Sidoarjo (Indonesia) Mud Volcano in the Perspective of Aristotle's Virtues Ethics
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(dimuat dalam International Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IJHSS), Nopember 2017 Vol. 4 Issue 6, 2017) SIDOARJO (INDONESIA) MUD VOLCANO IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF ARISTOTLE‘S VIRTUES ETHICS Agustinus Wisnu Dewantara STKIP Widya Yuwana Madiun – Indonesia [email protected] ABSTRACT embankment was built to overcome the mud eruption that The Sidoarjo (Indonesia) Mud Disaster in Ethical continues to expand. One option to overcome this is to Perspectives of Aristotelian Virtue aims to find analytically the throw the mud into the Porong River. The disposal of meaning of the Sidoarjo mud disaster philosophically, and mud into the Porong River is very dilemmatic, on the one reflect it for the appreciation of values of virtue in society. hand it is necessary to save the embankment, but on the Aristotelian ethics is chosen as a formal object because philosophically there is a value that is violated in the emergence other hand the shrimp and fish farmers who depend on the of the disaster. This research is needed so that philosophy can Porong River will lose money. The puddle has already contribute many good understanding for the improvement of reached seven square kilometers. If the dike is broken, the human life in the world. impact must be very powerful. The disposal of mud into The research used in this paper is qualitative research the river is also protested by the community, resulting in in the field of philosophy. The research model used is stagnation. qualitative research by conducting a study on Aristotelian This reality challenges philosophy to make its philosophy to analyze fact of mud disaster of Sidoarjo. contribution. Philosophy as a science is challenged to Hermeneutics then used to find meaning in this research. The ground his knowledge. Ethics as a branch of philosophy at results of the hermeneutical analysis will then become material in order to find its contribution to a more ethical world life. this point turned out to be in touch also with practical things. Actual problems, as well as disaster and business, Keywords: Ethics, Aristotle, Mud Volcano, Virtue require Ethics as a science to view them. Ethics has a practical characteristic, meaning directly related to human life, while human life is always associated with the matter I. RESEARCH BACKGROUND of good and bad. In particular, the ethics of virtue question the "good" as the direction as well as the purpose Lapindo mudflow is an event of spraying hot mud of human life. Ethics will thus find its perfection in at the PT Lapindo Brantas drilling site in Renokenongo practical life, that is, in everyday human life. In light of Village, Porong Sub-district, Sidoarjo Regency, East Java this research is made. This paper will explore how Indonesia, since May 27, 2006. The mud burst is still Aristotelian Ethics covers the business activities of oil and ongoing today and has a negative impact on life citizens. gas companies. There are various theories of Ethics, but The hot mud eruption has caused flooding of settlements, this paper only focuses on the Ethics of Virtue so that the agriculture and industrial areas in three surrounding discussion is more appealing. districts, as well as affecting economic activity in East Java and Indonesia. II. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE The location of this mudflow is located in Porong District, about twelve kilometers south of Sidoarjo. The This study aims to explore Aristotle's idea of its mud volcano is thought to have been caused by drilling priority and relevance for the Sidoarjo mud disaster. The activity by an oil and gas drilling company called objectives of the study will be spelled out schematically Lapindo-Brantas. Lapindo-Brantas party itself said that in the following points: the mud eruption happened together with drilling due to a. This research is about to discover the meaning of something not yet known. This event became a tragedy virtue according to Aristotle. when the hot mud floods began to inundate rice fields, b. This research is about to find a reflective contribution human settlements and industrial estates. from the observation of the Sidoarjo mud disaster in the The mud volume is estimated at about 5,000 to 50 perspective of Aristotelian ethics for a more ethical thousand cubic meters. This mudflow brings a world life. tremendous impact for the surrounding community as well as for the economic activities of the community. III. THEORETICAL BASIS Lapindo mud puddles that have reached the area of seven square kilometers with a depth of three to ten meters, his In general it can be said that ethics is the condition is increasingly dangerous. The giant philosophy of human actions as human beings [10]. The term "ethics" is etymologically derived from the Greek is specifically examined by following the cursing of the word ethos, meaning the habit or character associated method of verstehen. The results of the hermeneutical with human action [7]. Ethics are different from etiquette. analysis will then be the material to be used to observe the If ethics is concerned with the good or bad of human Sidoarjo mud disaster. action, etiquette deals only with manners without touching morality. The etiquette field only revolves V.RESEARCH RESULT AND DISCUSSION around action from an external point of view, but ethics A. THE ETHICS OF VIRTUE refers to human action as a whole, whole, and deep. Ethics thus not only debated with outward human action Virtue comes from the Latin word “virtus.” The spark, but also investigate the motivation and the various ethic of virtue does not highlight the actions one by one, dimensions underlying the action [17]. Ethic deals with but rather focuses on the man himself. The virtue ethic human action. Hence ethics has a practical character. draws its focus to "being" man. Sudarminta [19] says that Why? Because the action is always concrete. Ethics is ethics of virtue aims to answer the question "what kind of thus directly related to human life and promotes human person should I be?" At this point the ethics of virtue find values. Because of its practical character, ethics also its difference with the ethics of obligation that aims to directly leads people to act and be good [9]. answer the question "what should I do?" The ethic of The ethics conceived by Aristotle is an ethic that virtue is the oldest ethic raised by Plato and Aristotle. The leads to a good life. Aristotelian ethics is the science of virtue ethic has been abandoned since the growth of two good living and aims at the attainment of virtue [20]. different moral thinking traditions by David Hume and Humans are supposed to live and act in such a way as to Immanuel Kant, but since 1963 interest in the ethics of achieve a good, quality, and happy life. Being happy is virtue has re-emerged [10]. Virtue is believed to make a the ultimate goal of human life, and ethics offers guidance person a better human being. to achieve it. The study of virtuous morals is meant to look for Man must act and must act [15]. Acting is the ways to be a prime or virtuous person. Virtue is one of the hallmark of every living being, and it turns out that targets of ethical study. Aristotle [2] defines the virtue as humans are also included in it. If every living thing acts follows: (and so does humans), then what distinguishes human "Virtue is a state of character concerning action from the actions of other beings? Human action is choice, lying in a mean, i.e., the mean the emergence of himself as a human being. Human relative to us by the rational principle by action is its most common and complete representation which the man of practical wisdom would [15]. Action is the most convincing means to present fully determine.” and make it truly human. The virtue according to Aristotle turns out to be a Man becomes the subject of action when he is character's status with respect to choice, that is, the aware and responsible for what he does. Man is thus not determination of what is appropriate for man drawn from only subject to the instinct and stimulus impulse, but the principle of reason, and by that principle man with directing it to a goal to be achieved. This is accomplished practical wisdom [13]. Virtue is a manifestation of human by humans when they include their sense in acting. This is action that is displayed by self-conditioning in good what distinguishes man with animals. Surprisingly, in deeds. Concrete virtue also displays wisdom. Aristotle everyday events, there are many human actions that do displayed virtue as an act that was "in the middle." Virtue not show that character. Quite a lot of human actions are means an act that is not exaggerated on the one hand, and found that is very brutal and intersect with animalistic no shortage on the other. The virtue is in the middle. The character. There are humans who kill other humans even Aristotelian definition of primacy consists of several run away from responsibility after passing a drilling of oil elements of understanding that are worth listening to: that leads to disaster. First, virtue is the status of character (disposition Ethics as a science is also characterized of the soul) with regard to choice. Status is not intended normatively [12]. Ethics propose the values of how as a position, but rather a state, a disposition, a concrete humans can live well. Ethics also offers ethical patterns fact of human character. What is meant by state / and various moral judgments in testing human actions. disposition is not a static reality, but dynamic, growing, Ethics also wants to bring people to good behavior, and developing.