Running Head: FATHERS OF PHILOSOPHY AND CONTEMPORARY ETHICS 1
Fathers of Philosophy and Contemporary Ethics
Aristotle and Plato are famously known as the fathers of philosophy. The teachings of
these two philosophers have impacted and helped shape our contemporary views today. Both
philosophers believe that in order to be worthy of a happy life, one must live with virtues such as
courage, temperance, generosity, friendliness, and magnanimity. However, the two had different
methods of achieving a life of virtue. Aristotle focused on rationalizing thoughts and actions
repeatedly and Plato focused on virtue through conduct and self-control. While philosophers
differ methodically in philosophical concepts, both are still widely incorporated into ethical
concepts of the contemporary society.
Ethical philosophies of Plato and Aristotle have helped shaped our society into what it is
today. Aristotle and Plato’s philosophies have demonstrated how both have impacted
contemporary ethical views through a concept in common: virtuous thinking. Although both
philosophers aimed to live a happy life through virtuous concepts, each philosopher had his own
way of achieving the state of virtue; Aristotle achieved through rationality, logic, and reasoning;
and Plato through virtuous conduct. Aristotle’s theory of Eudemonism has become the dominant
theory in modern society because of its practicality and usefulness.
Ethics are the moral values and principles that people follow to regulate their decisions
and actions. Ethics have a significant value in contemporary society, especially in the
professional world. Everyday business or medical professionals are faced with ethical dilemmas
and must determine what is considered to be morally right and wrong conduct. Today’s society is
extraordinarily diverse in many aspects. There are several ethical dilemmas that can arise due to
several differences of religious beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, and cultural customs. The
FATHERS OF PHILOSOPHY AND CONTEMPORARY ETHICS 2
need to empathize and understand the differences in the way individuals think, respond, and
perceive the world around is essential to ethics and ties into humanities.
By definition, humanities are how humans process the experience of being human. The
study of humanities encompasses innovative and traditional stories, art, music, architecture,
philosophies and even ideas. The ideas provoke thoughts or concepts that may have never
entered our minds. Humanities throw out the “rules” and allow us to question, evaluate and
understand beyond the world we know of. Skepticism is embraced and seeking understanding is
nourishing to the human soul. Aristotle and Plato’s concept of virtue is to ethics and
understanding of human nature is to humanities.
Like humanities, ethics require a sensitivity or empathy to the views and differences of
individuals, only guided by morality. In contemporary society, ethical behavior is essential.
Responding inappropriately can result in negative publicity, employment termination, or even a
lawsuit which is why it is essential to obtain ethical training or education in today’s society.
There are deontological theories that are based upon ethical behavior through rules and
duty, which in contemporary society is often expressed in the form of a code of ethics. How are
these rules created? Before a rule can be created you have to have some measure to establish
criteria. Measuring by “good or bad” is too broad of a measure. A person could have good
intentions while engaging in unethical conduct. For instance, in a workplace setting an employee
may read or see something that was confidential about a co-worker. She may feel sympathetic for
her co-worker and share the information with others, with the hope they would sympathize with
her as well. Maybe people will be nicer to her if they knew what she was going through!
Although the intentions are good, this is so unethical! Instead, the employee should have
evaluated what was considered to be morally right or wrong. It was morally wrong to share
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personal information without permission. The co-worker may be ashamed or violated of the
personal information that was shared. Ethics uses moral reasoning to determine the appropriate
conduct.
There are two philosophers are known for their virtue based ethical theories: Plato and
Aristotle. The two philosophers believed an individual must live a virtuous life to achieve
happiness. The virtues one must live with included temperance, generosity, friendliness, courage
and magnanimity. The theories of these two men have greatly shaped the ethics of contemporary
society. In order to compare the two philosophers to modern society, the key thoughts that each
build their philosophies upon must be identified.
Plato has been known for his works involving virtue and morality in society. The moral
action of virtue was enough to be worthy of happiness according to Plato. According to David
