Jaak Rakfeldt 

Professor Gilliland

Philosophy 100/24N

9/16/14

Ambition

Ambition is an important virtue for people to pursue. Although very few people are born ambitious, they obtain it when they find a goal that is important to them. Ambition is never giving up until you reach your goal. Ambition is dreaming without seeing obstacles. Ambition is their with you until the end.

The reason why I believe ambition is a virtue has several reasons. For obvious reasons, ambition fuels success. The greatest people to ever live were ambitious. When you have the drive to succeed there is nothing that can stop you. You are in charge of your own life and you will stop at nothing to get what you came for.

But really what ambition is to me is the ability to dream and dream big. When you have dreams that you care about you’ll always have a reason to wake up and seize the day. You will never stop thinking on ways to make your dream possible whether you want to be a CEO, a famous musician, change the field you work in, or change the world. Ambition and belief you can do it are always there to help you on your journey.

It is this that makes me happy whether I make it to my final goal or not, just the thought of making that goal happen picks me up when I’m down and puts a smile on my face. Ambition may be just a tool that leads to people’s success but I believe that it is far more than that. Ambition can make you a better you, brighten your day, and never stop you from dreaming like a kid. Ambition is a way of life and that is why ambition is a virtue.

1. All Happiness is Virtuous 

2. All Ambition is Happiness

3. Therefore, Ambition is Virtuous  

Lea Clark

Professor Gilliand

PHI-100-24N

16, September 2014

Intelligence

A general character trait that everyone should have is intelligence. Intelligence is a virtue, which can be easily described as a person who is able to learn and easily pick up new skills or material and apply them to their life in different situations. Someone who is intelligent has agility, strength, knowledge, skill, judgment, and is hardworking. Intelligence can be considered a virtue due to the fact that someone who is intelligent has more of an advantage as someone who is not intelligent. Also, someone who is more intelligent will have many more opportunities than the average person. The exact definition of a virtue is, “behavior showing high moral standards,” intelligence can certainly fit into this category.

            Someone who is intelligent will always have a greater advantage over someone who is not as intelligent. An example could be two people trying to get the same job. One person has spent many hours researching everything they might need to know for this job and has a degree in a related topic to the job; while the other person knows absolutely nothing about the job and is just hoping to get the job with some luck. The obvious choice is the person who knows more about he job and clearly has put in more effort to prepare for it. Jobs look for people with high moral standards, which is also the definition of a virtue. You have to work at intelligence but it shows that you have high standards.

1. All people that have many opportunities are intelligent.

2. All people who are hardworking are people that have many opportunities

3. Therefore hardworking people are intelligent

This makes it clear that having intelligence is an important virtue. Not only will you have many opportunities than someone who is not intelligent, but you will also have a greater advantage over them too. Intelligence is arguably the most important virtue to live a successful life.

Le’Shania Anderson

Philosophy 100-24n

9/16/14

Blog Post #1

                                                                      Mindful

 

        

           Mindfulness is defined as “The quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.” Mindfulness is what makes people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Theresa stand out in history. Those are the people who are aware of injustice of others or the unethical conditions some were living in and chose to not idly stand and watch, but to understand and to try to correct and make others aware as well. Mindfulness isn’t always a common trait many posse, we are taught to strive for the top spot and don’t worry about who may be behind us. Mindfulness should be a trait all humans should have because how can a society truly be advanced and or advance without being aware of its people.

Being virtuous "is having high moral standards," knowing what is viewed as right or wrong. How can one be virtuous without being mindful? To have high moral standards to me one must not only worry about the well-being of one’s self but also the well-being of his/her fellow man. To be virtuous one must be mindful. When you’re mindful you have high morals.

Mindfulness isn't just being aware of something, for me because I do believe myself to be mindful person, I believe it is being aware of everything and also aware enough to know if I should speak out what isn't being said that should be, and also conscious enough not saying what shouldn't be because I feel that  it should be.

1.All mindful people are virtuous.

2. All conscious people benefit society.

3. Therefore all conscious people are   virtuous.                                                                                                           

Adaptability

Sarah Costa
PHI 100-24N
Professor Gilliand
16 September 2014

Adaptability

1. All acts of embracing change are virtuous.

2. All actions of adaptability are embracing change.

3. Therefore, all actions of adaptability are virtuous.

Adaptability is what creates successful leaders in the world. Adaptability is what helps us to adjust when things change and get in the way of our original plan. It is being able to respond positively to challenges, and to be flexible enough to change an organized plan to work through problems when they arise. Adaptability is a virtue because it allows us to be successful in a world that is always changing and throwing obstacles in our way to reach our goals. People who are adaptable can use challenges to their advantage by readjusting their plan to utilize what their skills in order to achieve what they want, despite something trying to get in their way. 

I believe that nothing is going to be handed to you in life, and things worth having do not come easy. In order to achieve all that you want, you have to be able to embrace change with a positive perspective so that it will not stop you from getting where you want to be. As a past athlete, I have experienced many difficult setbacks such as injuries or losing team members, and I know that these types of challenges can really effect an entire season. However, it showed me the importance of working through hardships with your goal in mind because it allows you to come out even stronger than you were before. The world is not going to cater to you. You have to work for what you want, and you have to be willing to work through obstacles in order to reach your final goal. Being adaptable allows someone to not be afraid to go after their own success, despite things that my stand in their way along the journey. In times of transition and uncertainty, adaptable people can stay focused and on task to push through and continue on to reaching what they want.

It also important to be adaptable because it allows you to make connections with many different people. Adaptability is about getting over differences and challenges, and embracing what is around you. Someone who is in another country and is adaptable can immerse themselves in different cultures, ideas, and customs. As someone who has traveled to different countries in Europe a few times, I know how important is to be open to adapting and embracing different lifestyles while abroad because it only enhances your experience. It allows you to meet people, and to create connections that may not have been possible otherwise. It also lets you understand other ideas, and to be open to differences. Adaptability gives us knowledge by expanding our own ideas, exercising our interpersonal skills, and providing us with experiences that open our minds and our hearts.

Blog Post 1

Neli Pani

Professor Gilliand

PHI 100-24N

16 September 2014

Word Count- 282

1

   1) Kindness is a pure virtue

2 2)Kindness is shown in the best people

   3)Therefore kindness is the best virtue

Kindness is a Virtue

Kindness is a virtue because it’s a way of seeing people being nice to other people. Kindness can be defined as friendly and polite to anyone. It can show the positive side of a person.  In the dictionary, a virtue means a behavior showing high moral standards. Kindness is definitely showing high standards.

For me kindness is an important trait of someone personality. As I was growing up, I have also been told that I am kind to many people. I am kind because I want to be treated the same way I treat them. I wouldn’t want to be mistreated differently because it’s rude and no one wants to be in that type of situation. When I see people being friendly and generous I see that they are a well-respected person. I can also tell that the person has respect towards people. Being rude and disrespectful for no reason show low standards, that can have a bad affect towards the person.

When people are kind, it shows that they can be a good person. Kindness and a virtue relate to each other because they are both positive. It is important to be kind to people because you can make their day. We don’t know what people go through in their life. With kindness being shown, it can cheer up their day. It is easy to show kindness to the people around you. I would definitely agree that kindness is shown in the best people.

Blog Post 1: Virtue

Harold Rivera-Vargas
PHI 100-24N
Prof. Rex Gilliland 
9/16/14

Purity

Purity is a virtue. A virtue is a positive trait that it's deemed good, and purity is free from guilt and evil, therefore innocent.Purity is a virtue because it's a positive trait that all moral beings should have. What makes purity different is that for a being to be pure that being has to be free from all guilt and all evil. That being has to be, therefore, innocent. It could be said that purity is a synonym of innocent. Purity can also go along with other type of virtues. 

A person that it's pure always act out of love. Acts from true love, meaning that it's good, not obsessive-psychotic love, are virtuous. They make us a better being.

1. All acts of true love are virtuous.
2. All pure acts are acts of true love.
3. Therefore, all pure acts are virtuous.

Telling the truth, being honest, is virtuous. A person that's pure will not lie, because what makes that person pure is that he/she lacks evil and guilt, we could say that person is innocent. Now, a person that always tells the truth is a pure person. If that person were to keep the truth hidden it would be hurting another which will make them feel guilt, taking away their purity and their innocence. By not lying the person stays pure and keeps his/hers virtuous trait. In a different scenario, if that person lies, and a dispute starts and later that escalates to something worse, that person would not be pure because he/she has committed an evil act which strips him/her of their innocence making them impure. Therefore when a person tells the truth that person is being pure and possess a virtuous trait.

Blog Post 1: Perseverance

Emily Estanislau

Professor Gilliland

Philosophy 100/24N

9/15/2014

The Importance of Perseverance

The virtue that I chose is perseverance. The definition of virtue is a positive trait or quality deemed to be morally good and is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. I think it is important that everyone has perseverance.  People who persevere will without a doubt be successful in life. “Perseverance is the will to see things through until the end in spite of fear, obstacles, discouragement, and opinion. With perseverance, we can accomplish great things.” So many people give up if something is difficult or just quit if they failed the first time. If people persevered in all that they did, they would accomplish so much in their lives.

1. All acts of determination are virtuous.

2. All acts of perseverance are acts of determination.

3. Therefore, all acts of perseverance are virtuous.

            Perseverance is a virtue that will help one achieve ones goals. People who have perseverance are successful in life because they are determined and motivated in what they do. Perseverance helps people not be distracted from their end goal. They do not give up until they have achieved what they have been working for. Many people give up or feel threatened by what obstacles they have to face.

 Perseverance is an important virtue to have, it is key to be successful in all that you do.  Perseverance can help a person achieve their full potential. Commitment and patience are needed for a person to have perseverance. Patience helps a person not give up and to keep trying even if they have failed before. Commitment and stubbornness will let a person finish what they planned to do by sticking with it and not giving up.

            In conclusion perseverance is an important virtue to have. People who persevere will succeed in life whether they are on a sports team or trying to get a job or just trying to learn something new.  They will be able to reach their goals and succeed in anything they work hard enough towards.

Blog Post 1: Kindness

James Carrano

Professor Gilliland

PHI 100-24N

Blog Post 1

September 16, 2014

Kindness goes a long way

1. All respect is kindness.

2. All people are respectful.

3. Therefore, all people are kind.

Everyone should strive to develop a sense of kindness because it will help people be more successful in life. Kindness is defined by the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. If everyone was kind, life would be less stressful, more simple, and there would be less issues in the world.

Kindness’ genus is respect. If everyone was respectful to one another, everybody would end up being kind to each other eventually. If one person starts being respectful, they could inspire more people to be respectful. Sooner or later, the whole world would be respectful. With respect comes kindness. When everyone has kindness, everyone will be virtuous.

Kindness is a unique virtue. There are a few characteristics of kindness that you wouldn't find in other virtues. One of them is caring. When you are kind to someone, you care for them as well. You don't necessarily need to care for anything if you are pious, wise, or honest. Kindness is on its own when it comes to some characteristics.

I've seen from experience that kindness goes a long way. In my last year of high school, I took China and Japan class. There was a student sitting next to me who was having problems with the work and couldn't keep up with the speed of the class. I noticed this issue and I asked him if he needed help with anything. He accepted my offer, and I helped him with some things he couldn't keep up with. After that class ended in the spring, I would see him walking in the halls sometimes. He would always say “hi” or “hey, how are you”. The only reason he said these things to me is because I was kind to him. If everyone did a small act of kindness even as small as holding the door for someone else, this world might turn into a better place to live.