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Ethics: Aristotle’s Twelve Virtues
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Ethics: Aristotle’s Twelve Virtues
Introduction
According to Aristotle, the theory of moral virtue is a
critical element to achieving activity that brings meaning happiness to the
soul of any individual. In addition, he suggested that the good life involves
perfect control of what is provided by nature. Therefore nature arouses the
desires and appetites of an individual, and it can give rise to the
possibilities of good and evil in one's inner being. Aristotle further argues
that a reasonable person has a natural desire to do things that please their souls
and others (Glasscock, 2019).
The Greek philosopher went ahead bring a fundamental principle that claims that
moral virtues at the midpoint between the two vices, the deficiency and excess.
When the virtues are qualitatively too much is referred to as vice of too excess.
When the evil is too little qualitatively, it becomes a vice of deficiency.
There are twelve Aristotle moral virtues. The discussion of this paper is
limited to honesty and courage.
Honesty is one of the moral virtue that one can practice. In the process of being honest, a person can be involved in too many lies and that become vice, or someone may not participate in lies at all, and the latter may be construed as vice as well (Crash Course,2016). Here, both too many lies and little or no lies can be the wrongdoing. The moderation or the mean of the two aspects mentioned above is the correct moral virtue. Ted (2011) provides an excellent example that rhymes with the above statement. Michael, who lost his job, robs the car driver at gunpoint (though Michael uses a toy gun) and gets 50 dollars. Eventually, Michael got convicted of a crime, and Judge Lois Forer ruled leniently in favor of Michael and jails him for 11 months (he spends a night in jail and a day at the job) instead of five years. The prosecutor was very sad about this ruling and afterward filed an appeal won; both judge and Michael were found wrong by law. Michael got jailed for five, and lenient ruling costs judge his job (Ted, 2011). Michael here wants to justify his dishonest way of stealing to support his...
