LA SALLE UNIVERSITY

Ozamiz City
COLLEGE OF COMPUTER STUDIES, ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE

ETHICS
(GROUP REPORTING: WRITTEN)

TITLE:
VIRTUES AND ETHICS

SUBMITTED BY:
BALAIS, LEDY MEA D.
CELECIOUS, JOHN REXIL A.
CARREON, IMMAN J.
HERVIAS, JOHN LLYOID M.
MANZO, JEFFRONE
MATILDO, JUSCENT CHELDON G.
PASOK, JONEL S.

SUBMITTED TO:
MR. WELDON SACRO
INSTRUCTOR
Initial Table of content:
A. Introduction
B. Virtue Ethics Founding Fathers
1.) A virtue is a multi-track system
2.) It is a matter of degree to hold one virtue.
C. Virtue Ethics Accept that Virtue is Needed for Fundamental and Practical Knowledge
1.) Describe the four form of virtue ethics taken through a current virtue ethics.
D. Virtue Ethics Help Individual to Understand what it Means to be a Haman Being
E. Virtue Ethics Help a Person to be a Human Being
1.) Without virtue ethics human is no difference to an animal.
2.) Humans develop moral character that separates them from animals.
F. Understanding Virtue Ethics (A means of being upright)
1.) Individuals who do good.
2.) Persons who committed crime but still shows of having principles and virtues.
G. We were Born Humans Biologically but it Takes Virtue Ethics to be Human
H. People tend to Seek what is the True Essence of Life
I. Virtue Pertains to the Standard of Right and Ethics is the Philosophical Study of
Human Conduct
J. The Virtue Ethics is said to synonyms
K. People Live in the Same Global World
1.) The time pass by our empathy.
2.) Throughout verbal and non-verbal cues
L. Conclusion
Phase 2
Question no.1, Does virtue ethics help us understand what it means to be a human being?

As we were born in the world, the life and the world we lived in is are something to
be very meaningful, very crucial, and very sentimental for each one of us. A person is an
individual that has a soul and a body, but to be a human being is to have the ability to think,
analyze, communicate, and expresses thoughts. A human being is to give his/her life a
purpose and a mission to live. As time passes by and our number of age is apparently
increasing, the norms we practiced, that which was were reinforced and taught from the
people, who were with us, that helped us to be empathetic for individuals, who deserves the
empathy they needed. Every single act of thoughtfulness and kindness equates wonderful
change for everyone, for the true essence of being alive is to be able to share and to make a
difference in some way. I in a manner of being commiserated to see the true realm of
humanity. On the other hand, to be a human being is also to socialize and adapt to their
environment, and being good as a human is a nature where society created that concept.

The virtue ethics founding fathers in the West were Plato and Aristotle, in the West.
Also, Mencius and Confucius in the East. Figured in the virtue ethics tradition, the virtues
and vices, motives and moral character, moral education, moral wisdom or
discernment, friends and family relationship, a wider concept of happiness, with the
emotions of our lives that gives it a role to our moral life, and the fundamentally
important wondering and questions of what sorts of persons we should be and how we
should live (Anscombe 1958).

A virtue is a multi-track system, i. It would obviously be unwise to assign one to an

agent on the basis of a single action observed or even a series of similar actions, particularly
if a person does not know the agent’s motives for doing the same thing as a person did
(Screenivasan 2002).

It is a matter of degree to hold one virtue. To completely possess such a tendency is to

embody total or perfect virtue, which is uncommon, and there are a number of ways to fall
short of that ideal. (Athanassoulis 2000). Mostly, people who can be categorized as relatively
decent, and definitely substantially better than those who can really be characterized as
selfish, self-centered and greedy, still have their blind spots. Small places where they do not
behave for the reasons one would assume. Further, having one’s emotions in balance
with one’s logical understanding of certain motivations for action is not trivial.
 Virtue ethics accept that virtue is needed for fundamental and practical knowledge,
and they vary in how they incorporate these and the other principles to show what a person
ought to make in a specific circumstances and how a person ought to fulfill the entire life.

It describes the four forms of virtue ethics taken through a current virtue ethics:. The
eudaemonist virtue ethics, agent-based virtue ethics, target-centered virtue ethics, and
platonistic Platonistic virtue ethics. The eudemonia ideanotion of eudaimonia, came from the
ancient Greek moral philosophy, that is meanwhich means as “happiness” or “prospering”
and sometimes as “well-being”. .” It is to believe that live a life including the external
matter, like physical pleasure or luxury. Second, agent-based virtue ethics. “Agent-based
virtue ethics understands rightness in terms of good motivations and wrongness in terms of
having of bad (or insufficiently good) motives” (Slote 2001:14). The third one, target-
centered virtue ethics,. aAccording to Swanton (2003), target-centered virtue ethics starts
with the existing perceptions of virtues. We already have a fair idea of what traits are virtues
and what they imply. It does make the right action allows us to go beyond evaluating one
or a single action or value and the acts that arise from it because a single action may
have following different fields. Lastly, platonistic Platonistic virtue ethics, the concept from
Plato. Which It in is the clearest and widest context that good agency implies reflection of
the quality of the good.

Virtue ethics helps individuals to understand what it means to be a human being.

According to Aristotle, it is a search to understand how to live the life of a moral character.
Virtue ethics is a normative type of ethical approach that seeks for norms and standards
within humanity and society. By practicing the virtue of the mind, having a sense of good
values, honesty, generosity, prudence, zeal, and so on, it develops one's character.

Virtue ethics helps individuals how to be human because it allows individuals to act in
accordance of with what is essential for a human morality.

Within the vVirtue ethics helps a person to be a human being. Virtue ethics makes a
person the highest form of animals that has five and more senses, such as touch, sight, smell,
taste, hearing, and a capacity as a person that cooperates and defined their characteristics.
According to Kant, we must know the concept of a good will, responsibilities, obligation,
and duty as a human being as well as the logical relationships to one another, before we
can say certainly that our use of these concepts is justified. And Kant said that ethics
should start with analysis.
 Without virtue ethics, a human is no difference different to from an animal. Both
humans and animals can act instinctively, but the difference is that humans can control
itselfthemselves, and is reasonable while animals are impulsive by its instinct. Humans and
animals are programmed on what to do in most situations. Most animals, since birth, knows
what is foodfood is and how to eat them., tThey kill for survival without thinking of weather
whether killing is good or bad. On the other hand, human babies also act instinctively, they
don't know how to talk, but every time they get hungry, they cry as a form of communication.

Humans and animals have its their instinct, but the only thing that separates humans
from animals is that through time humans develop moral character. Humans feel a sense of
what is right or wrong from innocent babies to a virtuous, ethical person. Because human is
virtuously ethical, he/she knows what is evil and good, that which enables him/her to act
accordingly to the norms. With this, people tend to have a concern to for others and do things
for the betterment of his/her surroundings. Thus, if a person doesn't have norms of being
virtuously ethical and only focuses on itshim self without any consideration to of his/her
surroundings, it would mean that he/she is just being instinctive, just like an animal.

Understanding virtue ethics is somehow a means of being upright since it discusses

how a sentient being’s actions were criticized and sorted. Being in reliable of his/her
actions, an individual must do things that are morally acceptable in the society in order for
him/ her not to deviate the rules and regulations a certain organization and legislation had
implemented.

Individuals who do good or, in contrast, violated the rules means, that the
person had realized what it is to be more humanistic and empathic in this world. As a
human beings, we have our own foundation of principle. Each human has its own traits. By
this, we can act according to our own desires. It also involves our way of understanding the
moral life that we are practicing.

What about those persons who committed crimes but still shows of having principles
and virtues in life, are they consider inhuman? Just like the security guard named Alchie
Paray, who hostages civilians at Virra mall Greenhills shopping complex in Manila.
According to his statement, he did that because he was being fired in his job and for the
reason that he didn't want how his employers treated employees like him. He added that there
is curruption corruption happening within the mall, and this pushes him to do this action so
that people will be aware of this, and there will be no employees like him who will be
exploited with this kind of system. Despite of what he has done, many citizens admire the
braveness that Paray displayed. It takes courage and sacrifice to face the wrongness that
happened in the society; even himself could commit such crime. During the hostage hostage-
taking, Paray shows concern with his hostages h. He is still taking good care of them. In this
dilemma, Paray commits violation in the law, but he was able to gain respect and sympathy
fromof the citizens. iIn these this case, Paray shows principles and virtue of braveness,
displaying concern to the employee but still he should be penalized of what he has done
according to the law.

We were born humans biologically, but it takes virtue ethics to be human. A person
who is virtues virtuous person automatically becomes ethical. This person knows how to act
and think ethically. Because of the norms and standards that are set by the society, we can
classify a person who is being human to a person and who is being inhuman. With virtue
ethics, we have a better understanding of what it really means to be human, and that is to do
good and do what is morally right.

People tend to seek what is the true essence of life, and it mirrors the question of how
to be human. In accordance to with the teachings of the Catholic religion, the true essence of
our very own existence is to worship and please God, and the only thing to please God is to
be good and do good things to others. God is pleased by a virtuous person, and He is
displeasing displeased by hypocrite and evil person. In terms of philosophy, by being a
virtuously ethical person, one can understand how to be human and can able to have a good
life. What ever norms it may be, philosophically and biblically, both have the same answer on
how to be human, and that is to be good and be a virtuous person.

Virtue pertains to a standard of right m. Meanwhile, ethics means the philosophical

study of human conduct; , particularly to determine whether it is morally good or morally
bad. Moreover, through virtue ethics, we will be able to know our goals within us and what
we really wanted to be. If we did things that marks and gives significance with each and
every one, it is just we automatically realized that the truth about humanity is doing such
great things that others can’t do, which molds us to be the better human person of tomorrow.

The virtue and ethics is are said to be synonyms, ; both makes a person do and
think what is right and defined as what makes a person good or bad. Virtue ethics is
somewhat the basis of the society to have the rights and laws to every human being. Thus,
this helps us understand that everyone has the traits to be called as a human being.
 As we people lived in the same global world, w. We lived in different perspectives,
lived with different ideologies,y and also lived with different beliefs and practices. As the
world today we believed with either injustice or justice because of the law we follow in
order to gain freedom and empathy to each one of us people.

The time pass by our empathy, also our own norms as we practice, we gain full
of kindness and generosity that base of our families and teachers who teach us well-
mannered to educate us well enough to face the real world. That also some of us people
does not educate us well enough to be real mannered persons because of lack of
discipline and governance of each one of us, that's why it's hard for us humans to gain
real virtue ethics for ourselves.

Through our verbal and non-verbal cues, we communicate or the conversations of

ourselves to other people that surround us. We speak and think based onf our practices or
believed that some of us think that through our words that we spoke out of our mouths
know that we are right or wrong and also our body gestures that we spoke out to
someone's. As we humans know our limits when to start and when to stop because of
our humanistic ideology. As we humans, weWe do good, and we do bad evil because of our
own desire for satisfaction and decisions for ourselves that end the end that we benefit as base
on our decisions we made. Every person in this world have has realize to be empatheticy and
humanistic humane persons in our society.

Through virtues ethics mold us to be a decisions maker is not about to have a

good manner or to have a good conduct for ourselves to our society. Through this, we are
simply doing morally good and doing morally bad through our choices. This is not about
selfishness or something else to think of. It is all about to balance the societies life of
people in society, simply base on their ideology and also their significance of virtues
ethics that we believed in. because tThrough virtues ethics, we achieved our ultimate goals
in life to be better persons, especially to in our respective societies we lived in. Therefore, as
we people do not have same ultimate goals in life or have a virtue ethics in ourselves, t.
The important matter is we think the best of our choices and think decisions through
morally good or morally bad as we speak or actions we made in our societies.
 Evaluation
Plag. Percentage: 1%

Coherence: 13/20

Content: 7/20

The parts whose font color I changed into purple are statements that are either very
ambiguous or veering away from the thought of the paragraph to which they belong. Your
work gives me the impression that you didn’t work as a team. There are a lot of statements
that do not make any sense.

Reference:

Johnson, Robert and Cureton, Adam, “Kant’s Moral Philosophy”, The Stanford Encyclopedia
of Philosophy (Spring 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)

URL = https://plato.stanford,edu/archives/spr2019/entries/kant-moral/

“Ethics Unwrapped” University of Texas at Austine.edu. Virtue Ethics. 2020

URL = https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/virtue-ethics

Rambo Tabalong. “Alchie Paray: What it turned a Greenhills guard into a hostage taker”,
Rappler News. March 2020

URL= https://amp.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/2533227-alchie-paray-what-turnes-
greenhills-guard-into-hostage-taker/