Virtuous Person, Virtuous Citizen

Virtuous Person, Virtuous Citizen

I have a family friend who resides in a conflict and poverty-stricken area. This area is characterized by a social and economic crisis, high unemployment rates, and violence. The organization, the friend, is attached to does not pay her well; therefore, she cannot afford a decent life. This is also attached to the high-level economic inflation that the region continues to experience. One time the friend discovered that she was pregnant, and according to doctors, she was going to have a kid with disabilities. This seemed like a burden to her life, considering the tough economic times in the region. However, after giving birth, she got an opportunity to work with another organization in a different area. This translated to a dilemma because she could go together with the kid in the new area she was supposed to work, and at the same time, the child needed special care from the mother. Although the friend knew the implications of the decision, she went ahead and took the job, which meant that she would not see her kid frequently.

In this context, the appropriate virtues that should be demonstrated include generosity, the strength of character, resilience, and courage. The friend is obligated to demonstrate such virtues since she is responsible for creating an excellent environment for the family and the child. The strength of character is key since this will assist her in going through difficult times as she strives to achieve her goals. Courage is demonstrated by the decision to go to work in a different area that is far from home. Additionally, generosity entails the sacrifice made through working not to benefit the self but the family. Resilience is key because as she continues to work, she will be faced with a lot of challenges, but resilience will help her not to give up. The virtues are all important since one is expected to endure and conquer challenging circumstances even as one remains morally responsible.

Aristotle’s golden mean asserts that moral behavior is found in between two extremes wherein one end we have a deficiency and the other excessiveness (Rachels & Rachels, 2019). According to Samuel and Tay (2018), one can only act morally if one is able to strike a balance between the two extremes by finding a moderate position. Utilizing this formulation in the above dilemma, we can easily weigh the friend’s decisions. In this case, the excellent course of action is moving out and going to work in an effort to help the family. This could entail sacrificing momentarily pleasure so that the child could have a better life. In this case, the dilemma involves a dispute between moral and familial responsibilities or duties. This is clear when the friend moved out to her new job; this means that she would not see her child grow, which adversely affects the mother and the kid. However, for her staying with the kid would mean the child will be forced to grow in an environment characterized by financial difficulties and, therefore, will not have a better life.

References

Rachels, S., & Rachels, J. (2019). The elements of moral philosophy (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

Samuel, D., & Tay, L. (2018). Aristotle’s golden mean and the importance of bipolarity for personality models: A commentary on “Personality traits and maladaptivity: Unipolarity versus bipolarity.” Journal of Personality, 87(6), 1097-1102. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12383

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Virtuous Person, Virtuous Citizen

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 12

Lesson

Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

Each person owes a duty to himself or herself and to the world to study ethics and to engage in thoughtful debate about what is right and what is wrong. It is this habit of thinking about and reflecting on ethics that will help you determine the right choices when faced with an ethical dilemma.

Articulate a moral dilemma wherein one has to show a specific virtue or virtues (it can be any virtue or virtues, including honesty, courage, charity/generosity, compassion, etc.)

What is the moral dilemma about?

What virtue or virtues should be shown? (You are here to select the best course of action)

Why is that virtue or those virtues to be shown?

How should the virtue or virtues be expressed, and why in that manner?

Apply Aristotle’s golden mean to the dilemma.

Tell us how the dilemma involves conflict moral duties (loyalty to community versus to self, professional versus familial duties, national or personal obligations).

The dilemma must be a situation in which a choice has to be made.

Be sure you tell us why your chosen course of action was best.

Minimum of 2 posts (1 initial & 1 follow-up)

Minimum of 2 sources cited (assigned readings/online lessons and an outside scholarly source)

APA format for in-text citations and list of references