Aristotle advanced the philosophy of ethics, where he demonstrated that it is a means of achieving an end to happiness. However, happiness means many things to different people. To Aristotle, the most adequate way to pursue happiness is through the virtue of excellence. In his writings, Aristotle connected his therory of virtue to economics, and leadership as well. It is a matter of connecting ones personal ethics to that of ones business ethics., simply because Aristotle made no disticntion between ethics and politics. Aristotle illustrated the purpose of ethics in leadership in that he believed that virtue is ingrained in character (Ciulla, 2003).
This means that leaders, especially in business can have morally weak characters, and this
…show more content…
As Aristotle (and Buddha) believed that the “moraity of a person is a seamless whole” (Ciulla, 2003). Hence, the leadership will be guided by the person in his or her full cpacity as a moral, ethical, and virtuous being. Virtue involves having the necessary attitude toward pleasure and pain. For instance, when faced with danger, a coward will suffer excessive fear while a rash person will least likely suffer enough fear. A person who is virtuous exhibits all the virtue principles that were listed by Aristotle. These virtues include temperance, courage, magnanity, liberty, proper ambition, magnificence, wittiness, patience, modesty, truthfulness, indignation, and friendliness. Although all these virtues are important, leaders in professional and educational organizations would need the value of proper ambition, patience, courage, magnificence, friendliness and truthfulness. In leadership, thus, professions involve dealing with young people who are experiencing life and what it has to offer. Therefore, dealing with them will require all these virtues (Dudley, …show more content…
In a professional and educational setup it can be translated as excellence. For instance a good manager has a virtue of excellence if he or she is good at handling his employees and other duties of the organization. This again is related to what Ciulla (2003) has said with regard to virtue. Moral value, on the other hand, is just a commitment to perform well in any undertaking. A manager will therefore be motivated to do good based on there virtues and moral obligations.
Aristotle had vast writings on society, justice and economic thinking. The great value that Aristotle’s economic thoughts motivated others to think about the economy. Initially people only thought about the economy in official ways. Although Aristotle was a great thinker, his thoughts and values about the economy could not have been of so much relevance to the world of today. His main economic idea was centered on just price, which literally implies common evaluation (Dudley,
To do this I must first explain several concepts of Aristotle which are: (1) how he concludes that the human function is reason, (2) what he means by happiness and how it is the human good, and (3) why he believes that the activity of the soul must be virtuous to become
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way,” as said by John C. Maxwell. This reminds people about what it takes to be a great leader and has raised many controversies as to what a great leader is. Qualities like decisiveness, confidence, focus, and consistency are necessary to make a leader. Virtue, which is a behavior showing high moral standards , is not one of the necessary qualities. By analyzing literature and history, a person can still be a good and effective leader without virtue because they are consistent, credible, and have a vision of their goals.
Organizations are most productive when individuals work as a whole to gather knowledge and when leaders rule effectively in order to gain respect. A leader rules most effectively when they use cruelty to instill fear in their followers (Source D). For example, a coach on a football team will have better results during practice and games if he coaches so that his players fear rather than love him. A way to do this is if the coach uses harsh punishments, like conditioning, when his players step out of line.
C.S. Lewis did not mince words in regards to the state of Man. Throughout history following the Enlightenment, man became fixated on science and reason to explain natural phenomena instead allowing imagination and self-exploration to define it from an individual’s perspective (Lewis, 1944). Man has been conditioned to be who he is now; he has conditioned the weakest links to survive. Nature no longer serves the same purpose as it did before (1944). We have lost the things that have made us human.
Secondly, it makes a lot of sense to think of ethics in relation to character as compared to actions or even intentions. Thinking of ethics in relation to character is sensible since an ethical person can best be defined by their tendency to consistently repeat a good behavior. Aristotle is, therefore, right to say for instance that a courageous individual is consistently courageous. One particular action of good behavior, therefore, cannot make an individual be defined as ethical neither can a particular intention. I think the example of tennis is a good one.
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics begins by exploring ‘the good’. Book I argues that, unlike other goods, “happiness appears to be something complete and self-sufficient, and is, therefore, the end of actions” (10:1097b20-21). In other words, happiness is the ultimate good. But how does one achieve happiness? Aristotle formulates this in the context of work, since for all things, from artists to horses, “the good and the doing it well seem to be in the work” (10:1097b27-28).
These characteristics are integrity and authenticity; integrity can be defined in many ways, integrity encloses core values like honesty and justice, and it suggests a sense of moral soundness (Lawton & Páez, 2014). Leaders with integrity would do the right thing when nobody is looking, they would demonstrate exemplary moral behavior and they will keep a consistency between laws and codes. The virtue of integrity in an ethical leader has such a strong impact that when subordinates think about their leaders they think about their integrity and ethics. When leaders demonstrate their integrity daily, they gain credibility from his/ her
Thus, when human function is done well, it is in accordance with virtue and best human life is achieved. In addition, it can be inferred that since Aristotle’s definition of happiness is to be virtuous, performing rational activity well can lead to happiness. In addition, Aristotle states, “if there are more than one virtue, in accordance with the best and most complete” (1098a18). This means that eventually there will be one virtue that is inclusive of all virtue and that displays an end, and this virtue will be in line with the self-sufficient and inclusive concept of happiness as the chief good. If this inclusive virtue and good is achieved, ultimate happiness will be achieved as well.
The idea of virtue ethics was first introduced to the world by Aristotle over 2,300 years ago in 325 BC (Rachels 173). Virtue ethics operate on the belief that people develop good character by looking at the virtues they admire in other people and emulating them. In order to do this, a person must ask themselves what kind of person they want to be and focus on choosing characteristics not specific people to emulate. Unfortunately, virtue ethics were quickly overshadowed by other perspectives on ethical theory as Christianity gained popularity and values changed. As time went on people stopped asking themselves, “What traits make a good person?”
Virtue ethics is an expansive theory inspired by the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle. In contrast to deontology and consequentialism, virtue ethics emphasizes the moral character (ideal traits) of a person. Aristotle believed that nature produced humans with the desire to be virtuous, just how seeds are built with the drive to become trees. This concept can be related to the term eudaimonia, which translates to the flourishing of a human being; a happy and well-lived life.
In order to do this, we need to 'know thyself ' and become as learned as we can, knowing the good for all, while also being humble. We are all naturally good people, so we must promote the good in the world. According to Aristotle, however, happiness, his goal for all humans is not that easy to obtain. He claims that "happiness is a certain sort of activity of the soul in accord with virtue (Aristotle, p.12). On the Aristotelian model of how to obtain happiness, it deals a great deal with the issue of particulars.
The virtue theory, which pursues virtuous principles, strategies and actions, can lead companies to understand their values, including mission, purpose, profit potential and other objectives. Virtuous employees tend to perform their roles consistently and competently in the direction of the company's goals. Virtues are the kind of thing you allow someone to take action to appreciate. Business people increase their likelihood of reaching their values and goals when they reach Objectivist virtues. Virtues emphasize the importance of each employee's valuable contribution.
In other word, a goal with lower priority can be a method to achieve a goal with higher priority. In Aristotle’s viewpoint, happiness means the supreme good among other virtues, being the ultimate goal that human-beings pursue. Hence happiness cannot be an optional
In this essay, I will be discussing Aristotle’s conception of the “good life” which he outlined in the Nicomachean Ethics. As we will see, the “good life” for man according to Aristotle is one where we perform the particular activity which is distinctly ours and guides us towards eudaimonia – sometimes translated as ‘happiness’ or ‘well-being’. He shows us how the other conflicting depictions of the ‘good life’ are misguided, and how we should aim for a life of reason. First, however, I will discuss briefly what Aristotle meant by the term ‘good’ and then move on to how he arrived at the conclusion on human happiness. Aristotle believes that the ‘good life’ for a particular organism depends on what that organism is and the conditions it requires
Basically, ethics are at their essence which is it is the moral judgments about what is right and what is wrong. Business ethics is focusing on examine the policies and conduct within the context of commercial enterprise in an organizational as well as in an individual level. In business, the ethics in business is an applied ethics where professionals and researchers use principles and theories to solve any ethical problems that exist in business. At the quarter of the 20th century, as technologies like internet have made world business or international business all more viable, the business ethics domestically have grown in importance along with the power and significance of major businesses. So that, international business ethics take center stage as a major concern of the modern era.