Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 10

Ethics - Essay Example It stresses that morality only acts as the driving force for the individual’s ethical and virtuous behavior, rather than the individual exhibiting ethical behavior because of certain rules, to garner expected consequences and because of certain social contexts or compulsions. Standards and concepts of virtue ethics or virtuous behavior were put forth by ancient thinkers like Aristotle and Confucius. Aristotle classifies virtue as moral virtue and intellectual virtue while defining the dual forms of virtue. â€Å"Virtue, then, being of two kinds, intellectual and moral, intellectual virtue in the main owes both its birth and its growth†¦.. while moral virtue comes about as a result of habit, whence also its name (ethike) is one that is formed by a slight variation from the word ethos (habit).† (Aristotle). Thus, Aristotle thinks that moral virtue is the result of habits that an individual forms in his/her life. Moral virtue is not an inborn quality, on the other hand, it is an characteristic, that an individual acquires by habit. â€Å"From this it is also plain that none of the moral virtues arises in us by nature; for nothing that exists by nature can form a habit contrary to its nature.† (Aristotle). When a person has a habit of doing virtuous things, the quality of virtue is imbibed in his/her behavior. Aristotle provides the examples of builders and lyrep layers to prove his point regarding the role played by habit in the development of virtue. He explains that to carry out a particular work, an individual is required to learn that work first and this learning is acquired by doing that work. Aristotle further states that intellectual virtue is developed in an individual, owing to the training and education he/she receives. Moral virtue is formed, owing to the habit of the person for doing virtuous things. However, to develop this habit, the person has to learn about virtue and it is here that

Judaism, Kabbalah Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Judaism, Kabbalah - Essay Example This was a period before the Protestant Reformation and the Enlightenment which saw the development of empiricism and science. Thus things were often explained on the basis of spirituality and mysticism. At such a period, the Kabbalah was an important source of explanations in the Jewish community around Europe because it was seen as the authoritative source of interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. And due to the emphasis placed on spirituality, it had a very strong appeal amongst Jews and Christians alike. Kabbalah practiced amongst the Jews in Europe especially in Italy in the Middle Ages mixed principles of Aristotlean philosophy and Sufism in a way that provided a strong body of knowledge in mysticism that was helpful in the interpretation of Christianity and Judaism in that era (Idel 21). This mix gave a practical guide and reasonable system for explaining things in Europe at that time. Due to this feature, it became widely accepted by most people in Middle Age Europe since it gav e explanations to things that the Church was preaching throughout Europe. Although Kabbalah was a Jewish system, the Catholic Church created units within the Church that applied some of the principles of Kabbalah (Idel 22).