The idea of every action or motive is aimed toward something good is called to be a virtuous act, but the questions come down to what action makes it a virtuous act? How do we know that the act is virtuous and not harmful? These questions can only be answered based on the definition of the word Virtue, According to the dictionary definition, it simply means that a person shows high moral standards, but who sets the standards, and who is here to tell us what is right or wrong. “Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at something good” (Aristotle, Book 1, pg57). Virtue simply means doing something good with asking anything in return, in other words doing good deeds without expecting any favors in return. We can almost think of virtuous acts as an act of happiness, no one in the world is here to tell us what is right or wrong and sometimes we just have to go with our feelings, what we think is right or wrong.
I say that virtuous acts as an act of happiness, happiness are not the happiness that we get out from materialistic pleasure but are a type of happiness that without thinking or without doing that will just automatically bring a smile to the face and the sensation of doing such a virtuous act cannot be put into words. When I was about 16 years old, I was biking home one day, and there was this old lady on her bike going the opposite direction dropped her bag without realizing, in my view, I didn’t see the bag fall but I heard a loud thud and I turn around seeing the bag laying on the ground and the lady keep on biking without noticing. I was given two options, one is I ignore the thing that just happened and the other option is to pick up the bag and chase up to and give her the bag. I went with the second choice, it was more work because I have to carry the bag and bike a longer distance since that is the opposite direction to my home, but after I gave her the bag it was all worth it. I didn’t get anything in return and ended up doing more work but I felt happy, I don’t know why I feel happy nor why there is a smile on my face. I guess that’s a virtuous act when happiness is brought to more than one person as a result of an action. When I saw the happy old lady when she got her bag returned to her, that brought happiness to me.
In the book, Aristotle mentions that virtue is a state of character, this is how people are judged on, deciding if that person was good or bad based on the virtue that he had shown throughout his/her life. Virtue is something that can be developed, no one is born and is considered a virtuous person, which is something gained throughout life. One cannot say that he/she is a virtuous person just because he did one good deed for example if a person tells the truth one time, it doesn’t make him an honest person, only if he tells the truth multiple times that he will be considered as an honest person. Virtue is a state of character because it can tell us how good of a person they are, and anyone can be a virtuous person but it takes effort.
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