Police Ethics-Chapter 5, What is Character? Flashcards
384-322 BCE Greek philosopher who was taught by Plato, tutored Alexander the Great, and established his own school, the Lyccum: created virtue-based ethics as well as the study of logic, politics, drama, and biology.
Aristotle
School of ethical thought suggesting that good character is determined by living a life that attempts to emulate role models or exemplars.
Ethics of virtue
Role models or heroes;people who live lives that others aim to emulate.
exemplars
Aristotle’s idea that people should act with moderation, behave in ways that seek a norm between defects and excesses in personal conduct.
Golden Mean
An individually developed understanding of what the pursuit of happiness should entail.
the good
The characteristic of wholeness and of living a life consistent with one’s principles.
integrity
The outermost characteristics that determine a person’s nature such as intelligence, with charm, cordiality, and so on.
personality
The rule of the game that must be observed by criminal justice practitioners when applying substantive law;for example, applying the Miranda decision.
procedural justice
The rules of conduct which people (citizens) must observe when dealing with each other in daily life;the idea of justice as what people deserve.
substantive justice
A particular moral excellence or moral quality that is perceived to be good.
virtue
Character traits are often called
virtues
virtues
integrity, courage, loyalty, honesty
Two views of character
Irish novelist, Maria Edgeworth
WE cannot judge…the character of men with perfectr accuracy, from their actions or their appearance in public; it is from their careless conversation, their half-finished sentences, that we may hope with the greateset proability of success to discover their real character
American novelist, Henry James
what is character but the determination of incident. What is incident but the illustration of character.
Moral concepts
are functions of the childs or the cops history
Character
our basic moral disposition, originates in childhood. Where we first learn about friendship and meanness, deceit and honesty, suspiciousness and trust
Just as our early family life shapes and molds the personality traits we are born with, so too, the ______ is where our basic moral temperament takes its form.
the family
unexamined life
Socrates warning against self delusion, rationalization, egotism, excuse making
progressive
changeableness of a persons character. developing life of a person.
Aristotle argues that a human beings natural disposition is a
realistic frame of mind
Aristotle called the virtues are what bring about a realistic attitude
moral qualities. A person is in control of his life. He chooses the kind of person he will be.
Aristotle says a person is in control of his life he
chooses the kind of person he will be
two thousand four hundred years ago, this was the first person in the Western world to define and discuss Character
Aristotle
The formation of our character is not static, its
dynamic
Aristotle’s ethics of virtue, do not focus on absolute rules of conduct applicable to everyone at all times but rather on
the internalized character of individual
equality of treatment and only the equality of treatment, is important from such an ______ perspective.
absolutist perspective
Aristotles conception of the wise or virtuous officer would have the greater, long term
interests of justice in mind. What is just can be different from what is equal. The virtuous officer would focus on the long term implication s-for the community, music store and for individual suspect- of taking different types of action
Aristotle came to define virtue as what he called
the Golden Mean
A persons virtues and vices are his more or less habitual or accustomed ways of responding.
they are his character traits.
individuals who are the most admirable are those who habitually or characteristically incline toward the virtue on the continujm between the two extreme responses.
exemplars
considered to be Americas greates president becuase he stuck by his principles
Abraham Lincoln- exemplilfied the concept of integrity
Integrity
part of good character that is particular important in police. Integrity is that characteristic of wholeness, unity, completeness that means a person is well rounded in his life.
Good character is absolutely essential to the development of __________.
_______ is a key ingredient in good character.
police professional
Integrity.
human beings adapt to their surroundings by _______ , not biology.
reflection
Two Impacts of “Possibilities” on our lives
- Fate-possible outcomes that happen to us
* choice- possible outcomes that we control
moral judgements
judgements agout right and wrong, about good and evil- are best understood as a class of judgments about possibilities
Consider justice to be the requirement for ______. It is a moral concept. It may be the most elementary and most prevalent moral aspect of how people get along with each other as well as the condition for the development of most other moral concepts.
fairness.
Much of what police do deals with people in conflict. What encompasses the rules of the game for regulating the inevitable conflict between different perspectives, expectations and tolerances in peoples lives?
procedural justice
two types of justice
- substantive justice- societys specific rules of conduct; ex rape, murder laws in penal code.
- procedural justice-rules of game; ex Miranda
orthodox religions claim there is one universal good for all people. The bible, koran and torah, the holy books of the three orthodox, modern religions, each take the perspective that to be a good person is to understand the one, true concept of the good and to behave in one particular way.
A problem with Diverse Views about the Good. Orthodox religion takes the opposite approach to understanding the good.
Making realistic judgements about our possibilities and the way we want to live requires fair dealing, that is justice. This is the only condition under which people can?
pursue the good of their lives
police officer character _____ and _____ the life of the law. The character of the individual officer gives a certain meaning to society’s norms and values
molds and drives
integrity of the law is dependent upon the
integrity of the individual officer
consistency of the law is the
consistency of the officer
fairness, objectivity, and justice of the operation of the legal system are all dependent upon
the good character of police
________ is the single most important determiner of police officer competence and effectiveness.
Character
________ is not just a part of what makes up police professionalism, it is the essential element in professionalism.
Character
Character is malleable, moldable and forever subject to adjustment. _______ is the key, for whatever character trait a person is aware of, she can change, if she wants.
Awareness
A persons _____ is the engine that drives the move to or away from, being realistic.
character
The appropriate, healthy response, the Golden Mean, lies between the two extremes, namely, generosity. A generous nature is an element of good ________.
character
Character must be differentiated from personality. Personality consists of the outermost indicators of an individual’s makeup, those traits such as _____, _____ or ____ make an impression on other.s
intelligence, wittiness and charm
_______, on the other hand, refers to ones inner makeup, those traits that indicate the persons habitual moral qualities or defects.
Character
When we ask if people have good character, we are asking if they possess the moral strength to do the _______thing.
right
Who has more discretionary power than any other actors in the entire American legal and political system.
police
