15 November 2011

Good Reputation vs Character Blog!

15 November 2011

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes the overall “happiness”, by whatever means necessary. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome, and that one can only weigh the morality of an action after knowing all its consequences.

Utilitarianism can be characterized as a quantitative and reductionist approach to ethics. It is a type of naturalism. It can be contrasted with deontological ethics (which do not regard the consequences of an act as a determinant of its moral worth), pragmatic ethics, virtue ethics (which focuses on character) and deontological varieties of libertarianism, as well as with ethical egoism and other varieties of consequentialism. The distinction between act and rule utilitarianism is therefore based on a difference about the proper object of consequential calculation specific to a case or generalized to rules. Never to kill another human being may seem to be a good rule, but it could make self-defense against malevolent aggressors very difficult.

It takes character to achieve the greater good for the greater number of people. While these are broad ranging concepts for our purposes we will try to focus on the daily greater good as it applies to daily life. There is a saying that your reputation is what others think of you and your character is who you really are. Based on this statement it is probably safe to say that leaders are generally not too concerned with reputation and followers will generally never build much character this is because difficult choices require the individual making the choice to be able to make it and still move on even if it ended up being the wrong choice.

To chart a new course and stay that course is difficult to do but if one has vision and a greater purpose then it is truly the right course of action for you. Life is full of choices and at times people find themselves in very complex situations and leaving not much room for any good choices, yet we still must chose and this is where character comes in. If one is afraid of being judged by others then you make choices based on how others will perceive you and if you are acting from a deeper place that you know is the tough choice to make for a greater good then you are making the character building choice and while this might lead to judgment and ridicule; chances are you will affect the world around you. Much more than those who would rather watch others do things and say from the side lines and tell you I told you so! These sideliners have great reputations for never doing anything to affect the world that they live in but they have plenty to say about it.

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
Abraham Lincoln

Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.
William Shakespeare

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