Write a draft dealing with the case Robot Druggie

VIRTUE ETHICS ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Some virtues ................................................................................................................................... 1

Aristotle ............................................................................................................................................. 2 SOME VICES ................................................................................................................................. 2

OUTLINE FOR VIRTUES ARGUMENT .................................................................................................. 4

VIRTUE ETHICS We should develop good moral characters or work to become virtuous people. Notice that the definition of virtues is circular: being virtuous means developing a virtuous character. The definition is circular because being virtuous involves developing the tendency to a number of virtues, and no one virtue defines being virtuous.

Some virtues Caution Charity Courage Discipline Flexibility Forgiveness Helpfulness Honesty Humility Loyalty Patience Prudence Responsibility

Virtue ethics has a long history dating back to Confucius. In western philosophy we study the theory of virtue of Aristotle

Aristotle Ancient Greek Philosopher (384-322 BC) According to Aristotle, virtues come from habit. In turn, habit comes from -education, training, and practice. Just being courageous, forgiving, etc., is not enough, rather developing virtues involves knowing when to use courage, when and how to forgive. This requires a lifetime of development.

Aristotle & the Golden Mean Virtue is a balance between extremes, a mean between 2 vices, one of excess and the other of deficiency

Example [recklessness is excess of courage] is [cowardice is deficiency of courage] Aristotle’s main virtues: justice, courage, temperance, and prudence.

Notice that Justice is a virtue. Compassion, caring, and kindliness are also virtues. However, the virtues of Justice & Caring (compassion) are deemed so very important in modern ethics studies, that we have separated these two virtues from the rest. So, never discuss Justice or Caring as virtues, instead, use the ethical theories of Justice or Caring. In English we rarely have the kinds of balances of virtues of excess/mean/deficiency in our terminology . We just do not have that virtues mindset. So, applying balance the way Aristotle does seldom works for us.

What we have instead are some virtues that we can list and name, and we have some vices, the opposite of virtues. But often in English we will speak of a vice without having a word that corresponds as a virtue. So, if you are arguing that someone or a company is unvirtuous, it is best to just discuss the vice they consistently show that makes them unvirtuous.

SOME VICES Apathy Arrogance Conceit Corruption Cowardice

Dishonesty Greed Ignorance Irresponsibility Laziness Lewdness Malice Recklessness Ruthlessness Shortsightedness Stinginess Stubbornness

How then might we discuss cases applied to virtue ethics? Recall that when we discussed rights we were careful to avoid speaking of ethical rights of businesses. Only people have rights. In the case of Utilitarianism, we must be careful not to consider the good of a company as such, the people in the company should be the focus. But ethically, we can speak of specific virtues applying to companies: companies, institutions, and organizations over time can indeed develop ethical climates or traits , so that we can speak of an honest company or a shortsighted company or a greedy company. It is important to recognize that one act of dishonesty of a company does not make the company lacking in that virtue. Rather, repeated dishonesty shows that that virtue is not well balanced for this company. Think Microsoft, and you can recognize characteristic policies that come from this company that have called its virtue into question. A company is made up of policy-setters and those who enforce those policies on an on-going basis.

EXAMPLE: Once upon a time HP was viewed as the one place everyone wanted to work. The HP environment was consistent over time and various employee relations and customer and marketing policies gave it the label of a good company. Beginning with the retirement, and finally after the death of H & P, all of that changed. HP is no longer the virtuous company it once

was. New CEOs promise it will get better, but HP will probably never again reach that pinnacle of virtue it once fostered.

OUTLINE FOR VIRTUES ARGUMENT

1. DEFINE VIRTUE ETHICS We should develop good moral characters or work to become virtuous people.

2. Make a general statement (x is virtuous/not virtuous) about each responsible or relevantly involved party.

3. For each responsible or relevantly involved party: a. PARTY A

1. List their virtues (if any) in relation to the case. (a sentence) 2. Define each virtue 3. Explain how definition of the virtue fits the details of the case. 4. List their vices (if any) in relation to the case. 5. Define each vice 6. Explain how definition of the vice fits the details of the case.

b. PARTY B 1. List their virtues (if any) in relation to the case. (a sentence) 2. Define each virtue 3. Explain how definition of the virtue fits the details of the case. 4. List their vices (if any) in relation to the case. 5. Define each vice 6. Explain how definition of the vice fits the details of the case.

C. Repeat sub-steps 1 to 6 for all of the involved parties you can think of that did or could have shown virtues or vices. Sometimes the victims act very virtuously, sometimes they do not.

You define the virtues & vices by looking them up in a dictionary. Most are straightforward, but be careful when using the vice of corruption, defined in terms of virtues, is broader than the usual definition. It is a very important vice. (Corruption - not only are you bad, you are encouraging others to be bad,

fostering vice in others. In other words, corruption has 2 parties, the one being corrupted & the one doing the corrupting. The one doing the corrupting is especially bad.