Jesus Olive

Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Michalson, Gordon

Area of Concentration

Philosophy

Abstract

The act of assigning value and judgement towards the things we come across is and always has been an inescapable component of the human experience. Without our judgement, we are totally inept, we would be stuck in directionless states of indecision and random choices. However, when we inappropriately judge and misjudge on others, it can and often does result in immense suffering for those under scrutiny. While our tendency to judge others is assuredly a potential hazard, we still depend on it completely. Therefore, rather than abandon the practice altogether, we should refine it to diminish the harm it can cause and more effectively reap the value it can provide. While other ethical theories support our habituated judgement of others based on extrinsic factors and standards, virtue ethics is a perspective from which we are asked to consider the nuances of individuals. In this paper, the intrinsic factors relevant to genuine moral development will be identified, as well as, discussed in relation to personal and societal improvement. This thesis will be concluded with a demonstration of a software application that incorporates these intrinsic factors to promote individual moral development in its users.

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