Personal ethics statement
My ethical philosophy is from Saint Augustine. He stressed the importance of virtue, which exists when individuals have faith while exercising their free will and taking responsibility for their deeds. Virtue is the precept of my ethical philosophy. Free will pursues how we make either good or evil decisions. According to Augustine, free will make people pursue living and upright life. An evil free will seeks natural materials that are destroyed and lost easily. The acknowledgment of virtues influences my decisions as crucial influencers of deeds. I know what is correct to make sound decisions in life.
Gyges used his free will to acquire material things (the ring) from a dead man. His action was not virtuous and led to evil deeds. He realized the ring made him invisible and conspired to take the periodic shepherds report to the king. Furthermore, while he was there, he seduced the queen and managed to take control of the kingdom by conspiring with her. My ethical philosophy did not guide his free will actions. Gyges misused his free will and decided to use it in acquiring material things. He lacked the wisdom to recognize that earthly things are prone can easily be lost. Moreover, he failed to recognize that whoever does what is virtuous acquires everything because there is no fear of losing.
If I had the just ring, I would be guided by my virtue counteract the actions of the person with the unjust ring. It is not virtuous to relax while the unjust is wandering everywhere while doing immoral deeds. It would be easy to behave like an unjust person, but my ethical philosophy would enable me to make sound decisions.
References
Clark, M. T. (2018). Augustine, Philosopher of Freedom: A Study in Comparative Philosophy. Pickle Partners Publishing.
Juels, A., Kosba, A., & Shi, E. (2015). The ring of gyges: Using smart contracts for crime. aries, 40, 54.