Ethical Theories: Happiness and Justice in Society
Utopia as a Philosophical Proposition
Utopia as a philosophical proposition. The use of the world as a social instrument, the more artificial and less rooted in reason it is, if you have power, the more repressive it is.
Ethical Challenges to Current Society: Happiness and Justice
Introduction:
- Ethics is divided into several classifications.
- Well-being, happiness, and justice: It is unethical for one to be happy in a situation so unjust.
Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) – Student of Plato – Greece
Plato had a teleological model (looking for a final end). The order of the world was hierarchical, a function of the good, which has the maximum degree of perfection. For him, the essence of nature, which tells us what the nature of every being is, is related to reaching “with the perfection that is ours.” Developing it. The embryo that is in power (which can be), with the highest level, is what is of perfection. The act is if it is in each instant. The true nature of being is sewn for perfection in becoming what one is. Nature tends towards an end, which varies as a function of being. For Aristotle and Plato, the good is the fulfillment of the tendency of beings (entities) to their own perfection.
Responsibility is key. Be aware that what we do, what surrounds us, is the result of what we do. It is an essential element within the field of philosophy and ethics because it makes us aware that we are masters of our destiny; we remove the alignment, freedom. This is connected with ethics because it “pushes us.”
- Adaptability (to the rules that tell us).
- Integration (in view of reality, try to change the circumstances that verify the way).
- Utopia as fantasy (plantations of an imaginary world).
- Utopia (a better world grows as we do, consisting of reality to the extent that it creates, goes on to become, in reality, the consequence of changing the world for the better: a non-place, a transformative project that recreates reality and transforms).
That which is there. He refuses to accept the only reality that there is, a single command, a single truth, and that all this is under the control of whoever has the power, as opposed to the transformative project of utopia as reality. Faced with the alternative that is the only person who adapts to what power gives as reality, this revolutionary utopia, transforming.
- The ultimate end, the goal of every human being, is happiness.
- Each using the activity which is proper according to their own nature.
- The most proper activity of human beings is intellectual activity.
- It is not possible to achieve happiness without the domain of virtue, which in turn is based on the acquisition of manners and habits.
Happiness and Justice
A: Aristotle’s theological ethics tell us how we should act according to an end. For Aristotle, every action and moral choice is addressed to achieve good. The end is good. The ultimate good or end that humans pursue is happiness. For Aristotle, there is a distinction between goods that are merely means and the ultimate good, which is happiness.
B: Happiness for Aristotle is to develop the skills or abilities that are specific to our nature. Thus, we can say that our nature compels us to seek happiness.
- The happiness of being at home is about developing capacity naturally, so specific, with the highest degree of perfection possible.
- The peculiar task of man is contemplation, reason, or thought that guides us in the acquisition of habits and virtues in the process of achieving perfection and happiness.
Happiness and virtues are connected with the acquisition of habits that guide our lives. Happiness is achieved through habits.
For Aristotle, regarding justice, the value and virtue of justice is to make every moment as a function of the nature of each being. One is just on a personal level to the extent that one acts as one’s own rational consciousness requires to seek the good and happiness. At the social level, it is just when each person develops the capabilities inherent in them.
B. Classification of Justice: We can distinguish between:
- As a personal virtue when someone is just doing what they must do at any moment, they receive what they are receiving and what they are giving.
- Social and distributive justice.
- Legal justice (depending on the laws passed by states) and ethics (which requires proper behavior and seeks the general good).