I mean, all of the systems have their merits and their shortcomings. So what we could do when faced with an ethical dilemma is to look at it from three different points of view - Virtue Ethics, Utilitarianism and Deontology - and take the average vote.
The problem is, I don't really like deontology so I might be tempted to skip that one. But then I might end up with a tie.
I also realise that this is a rather cold, Utilitarian way of looking at the issue. The idea was that the emotions involved in Virtue Ethics would balance out the 'greatest good for the greatest number' principle.
I was talking to Lizzzy and Margie today and it seems that I'm the biggest supporter of Utilitarianism. Everyone else prefers Virtue Ethics (though I wouldn't take that as fact!) but I find it an unsatisfying wishy-washy system. A couple of reasons come to mind.
Firstly that I have a whole bunch of preconceptions about what people should and should not do from my Catholic education. I don't regret (regret isn't the right word) having this experience because it has made me into a moral person. At a risk of sounding big-headed I do think I am a 'good' person. But this is only because I've blindly obeyed the Catholic rules for however many years and it's now almost habit. And I like being good. Anyway, the point is I have a bunch of preconceptions about rules that don't make any sense. Like that being gay is wrong. (I got over that one.) It just makes me worry that I could be that badly mistaken with other things and think they're virtues.
And the other reason I don't like Virtue Ethics that much is because I'm too logical. The logic of Utilitarianism just appeals. So I don't know whether I like it more mostly because I'm more logical. Does the whole of your philosophical thought depend on how you think? Does that mean we can make huge assumptions about what people will believe? Do I get mixed up between philosophy/psychology/ToK/anthropology? YES!
(I was having ToKish philosophy thoughts yesterday but my brother interrupted with a maths question so I helped him and promptly forgot it.)
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