Aristotle_Virtue_Ethics.pptx

Aristotle

Virtue Ethics

"The nature of a human being

Greek Virtue Ethics

 _{Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.)}

 _Knowledge  _Virtue

 _Happiness

The Nature of Ethics according to Aristotle

 _{Ethics refers primarily to character}  _{Emphasis is on character and human}

excellence, the virtues

 _{The criterion for moral rightness is good}

Character

 _{The virtuous person acts out of a set}

disposition to do the right act in the right way, at the right time, and for the right reason

 _{If you don’t know what the right thing to do}

Teleological thinking

 _{All nature is teleological (purposive)}

 Pre-designed telos

Plants nutrition

Animals sensation

Humans nutrition, sensation, and reason

 _{The ability to deliberate, to use reason in a}

Human Nature



Humans by nature are political animals

Good state provides good and happy

people



Good people along with good laws are

necessary for a well-governed state

Ethics is considered as a branch of

politics: the state should actively

encourage citizens to inculcate the

virtues, which in turn are the best

The Functionalist Account of Human Nature

 _{To know what something is, is to know what it}

is used for, what it is meant to become: what its function is.

 E.g. what is the function of a knife?

 _{Human beings have a distinct function}

 _{Some humans fulfill this function better than}

others

 “Reason is the true self of every person, since it

is the supreme and better part, It will be strange, then, if he should choose not his own life, but

some other’s….What is naturally proper to every creature is the highest and pleasantest for him. And so, to man, this will be the life of Reason,

since reason is, in the highest sense, a man’s self.”

What is the Good life?

 _{The three classes of goods: (NE 1,8)}

“There is general agreement; for both the common

person and people of superior refinement say that it is happiness, and identify living well and doing well with being happy; but with regard to what

happiness is they differ, and many do not give the same account as the wise. For the former think it is some plain and obvious thing, like pleasure,

Happiness

How does Aristotle define

“happiness”? What are the

chief characteristics of

happiness? How does he

arrive at this definition?

Happiness (

eudaimonia

)



It is not merely a subjective state of

pleasure or contentment but the kind of

life we would all want to live if we

understood our essential nature.



Our function (essence) is to live according

to reason and thereby become a certain

sort of highly rational being.



When we fulfill the ideal of living the

virtuous life, we are truly happy.



Happy life is directed toward worthwhile

The Good Life

 _“Activity of the soul in accordance with virtue,

and if there are more than one virtue, in

accordance with the best and most complete.”

 _{The best and most complete virtue is to be}

Virtue

“We can experience fear, confidence, desire,

anger, pity, and generally any kind of pleasure

and pain too much or too little, and in either

case not properly. But to experience all this at

the right time, toward the right object,

Types of virtues

Virtues

 _{The virtues of the}

rational part of the soul

 _{Practical reason:}

prudence

 _{Theoretical reason:}

wisdom

 _{Moral Virtues}

 _{Derive from}

attitudes in us (habituation)

Intellectual virtues

 Consists in knowing correctly how to direct the

life of man

 Assist us in deliberating correctly about the

true aims of man: it points out the suitable means to the achievement of true goals

 _Wisdom:

 The most elevated dianoetic virtue

 It regards those things that are higher than

Correlation between intellectual

and ethical virtues

“For virtue makes us aim at the right mark, and practical wisdom makes us take the right

means.”

 Intellectual virtues points out the suitable

means but they do not point out the ends themselves

 The true ends and aims are grasped by the

ethical virtues that directs the will in the correct way

Prudence

 _{is the virtue of practical intelligence of}

knowing how to apply general principles in particular situations.

 _{is the ability to act so that principle will take}

a concrete form.

 _{Is not only a virtue but it is the keystone to all}

virtues.

 _{Prudence is the virtue which is manifested in}

“Whereas young people become

accomplished in geometry and mathematics, and wise within these limits, prudent young people do not seem to be found. The reason is that prudence is concerned with particulars as well as universals, and particulars become known from experience, but a young person lacks experience, since some length of time is needed to produce it (Nichomachean

Ethical virtues

“ virtue of character is a mean, …, it is a mean between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency; and that it is such because it is the sort of thing able to hit the mean in feelings and actions. This is why it is hard to be good, because in each case it is hard to find the middle point; for instance, not everyone can find the center of a

circle, but only the person with knowledge. So too anyone can get angry, or give and spend money – these are easy; but doing them in



“Virtue… is a state involving rational

choice, consisting in a mean relative

to us and determined by reason – the

reason, that is, by reference to which

practically wise person would

determine it. It is a mean between

The Golden Mean

 _{The morally good persons live a life of}

moderation, the “mean” between two extreme type of actions

 _{The life of moderation is one that:}

 _{Avoids the excesses and the deficiencies of}

behavior

 _{Is governed by reason}

 _{Is not directed by uncontrollable desires and}

The Mean

Vice of Deficiency Virtue Vice of Excess

Cowardice Courage Foolhardiness

Stinginess Generosity Prodigality

Shamelessness Modesty Bashfulness

Maliciousness Righteous Indignation

Pleasure

Pleasure accompanies every activity and brings it to perfection, it completes and activity

Which pleasures are good?

 Those which have good sources (even bodily

pleasures are good up to some point - temperance)

 _{The only real pleasures are those of the}

virtuous person.

 _{Pleasure crowns the virtuous life and is the}

Happiness

 _{How is virtue related to the attainment of}

happiness?

_{Happiness consists in the activity of the mind}

in conformity with virtue

_{The true goods of man are the spiritual goods}

that consist in virtue of his soul, and this is happiness

_{The care of the soul remains the only way that}

leads to happiness

_{Being sufficiently endowed with the possession}

Happiness: life of contemplation

 _{Having a good moral character, the}

intellectual habits of the mind places us in a position to acquire scientific and

philosophical wisdom

 _{The central intellectual virtue is to discover}

the truth

 _{The life of the philosopher is the greatest}

chance to achieve happiness: “this activity is the best …, and, … it is the most continuous;” “the philosopher, even by himself, can

The Revival of Virtue Ethics

 _{The Ethics of Care}  _Relationship

 _Narrative