Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Which virtues are those humans need in order to flourish and be truly happy?
To some extent that depends on the culture. In Homeric Greece physical courage was
prized; pioneers to the American West put a high value on self-reliance; in today's mul-
ticultural society tolerance is important. However, certain core virtues, such as honesty,
justice, and loyalty, seem to be of universal importance.
A
vice
is a character trait that prevents a human being from flourishing or being
truly happy. Vices, then, are the opposite of virtues. Aristotle noticed that in many
cases two different vices can be associated with a virtue: one corresponding to an excess
and the other corresponding to a deficiency. For example, the virtue of courage can
be seen occupying a middle ground between cowardice (having an excess of fear) and
rashness (having a deficiency of fear). The virtue of friendliness is somewhere in between
quarrelsomeness (being too critical of what others like or what they want to do) and
obsequiousness (giving in too easily and not being critical enough of what others like or
what they want to do).
Virtue ethics pays particular attention to the agent (the person performing the
action) as well as the action (as in Kantianism and social contract theory) and the
consequences of the action (as in utilitarianism). A good person does “the right thing
at the right time for the right reason” [28].
According to the theory of virtue ethics, moral decision making cannot be reduced
to the routine application of a set of rules. That is not to say there is no place for
“rules of thumb.” In order to develop the virtue of trustworthiness, for example, it is
a good idea to follow the rule of thumb “Keep confidences.” However, under certain
circumstances keeping a confidence may not be the right course of action. Moral wisdom
or discernment takes precedence over any rule [6].
SCENARIO
Josh is a senior majoring in computer science at a small university. All of the
seniors in computer science are friends because they have taken most of their
computer science courses together. Josh is particularly close to Matt. Josh and
Matt are from the same city about 200 miles from campus, and Matt has given
Josh rides to and from home a half dozen times at the start and end of school
holidays. Notably, Matt never asked Josh to help pay for the gas on any of these
trips, and Josh never offered to do so.
When it is time for seniors to choose partners for their capstone project, no
one is surprised when Josh and Matt end up on the same team. Unfortunately,
Josh and the other teammates soon rue inviting Matt onto their team. Everyone
has known Matt to be hard-working, trustworthy, and reliable, but his father
just died in a car accident, and he has lost all interest in school. To make matters
worse, Matt is drinking too much. He doesn't show up for a lot of the team
meetings, and the code he produces doesn't meet the specifications. Josh and
the other teammates can't persuade Matt to take the project more seriously, and
since they don't have any real control over his behavior, they decide it's easier
