“WHAT I OUGHT TO DO”, “WHAT I OUGHT TO BE” AND “WHAT SORT OF COMMUNITY OUGHT WE CONSTRUCT?”: A DISCOURSE OF “MORAL PRINCIPLES” OF VIRTUE ETHICS IN ARISTOTLE AND PHILIPPA FOOT AND ITS RELEVANCE TO EDUCATION

The high rate of vices among students has caused great damages and disorder in the educational system in Nigeria. The vices have created an atmosphere of insecurity and frustration not only to the individual, but also to the society. It is a result of this that the study proposes virtue ethics as a remedial approach to character and good moral values formation among Nigerian students. This work therefore, is an exposition of virtue ethics. Unlike most ethical theories, rather than help us determine “what we ought to do”, virtue ethics asks how “we ought to be” and “what sort of community ought we construct?” Virtue ethics therefore, is concerned with those traits of character that make one a good person. Such traits of character include: generosity, kindness, patience, loyalty, obedience and so on. These are among the traits of character traditionally known as virtues.When these traits are unusually well developed, the individual who possesses them are often regarded as heroes or even saints. On the contrary, people can also exhibit bad character traits. For example, they can be tactless, careless, boorish, stingy, vindictive, disloyal, lazy, or egotistical and we regard them as sinners. The aim of this study therefore, is to focus on an aspect of ethics known as virtue. Virtue as an aspect of ethics encourages us to develop the good traits and get rid of the bad ones. Through the method of analysis and rigour, this study explores, works of Aristotle and Philippa Foot in virtue discourse. While the former holds that virtues help a person to live a good life. The latter holds that virtue in some general way, is beneficial. Human beings do not get on well without them. Also, it is both ourselves and our community that benefit from our having certain virtues, just as having certain vices harms both ourselves and our communities. This work contributes to knowledge by it emphasises on the complementarity between virtue and moral rule to achieve a good community. In so doing, through qualitative research this work concludes that though virtues should precede moral rule, however, virtue and ethics should end in the good of the community, in this way, there will be check of vices in the society, especially in educational sector.

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