CHAPTER 5
VIRTUE ETHICS
INRODUCTION
An online news account
narrates key officials from both
legislative
and
executive
branches of the government
voicing out their concerns on
the possible ill effects of too
much violence seen by children
on television.
This
prompted
thenDepartment
of
Education
Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro to
launch
the
implementing
guidelines of Children’s Television
Act of 1997 in order to regulate
television shows and promote
more child-friendly programs.
Ultimately, for Bro.
Luistro, to regulate
television
programs
would help in the
development
of
children’s values.
According to the news article;
• Department of Education held a series of
consultation with various stakeholders to the
issue of exposure of children to TV violence.
• Implemented the rules and guidelines for
viewing safety and created a television
violence rating code to be applied in all TV
programs.
• Lastly, they also set 15% of television airtime
for shows conductive to children.
Children at a young age have not yet
achieved full personal growth and
mental development. When they see
violence on television on a regular basis,
they may consider such violent act as
“normal”.
Much worse is that they might tend to
believe that such acts, since committed
by adults are permissible.
• The American Academy of Child and
Adolescent psychiatry, for instance,
enumerated the harmful effects of
television violence such as being
insensitive
to
the
possible
ill
consequences brought about by watching
violent shows.
• The study also suggest that, children
exposed to television violence begin to
“imitate what they observe” and consider
violence as “a way to solve problems”.
Virtue Ethics
• Is the ethical framework that concerned
with understanding the good as a matter of
developing the virtuous character of a
person.
• Focuses on the formation of one’s
character brought about by determining
and doing virtuous acts.
• ARISTOTLE (384-322 BCE)
-was born in Macedoria and studied
philosophy under Plato in Athens. He
was also considered to be the brightest
among Plato’s students in the learner’s
school.
The two major thinkers of Ancient
Greece, Plato and Aristotle, had
discourses concerning virtue. But
Aristotle book entitled Nicomachean
Ethics is the first comprehensive and
programmatic study of virtue ethics.
• Aristotle discourse of ethics departs
from the Platonic understanding of
reality and conception of the good.
• Both Plato and Aristotle affirm rationally
as the highest faculty of a person and
having such characteristics enables a
person to realize the very purpose of
her existence.
• For Plato, the real is outside the realm
of any human security experience but
can somehow be grasped by one’s
intellect.
• For Aristotle, the real is found within
our everyday encounter with objects in
the world.