Role Model

Role Model

In the society, there are various people who the younger population admire their behaviors, for example, the young individuals would like to emulate them. McGinn claims that for people to admire an individual within the community, he or she should have good moral behavior that relates to how one does things in life (McGinn 177). McGinn argues that even though people have different ambitions, motivations, and talents, some individuals are likely to spend their time naturally participating in the moral act as compared to others, they would have ethical concerns centered lives. 

Many people admire individuals who assist other members of the society (McGinn 177). For instance, one would view a person as a role model for helping the sick and the poor. For example, many view doctors as role models in the society since they always save the lives of the sick. Also, politicians and welfare workers ability to assist the poor makes members of the community to admire them. Thus, for an individual to become a role model, one needs to devote his or her life to virtue and do good to others. 

The different Key Virtues

Some of the essential virtues include honesty, independence, kindness, and justice. Kindness is a situation that shows the kind of heart an individual has. Long (277) indicates that a kind person often has a good heart towards others. He or she can have generous feelings and would not want people around him or her to suffer (McGinn 178). Thus, always act in a way that would ensure that everyone is comfortable. Kindness is a more comprehensive and at the same time close to compassion. Understanding not only informs what they experience with others but also react to the sufferings of the people around. An individual who is kind always feels happy when people around him or she are so glad. However, an individual who is not kind does not care about the emotions of others. For instance, someone who is unkind would hurt someone but would ignore the suffering of the victim. 

Another virtue is honesty. An individual who is honest would always want others to know his or her motives and beliefs (McGinn 179). One would not want to hide any form of information from others. He or she is always open to others. However, a dishonest individual is often manipulative and deceitful. A dishonest person is usually keen on his intentions and true feelings. As a result, one would try to hide these details so that others should not access them. As a result, others would not be able to know any information about them. In contrast, honest individuals are always dependable and predictable, given that they often provide details on what they believe in and their intentions. 

Additionally, the third essential virtue is justice. Justice is the provision of balance and fairness or awarding an individual what he or she deserves (McGinn 179). The morality demands that guilty individuals should not prosper while the innocent ones should not suffer either. In many cases, individuals who value justice strictly comply with the rights and wrongs, which makes them not want to see good individual downtrodden and the wicked ones become victorious. For instance, a just individual will get annoyed by seeing someone getting imprisoned wrongfully. 

The essential fourth virtue is independence. An independent individual is a one who can make his or her own opinion or decision based on facts and evidence (McGinn 180). Additionally, this is a person who will not get influenced by external factors such as threats or social conformity. Many people claim that they are independent. However this is not true, only a few individuals are independent. In many cases, many people are independent of social groups in the society such as family. However, many are likely to get swayed with the other factors such as threats. 

Character Building

An individual would be able to build his or her character using the virtues mentioned above. An individual can either have a good or bad character. A right person should be caring. This attribute requires an individual to have generous feelings towards others (McGinn 178). Always caring of others well-being, by ensuring that others around him or she did not suffer. Another attribute that determines a character is a fairness. A good individual is always, by providing a balance and fairness or awarding an individual what he or she deserves. 

Also, trustworthiness determines the character of a person (McGinn 178). The above premises shows that people would consider an individual as either honest or dishonest based on truthfulness. People are likely to trust an individual who is open about his or her motives and will not believe in someone who does not want to disclose his or her intentions. Another way of building character is being responsible. The society considers an independent person to be able to make appropriate decisions without getting influenced by other factors. Thus, a responsible individual is one who is accountable for his or her choices.  

PART TWO

Consider the case of a young person or a friend that you have to mentor. Explain how
you would use the principles of teachable ethics of responsibility. 

In a case where an individual needs to mentor a young person, one would need to consider the principles indicated in part one above. The first is to promote the safety of the person by showing him or her that you care about his or her well-being (McGinn 178). The mentor should ensure that the ethical duty does not hurt the mentee, by showing them that one cares about his or her well-being. 

Also, the mentor should show the young one that he or she is trustworthy. The mentor should be willing to inform the mentee his or her beliefs and intentions (McGinn 179). Being honest about believes and motives would enable the mentee to develop trust with the mentor. Honesty would allow the mentee to view the mentor, someone; they can depend on since he or she knows about the motives of the mentor. 

Additionally, the mentor should show the mentee that he or she promotes justice. This virtue suggests that the mentor should apply good judgment and ensure that he or she do not get biased based on where they come from, as this would hurt the mentee. Therefore, the mentor should not engage him or herself on discrimination based on ethnicity, origin, gender identity, age, disability or sexual orientation. Thus, the mentor would need to be diverse in most of his or her actions. Also, the mentor should promote fairness beyond the individual relationship with the mentee by bringing the less privileged young individuals into the lives of privileged adults, as this would help in supporting social change. The close relationship between the mentor and the mentee would enable him or her to understand the problems young individuals encounter in the current society. 

Also, the mentor should show the young one that he or she is independent. One should ensure that he or she is responsible for his actions and accountable for the decisions he or she makes. The mentor should not get swayed by external factors such as threats (McGinn 180). Having the ability to create own views or decision, will act as a proof to the mentee that one is a responsible person. Hence mentee would consider the ideas from the mentor. When the mentor has depended on the opinions of others, he or she will not be able to guide the mentee. Thus, the mentor should ensure that he or she is accountable for his or her actions. 

What recommendations would help this young person understand the dangers of
drug addiction?

The mentor should be able to convince a young person the dangers of drug addiction. The appropriate ways to help them understand that this type of addiction is dangerous is by first making them feel that he or she care about their happiness. Thus, the mentor should take time to talk to the young person, as this will help in showing him or her that you care about his or her well-being. Be honest, and tell him or her the risks associated with drug addiction. 

Works Cited

Long, Anthony Arthur. Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic guide to life. Clarendon Press, 2002.

McGinn, Colin. “Why Not Be a Bad Person?.” Moral Literacy (1997).