Wisdom,Knowledge and Information

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Wisdom,Knowledge and Information
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• Where is life lost in living
• Where is wisdom lost in knowledge
• Where is knowledge lost in information
• -----T.S.Eliot
• Facts and information are gathered.Knowledge is
  understood to be some thing that can be
  taught.Wisdom is something whose elements are
  understanding, insight, good judgment,the
  capacity to live well and guiding the conduct
  well.

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VIRTUE THEORY

• Aristotle, an early Greek Thinker proposed one of
  the most influential theories of Ethics
• Called Virtue Theory.According to this theory
  virtues or morally good habits develop only
  through training and repetition.

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• Just as individuals develop other kinds of
  practical abilities through practice and
  repetition, so also he argued humans acquire
  their moral ability when they are taught and
  habituated by their families and communities to
  think feel, and behave in morally appropriate
  ways.

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• Why be moral? What a human being should be. We
  all have reason to support good practice since we
  all want our lives to go well - our own lives -
  but this is not necessarily a selfish want -
  typically, we see our own lives as going well
  only if lives of our close friends parents,
  children and other group members go well.

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• The moral virtues are just those traits of
  character we need in order to have best chance of
  making our lives go well.
• Virtues relate to fundamental universal facts
  about human nature and conditions of living
  tolerably, they are of critical importance for
  all people everywhere.

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• Courage, Temperance, Generosity, Self-control,
  Honesty, Sociability, Modesty, and Fairness or
  Justice are all virtues  
• He claims that much more attention must be paid
  to peoples character .

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• The core of Aristotles account of moral virtue
  is his doctrine of the mean. According to this
  doctrine, moral virtues are desire regulating
  character traits, which are at a mean between
  more extreme character traits (or vices). For
  example in response to the natural emotion of
  fear, we should develop the virtuous character
  trait of courage.

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• The virtue of courage, then, lies at the mean
  between the excessive extreme of rashness, and
  the deficient extreme of cowardice. Aristotle is
  quick to point out that the virtuous mean is not
  a strict mathematical mean between two extremes

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• For example, if eating 100 apples is too many,
  and eating zero apples is too little, this does
  not imply that we should eat 50 apples, which is
  the mathematical mean. Instead, the mean is
  rationally determined, based on the relative
  merits of the situation

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• That is, it is as a prudent man would determine
  it. He concludes that it is difficult to live
  the virtuous life primarily because it is often
  difficult to find the mean between the extremes

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• In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle went on to work
  out the means, excess, and deficiencies for
  various virtues. The following table summarizes
  Aristotles discussion of some of these virtues

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• Type of feeling or actionVice (Excess)Virtue
  (Mean) Vice (Deficit)
• Fear Too much fear ( i.e. cowardice) Right amount
  of fear ( i.e.courage) Too little fear
  (i.e.foolhardiness)
• Confidence Too much confidence (
  .e.recklessness) Right amount of confidence (
  I.e. courage) Too little confidence ( I.e.
  cowardice)
• Pleasure Licentiousness/ selfindulgence Generosity
  Stinginess

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• Large scale giving Vulgarity Magnificence Being
  cheap
• Claiming honours Vanity Humility Pride
• Anger Irascibility/short temperedness Good
  temper Too little anger (iniracibility/apathy)
• Retribution for wrongdoing Injustice Justice Injus
  tice
• Social Intercourse Obsequiousness Friendliness Sur
  liness
• Giving amusement Buffoonery Wittiness Boorishness

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• Is there a conflict between living well and Being
  in Business?There is no inherent conflict
  between the two. Aristotle says these two
  concepts are embedded in community and the
  ultimate aim is to live a good life. The main
  issues here is what is that living well amounts
  to?

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• Aristotelian approach to business is that a good
  corporation is one that is not only profitable
  but that provides a morally rewarding environment
  I which good people can develop not only their
  skills but, also their virtues