Values and Virtues All of us have been sent to this world for a purpose; the invariable purpose of life on earth is doing good to each other. What defines the behavior of a person is his character and what shape the character of a person are his values and virtues. The perception of many people is that virtues and values are more or less the same things; however, in this paper we shall see how the two differ and see what the character of a person is in fact. Moreover, we shall also consider an ethical dilemma in clinical practice and see how the values and virtues are used to solve that dilemma.

Values

There are basically six pillars that form the character of the person. These six pillars are the set of ethical values that a person must in order for him to become a man of good character and lead a life that would be remembered in good words. These six pillars include trustworthiness, respect, citizenship, fairness, responsibility and a caring attitude. Although, these terms have a very vague, they cover a lot of other things that must be present in a good character (Ethics Scoreboard, 2007).

Virtues

The blueprint for being a human being is given by virtues. This term comes from the Latin word for man that is "vir." In the ancient times, the person who was considered to be a man was the one who was virtuous. In Latin, the word virtues, from which virtue is derived, signifies strength, power and ability. Therefore,...

It will not be wrong to say that the building blocks of life are virtues, without which the moral lives will collapse (Gray, 2000).
Character

The habit of doing is good is the character of a person. Since there is no end to learning, character can be perfected through the course of time. The words that describe the habit of doing good, consistent behavior and characteristic are almost the same. Most of the times, virtues and a good character are defined using the same words. It should also be noted that everyone possesses a character; some people have a good one and the others have a bad one (Teen Aid Inc.). However, not everyone has his or her virtues defined to lead a successful life. In this discussion, we will refer to character as being good character. The four fundamental virtues that a person must possess in order to have a good character include temperance, fortitude, justice and prudence. Just like the values mentioned above, there are many other things that are included in the virtues and come under these broad headings.

Values, virtues and character

It is important for us to know the differences between these three terms. Basically, values change. On the other hand, the internal motivation to achieve a goal or objective is known as virtue. Meanwhile, character is defined as the constant working of the motivations that emerge internally. Other things that need consideration in defining the character of a person are skills and principles. Skills make it possible for the character motivations to turn into reality. Similarly, principles help to provide the strategies to turn these motivations into reality.

What is important for a good character: values or virtues?

It is a dilemma in itself that the society faces today that there is confusion as to what defines the good character of a man. Many people, including philosophers, believe that the morality or a good character of a person is a subject of his values. Unfortunately, this is not the case. As mentioned above, values are subject to change. Values of people are constantly changing. Moreover, a person who values a certain thing may not necessarily possess the virtue of following it. For…