Relativism, Socrates & Plato, Aristotle's Virtue Ethics, Aristotle II Essay

Relativism, Socrates & Plato, Aristotle's Virtue Ethics, Aristotle II - Essay Example While the former deals only on the â€Å"what is†, the latter is concerned about â€Å"what ought to be†. As such, descriptive ethics looks into the morality of a person in particular or an entire society in general based on the actual conduct and behavior of the people under observation while normative ethics insist that human conduct and behavior must be measured against a universal set of prescribed moral norms which civilizations must follow and comply with. The third level of ethics is metaethics which is a study of the meaning behind ethical language and theories. It not only analyses and compares different moral standards; it also examines the significance and purpose of the ideas and concepts of ethics itself (Lutz 8). Moreover, these ethical theories may be differentiated from one another by looking into how they adopt the theory of relativism. On the one hand, normative ethics acknowledges that certain situations do arise which necessitate deviation from the p rescribed norms and thus require some degree of tolerance. On a case-to-case basis, a specific action is determined whether it is right or wrong by taking into consideration the specific circumstances which caused the deviation or non-compliance with the universal moral norms. On the other hand, relativism in metaethics takes into consideration the fact that people and societies come from different race, culture and set of common beliefs. Some degree of tolerance is given to the idiosyncrasies of cultures that are different from one’s own. As such, there is no absolute moral standard of right and wrong, rather, human conduct is measured against the prescribed norms of a given culture or group to which he belongs. 3.) Aristotle argues that ethics is the science of achieving happiness. What is his argument for this? What is happiness for Aristotle? And why doesn’t he think it is identical to pleasure? Explain the function argument and how it connects rationality with hap piness. What role do the virtues play in this argument? Aristotle argues that ethics is the science of achieving happiness because in order to be happy, a person must first conduct himself properly and attain his goals in life. For Aristotle, happiness is the ultimate goal of every person and the core motivation and driving force for all of our actions. Happiness is where all actions end and one will never stop until it is achieved. A person’s behavior and action can be likened to a pyramid which has a wide base of different goals for different needs. Then, as each goal is achieved, one moves forward and upward to another goal which brings him closer to the top where all other goals converge and end at point happiness. No matter how many or hard the obstacles and circumstances are, a person is motivated to move forward by the prospect of reaching to the top. Lest happiness be confused with mere pleasure, Aristotle expressly clarified that there is a world of difference betwee n happiness and pleasure, the latter being a mere emotion felt by a person when an intermediary goal is achieved. Throughout his journey to the apex of the pyramid, a person may feel pleasure as each specific goal brings him closer to his ultimate goal. Finally, according to Aristotle’s function argument, the function of man is to achieve rationality through different activities which call for the use of the human mental faculties. Human rationality is what separates us from plants and animals; we do not just exist in this world, we

How the Digital Transformed our Experiences of Art and Design Essay

How the Digital Transformed our Experiences of Art and Design - Essay Example Digital imaging has impacted various disciplines within the fields of art and design that range from painting, photography and the making of prints (Heller & Womack, 2007). Despite the fact that these technologies are expensive, they have helped students engaging in these fields to effectively practice their skills (Johnson, 2012). This has been enabled with the invention of software like Abode Photoshop and various other engineering drawing programs like Auto-CAD (Lockwood, 2009). Digital technologies used in paintings have been utilized for purposes of stimulating the painted marks by providing optical illusions (Museum Education Roundtable, 2003). There are computer programs like painter that have been designed for making clever tricks including automating the paintings of photographs (Susanka, 2004). They have brought about our ability to clearly differentiate the color values in images displayed on monitors with the advancements that are being made by several companies like Appl e Mackintosh (Johnson, 2012). The advances that have been made in digital technology have continuously given students in art along with design colleges’ greater opportunities in producing high quality works in two or three dimensions (Heller & Womack, 2007). ... The other risks that could arise from digital technologies result from the attribution of aesthetic elements to the artists and designers utilizing them (Friesinge, Grenzfurthner & Ballhausen, 2012). Recently there have been increases in the use of digital technologies which have resulted in the over influencing of the qualities of the final images desired through different processes that are semi-automated (Susanka, 2004). The use of modern digital applications may influence the assessment of diverse final outcomes in various works of art and designing by the viewers or users despite the fact that they may be faulty (Boomen, Lammes & Lehmann, 2009). Digital information enables designers and artists to independently express a wide variety of ideas with enthusiasm along with perseverance (Clark & Brody, 2009). Independent judgments are also enabled through the use of critical vocabulary that show a clear comprehension of the complex issues that may be involved in a situation (Heller & Womack, 2007). The technologies additionally help designers and artists to properly explore the processes that are involved in various the experiments they may carry out (Johnson, 2012). These experiments may be used for testing the strengths of different models by designers, the risks encountered after their implementation along with their effects on the surrounding (Museum Education Roundtable, 2003). The use of these technologies can therefore be said to have facilitated the creation of safer habitats for people along with better presentations by artists in their exhibitions (Susanka, 2004). Through the use of digital technologies, artists and designers have been able to clearly expound on complex issues that