Kings, Soldiers, Judges 

Virtue Ethics 

    A conscious habit of thinking about how to be a better human being contributes to a person’s character, especially over time, is by self analysis. First you have to admit there is a problem in your character. A pause and reflecting on your action, which I like to do at the end of the day over a cold drink, brings out your regret and your victories. Knowing what your high and low points will help you understand why you think that and where you can improve becomes more clear. 

    The specific aspects of my character I would need to work on/improve in order to become a better person is prioritizing the important things in life. If I keep in mind that I am held accountable for ALL of my actions, aventurelly now or later, then I would be serious about my priorities. I find that I am constantly rediscovering all the little task in my life that if I put certain things before others, then I would actually accomplish all of the obligations and more. Setting an important goal for me is useless, unless I restructure my time, money, and thought energy around it. This is more than serving in a busy food industry, it is securing my son’s future, pleasing my wife, and other important responsibilities in life.

     I think most people do not make enough of a regular effort to work on their character and amend their shortcomings. It is our conscience that makes our actions just acceptable. People generally don’t want to be viewed as monsters, so will endure the minimum pleasure without crossing some line set by some public. The end result is people are neither truly pleased or truly good characters. We are morally obligated to make the effort to become better people. In the unjust chous the world inflicts on us, a good character is what we demand on who we depend on. We want someone else to be our hero and so we must in turn be a hero. A good character is what we are truly after. In achieving this, we have true happiness that gives back when we reflect on the fruits of good character every time. It is pride in ourselves, that we have a little of what makes our hero’s our heroes. 

    I consider a model of moral excellence that is Joan de Arc, I see in her an example of how to live, and whose qualities of character I would like to cultivate. She is a woman who rose in a purely wild, dog-eat-dog, and godless world. With un-henched tenacity charged armies directly into the heart of the enemy, yet had the gentle qualities that made France fertile for peace. Supposedly, without education, was a strategist, diplomat, and debater with x-ray vision. I Women who lead with a god, and still gave every victory to her undeserved king. I would want my son’s to see examples of such human (and especially moral) excellence in the Maid of Orleans. The idea that a woman imitated Christ in a specific way that perfectly benefited everyone but herself shows that there are many untraditional ways to be a christian. 

Consequentialist ethic 

    The hardest part of living by the utilitarian principle of the ‘greatest good’ would be the fact that I could change my pleasure. I think pleasure is kind of subjective, especially if I'm working for a specific kind of early retirement in Florida with passive income, and then, all of a sudden, I decide that I won’t retire and just move to another country working in an art gallery. I would also have a very hard time calculating those subjective things in my everyday decision. The most rewarding part would be the fact that I would restrict my responsibilities to my pleasure, it is actually my only responsibility. If I “must” do something and that fact stresses me out, maybe I don't really have to do it. There is an ambiguous pleasure meter weighing on all the suffering I'm paying out. 

    The different kinds of pleasure/happiness are probably the tiers of happiness, like aristotle’s pleasure, honor, and reflection. Reflection is the highest pleasure and more valuable and higher quality than the others. I don’t just say this as a pragmatic aristotelian, I know that me and my wife have pleasant afternoons talking about our adventures or reflections on a book we are reading together. We can reminisce anytime and everytime it brings a little rediscovery and joy. This has a paradoxical effect, because when we remember our times talking, often the case that that moment becomes one of those times of pleasant memories that provide more revelations. 

    Utilitarians think that pleasure and the absence of pain are the highest goods that we can seek in life, and that we should always be seeking to produce these goods for others (and for ourselves). They claim that every other good thing in life is valued simply because it produces pleasure or reduces pain. I disagree with that sentiment, for pain and pleasure are not truely measureble. I find pleasure in pain not for anticipation of pleasure, but for pain sake. I can find pleasure in anything for my end in to a good goal. That is not the same as pleasure as the goal itself, but simply a delightful calladual. To say I am happy to suffer for a good cause doesn't mean I am doing it for the pleasure. That would really make my st. Joan a selfish person.

     A utilitarian might say that to measure a ‘good life,’ you should ask:‘how much overall happiness did this life bring into the world?’ I disagree that this is the correct measure of a good life, I think happyness is subjective. Snow is great for a farmers, but the homeless death sentence. If you were forced to measure it in points, I guarantee people will calculate the in their behalf. Most people will see that they can be happier lowering their aspirations, standards, and ambitions. The world would be robbed of the greats, for the greats will settle slightly mediocre goals. 

Deontological ethics 

Very often, when making decisions, I consider whether I would willingly permit everyone else to act in the same way that I am choosing to act. I learned this best in Star Trek Next Generations, that in all the different times, dimensions, planets, universes, and more, the crew work together to find a peaceful diplomatic solution, their attempts are respected because it all depended on delivery and communication. So, especially in business, I work on being calm in stressful, emotional, and serious moments. I understand that angry, presumptive, and impulsive people create problems. They are the Micheal Scotts of history, and drive me nuts. So I try not to turn into the thing I hate most. 

    Two other examples I can think of, beyond those given in the text above, in which someone is treated as a ‘mere means to an end is when people slavery, and sexual harassment. Slavery seems to obvious, that a human’s only purpuses to give their everything to the ends of another. Sexual harassment, such like quid pro quo, results in the destruction of the work enviroment and is mudding the meritacracy. 

    Very often, when making decisions, I consider whether I would willingly permit everyone else to act in the same way that I am choosing to act. I learned this best in Star Trek Next Generations, that in all the different times, dimensions, planets, universes, and more, the crew work together to find a peaceful diplomatic solution, their attempts are respected because it all depended on delivery and communication. So, especially in business, I work on being calm in stressful, emotional, and serious moments. I understand that angry, presumptive, and impulsive people create problems. They are the Micheal Scotts of history, and drive me nuts. So I try not to turn into the thing I hate most. 

    Two other examples I can think of, beyond those given in the text above, in which someone is treated as a ‘mere means to an end is when people slavery, and sexual harassment. Slavery seems to obvious, that a human’s only purpuses to give their everything to the ends of another. Sexual harassment, such like quid pro quo, results in the destruction of the work enviroment and is mudding the meritacracy. 

    I agree that human lives are of the highest possible value and beyond any fixed ‘price’. In my opinion, a society reflects this view on morality and justice as well as it does to its weakest members. Knowing that society has almost always been completely wrong on something, but the today’s society is beginning to prey on children and elderly more than recently. These are not the weakest members in our society, but are disturbingly victim to human trafficking, sexual consumerism, and neglect. The mental ill used to have mental institutions, which once abused their positions, but now the ill minded are neglected to the streets. The Functional adult who can support a family, often finds little else time, money, or resources to help the unwanted in our society. This is important, because the famous (and one I despised), theoretical test of which one would you sacrifice, person x or person y, people often find the less valued one. 

Conclusion 

    Of the 3 distinct types of ethical frameworks/theories reviewed in this section; virtue, utilitarian, and deontological, the aspects of the good life/ethics do I think each one captures best is in leadership, feng shui, and judging in their respectives. Virtue ethics make heroes, people I could get behind. Utilitarians are people about balance and fitting complicated choices in a life, maybe strategizing. Deontological people could be hard and objective judges, people deciding on other people.