. A virtuous Person or someone who has virtues is someone whose character
manifests a good trait in habitual action (Lesson 5- Virtue Ethics). There are 4 universal virtues which are honesty,
courage, loyalty, and generosity. Once a person poses one or more of these traits it is considered to be a virtuous person.
However, just like there are virtues, which are defined as good traits for humans to have there are also vices, which are the
opposite of virtue. A vice is considered a bad habit/trait for a person to have. In the movie, The Constant Gardner Tessa
Quayle showed to be a person who believed in helping people with needs (Mireille's 2005) She can be considered to be a
virtuous person for she showed some good traits. She was generous, Courageous, loyal to her husband and loved ones.
Being a virtuous person is possessing good traits and doing what is morally right.
Nonetheless, being virtuous can sometimes lead to being a person with vices. It can impact one’s life positively or
negatively. A person can go from being generous to being stingy, courageous to a coward, loyal to lying or cheating. This
happens when someone does something in excess even if it is good, it will become a vice. You can be generous and show
compassion but the moment you go to an extreme it becomes a vice. An example would be that you help the persons who
are in need and you give your last money and go all out for them then you stay hungry and broke because you helped those
people who needed it. This is when virtue becomes a vice, too much of something is a vice.

In addition, there are negative reasons behind doing virtuous actions, this is shown in the example of the Nazis. They are
considered courageous and loyal to their country when they at war, but in reality, they committed[P1] genocide on an
entire race of people. Morally this is wrong to do. According to Geach, “calling the Nazi soldier courageous is praising his
behavior, but because his courage is deployed in an evil cause, his behavior on a whole is wicked” (Lesson 5- Virtue
Ethics).

This was also shown in the movie The Constant Gardner Tessa was a virtuous person at the beginning she was
compassionate, generous, and courageous. She helped and was willing to help the people in Africa who were needed and
poor. As the movie continues her virtues eventually twisted into vices. She cared too much for the poor people that she
forgot about herself and her husband. She dedicated all her time to trying to make justice for what was happening to those
unfortunate people in Africa, she wanted to do the right thing. However, she was too courageous and went against
powerful people trying to help the African people, which eventually lead to her death. This is an example that her
generosity and compassion appeared to be a virtue (good trait) but eventually, she went to an extreme which became a vice
(not a good trait) and leads her to death (Mierelles,2005). In this movie, you can see how being virtuous can impact one’s
life negatively if you do something in excess.

References:

(2021, March). In Lesson 5- Virtue Ethics. Retrieved from https://rise.articulate.com/share/q-

VYqZOrIBaexIrB2iwDM5MWphZmsQTC#/

(2005). The Constant Gardner [Online video]. Mierelles. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wPwB4RwoWi-
lmjfv8Gv3ziQqEdBXskHV/view