Virtue Ethics - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Kant expresses that the will of the people to treat others as an end rather than a means, defines the rightness of their action (Pojman and Tramel 23-27). He explains that human beings can only act right if they treat other people with fairness. Evidently, human beings consider the virtuous people as those who treat others fairly, with dignity and positive attitude. On this ground, the idea of Kant that moral rightness as the ability to treat others fairly is universally practical.
(Pojman and Tramel 23-27).Kant paints the image of a person as a legislator of kingdom, to direct people on how they should act morally. The interpretation of this statement is that human beings should act as if they are designing universal law that applies not only to them but also to other moral agents. In this statement, the philosopher urges human beings to act in such a way that their actions are exemplary and that others should follow the same direction. Thus, if one does a bad thing, then he invites others to act the same way, as this would be legislating a new law in the universal kingdom. On this ground, human beings should act in such a way that their actions are fairto others and the results of these actions are positive. Trammel (24) states that Kant’s philosophy can best be understood as being committed to the theme of rightness as fairness. From a close examination, Kant alludes to the idea that the morality of an action can be assessed by the extent to which it is fair to the recipient.
The role that morality should play in our lives is a topic that garnered attention from numerous philosophers. Wolf (419-439) is among the scholars who focused on the way human beings apply morals on their life. She states that human beings should not strive to live a saintly life as this was be too good to the extent of denying themselves happiness. She agrees that human beings should treat others not as a means but ...Download file to see next pagesRead More