CULTIVATING VIRTUE: ARISTOTLE’S ETHICS AS A FOUNDATION FOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND MODERN MORAL PSYCHOLOGY

Abstract

Aristotle's virtue ethics offers a constant framework, to analyze which traits of character and ways of practice among people behave in a virtuous way. This chapter introduces one among the most important principles of virtue ethics, that is arete (excellence), standpoint higher than eudaimonia (flourishing), and the Golden Mean, that prompts for an equilibrium between excesses and lacks. It looks at the process of virtue formation by practice and habituation and stresses the importance of education, Friendship and social environment as the influence of moral virtue. Moreover, it also evaluates the psychological perspectives of virtues, emotional regulation, ethical decision, and the effects of virtues on mental wellbeing. The application of virtue ethics in the modern world is also addressed, focusing on its appropriation value in the leading edge of education, professional ethics, and personalized toughness. Although virtue ethics provides useful insights, criticisms on account of its subjectivity, the difficulty of measuring virtues and cultural differences are responded.