Question

Define Virtue Ethics, Utilitarianism and Universal Ethics.
Does it affect your Core Values and Ethics? Can you identify bits and pieces of them in your personal Values and Ethics?
Was their inclusion and shaping of your Core Values and Ethics accidental or intentional? Provide examples.

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. Also, I have defined the concepts from scholarly sources below.

(Caveat: I have helped with the definitions. I hope it helps you understand the concept clearly. However, I cannot answer the personal response part for you. You will have to talk about your own principals and ethics. I suggest that you pick out ethics from below that best match your core values and talk about times in your life when you applied these principals. If you have any other doubts about these questions please ask in the comment below.)

(Answer) Virtue Ethics: “Virtue ethics is currently one of three major approaches to normative ethics. It may, initially, be identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to the approach that emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that emphasizes the consequences of actions (consequentialism).”

(Source: Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy)

Utilitarianism: The definition, as coined by founder Jeremy Bentham, “Utilitarianism is a normative ethical theory that places the locus of right and wrong solely on the outcomes (consequences) of choosing one action/policy over other actions/policies. As such, it moves beyond the scope of one's own interests and takes into account the interests of others.”

Universal Ethics: Ethics are a set of principals by which a person conducts their actions. Universal ethics are those which are common to all humans despite their segregation based on convictions, location or any other difference. Immanuel Kant was among the first to outline such ethics. However, many other psychologists and philosophers have worked on this as well.