“No happy man can become miserable, for he will never do acts that are hateful and mean.”
-Aristotle
– Aristotle’s teleological ethics argues that the highest capacity of humans is to be rational, which causes the highest form of happiness to be based off of rational behavior. Based off of this Aristotle thought that rational behaviors led to individual human development through happiness. He also thought that finding happiness within a community allowed you to live well and do well. In terms of a morally just society Aristotle believed that if everyone found happiness within a community everyone would be able to live well and do well creating a morally just society. Kant’s deontological ethics argued that an action is good based off of why you’re doing that action and not the fact that you’re just doing that action. This leads to individual human development because using this ethics over and over will train your conscience to be an Adult’s conscience instead of a wrongly formed conscience for example. These ethics can lead to a morally just society because if everyone followed these ethics then everyone will always do an action for a good reason. Levinas’ ethics of the face argued that whenever we look at another persons face it will bring the goodness out of you, this can lead to individual human development because it will cause you to make the morally correct decisions due to the fact that the goodness is being brought out. This can lead to a morally just society because if the face brings the goodness out of everyone then it will cause everyone to do good things.
– Paragraph 1755 in the CCC talks about views similar Immanuel Kant, which is that in order for an act to be considered good the person doing the act must be doing it for a objectively good reason. From paragraph 1755 we can assume that it’s sending the same message as Kant, where by doing actions based off of these ethics it causes your conscience to be well informed. In addition we can assume paragraph 1755 also shares the view that these ethics can lead to a morally just society because doing actions following Kant’s ethics will cause society to always do good. Paragraph 1879 in the CCC shares very similar views regarding Aristotle’s teleological ethics, where he mentions that everyone needs to live in a community to grow and prosper. Paragraph 1879 is sending a similar message because it says that “The human person needs to live in society”, in addition it says that it’s a requirement of our nature and by doing this we will reach our full potential. Paragraph 1879 believes that if these ethics are applied to everyone we will achieve a morally just society, because just like Aristotle thought the benefits from communal living will make everyone do and live well; making everyone have healthy and just morals.
– The message in Colossians 3:17 is that whenever you do a deed you have to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, this means that if you do an action in the name of Jesus then it automatically will be considered a good action. This message from Colossians 3:17 exemplifies Immanuel Kant’s deontological ethics of an action is only good if the intention behind it is good. If an individual did all of his actions in the name of Jesus then he will always be doing the right thing. If everyone followed the same idea then there would be no evil within society because each person would be doing the right things for each other. In the story of the Good Samaritan located in Luke 10:25-37 it relates to Emmanuel Levinas’ ethics of the face because when the samaritan saw the injured man it made him feel bad; bringing the good out of him. When individuals act on the goodness being brought out of them they will always help others no matter what, instead of sitting there and not like some people do today. A whole society following this same idea will cause everyone to be equal because helping others no matter who they are will cause everyone to equally succeed.
– The Bible relates to the role of ethics in human development because it shows us how we should live our lives through multiple stories and verses, such as the Good Samaritan or the Woman at the Well. These two stories like many others throughout the Bible show what good morals and ethics are supposed to be like. It also mentions that by living according to the Bible our lives will be easier and full of happiness; our morals and ethics will also be objectively correct. On top of that the Bible will help form a healthy conscience with its ethics, because the Bible is the Ultimate guide on how to live life properly. The Bible would create a morally just society because if each person lived according to the Bible then evil wouldn’t exist and all there would be is equality in everything. In addition everyone will always be good to each other because their morals and ethics would be in the right.
– Aristotle’s teleological ethics are prevalent in my life all the time because I’m always in some sort of community that makes me happy. For example when I get together with my family to celebrate an event I always feel a sense of joy and happiness, this happiness motivates me to get things done and become more responsible. In my life I see that having good relationships with others helps make people better, and I realize that if everyone had a good relationship with each other, then it would lead to moral equality. Kant’s deontological ethics are in my life because I’m always doing some sort of action. Whenever I do a good action with bad intent such as if I help someone do a question to show that I’m superior to them that action is deemed not a good action. If I did the same action with the reason that I’m helping is because I wanna make the person understand, then its considered a good action because it had good intent. Doing actions with good intent makes me feel good about it which leads my conscience to develop in a good way. I see that if I stop doing actions with bad intent behind it I can create a community around me that has equally good morals because If I don’t put people down then they wouldn’t put me down. Levinas’ ethics of the face are a big part of my life because nonstop everyday I always see hundreds of different faces. An example in my life demonstrating his ethics are when I swore at my parents, almost immediately after I swore I felt pretty bad because according to Levinas’ ethics the face of one another brings the goodness out of me. These ethics help me grow all aspects of my life because the good is always being brought out of me causing my actions to be mainly good. If I acted on the good being brought out of me then I would treat everyone with equal respect within my community.