Best Philosophical Theory to Address Ethical Dilemma of the Contemporary World

Best Philosophical Theory to Address Ethical Dilemma of the Contemporary World
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The twenty-first century is the century of digital revolution, which hallmarked the age of information and communication technology (ICT). The unprecedented exposure of human beings to information has posed serious ethical questions about privacy and access to personal information. One also encounters the ethical question of reliability and accuracy of information; growing materialism has shaken the foundation of the principles of duty, responsibility, and honesty. Understanding classical philosophical theories can help resolve the ethical dilemma of the modern age; in this regard, understanding Aristotle's concept of virtue, Kant's philosophy of duty, and John Stuart Mill's philosophy of utilitarianism can help accomplish this objective. Therefore, the current essay aims to use Aristotle's philosophy of ethics to resolve the ethical dilemma given in the example; thereby, it will provide a moral and philosophical guideline to maintain ethics and morality in worldly matters of the current age.
Aristotle's concept of "virtue" is fundamentally an agent-centered theory of ethics, which explains that to gauge a person's character and virtue, one has to focus on his overall character rather than his actions. In other words, Aristotle posits that the answer to the question of morality lies in "How should I be?" rather than in "What should I do?" (Papouli, 2019). Unlike Kant and Mill, Aristotle's philosophy treats virtue as psychological dispositions developed in response to a situation creating a moral or ethical dilemma. This philosophical disposition will encourage a person toward reasonable actions; this reasonable response will be a balanced action in response to a new situation (Papouli, 2019). Hence, one aspect of Aristotle's concept of virtue is that virtue is always a balanced response.
Aristotelian virtue is a balanced and practical response to an action that requires moral and ethical judgment, and this form of response is the most appropriate in the contemporary world of online communication and social aggression. One crucial aspect of this philosophy is that it does not allow a single act or response as a rule to deem a person virtuous or wicked (Constantinescu, 2021). Hence, it allows the observer to understand the general character of a person, not a single action, to pronounce a decision over his virtuousness or wickedness. Based on this evaluation of Aristotelian virtue, one can presume that if a person's actions align with the generally accepted principles of reason, if a person's behavior is by general human response, he would be deemed virtuous irrespective of his acts.
After understanding the Aristotelian concept of virtue, one can extrapolate this theory to the given situation to assess the right and moral course of action. The given situation entails that the reporter is involved in an ethical dilemma regarding publishing a story of sexual assault perpetrated by Ron Smith, a candidate for the election of sheriff. Since the reporter's boss has forbidden him to publish the news story he has made about this sexual assault, he is bound by the principle of his job to obey the orders. Moreover, if one analyzes the situation using the Aristotelian ethical principle of virtue, it becomes clear that the accusation of sexual assault on Ron Smith is yet to be verified by the report; additionally, this act represents an incident of individual action. Therefore, using the Aristotelian theory of virtue, one can use this accusation to prove Ron Smith's moral wickedness.
Although the reporter thinks he is justified in publishing the news before the election to expose Ron Smith's character, in a typical Aristotelian philosophy, his determination is not justifiable since the accusation has not been vetted, and this individual act does not reflect Smith's overall character. Hence, one may infer here that the use of the Aristotelian principle of virtue is the most appropriate one to be used to resolve this ethical dilemma. Using this approach will protect Ron Smith from infamy; moreover, this approach will clarify that his character, manifesto, and views on morality cannot be judged only by one incident. Theref...