3.2.1 Virtue ethics - 5 markers Flashcards
The meaning of eudaimonia as the ‘final end’
The ‘good’, the final end that we are all striving for, desirable as an end in itself and not for the
sake of anything else. It is best translated as “flourishing”, living/doing well.
The relationship between eudaimonia and pleasure
Pleasure is good when it is taken in virtuous forms of activity. However, pleasure, unlike
eudaimonia, is not the only good, and is not an end-in-itself. It is part of eudaimonia which is
an end-in-itself.
Pleasure is not the only thing we aim at (‘pleasure is not our only
end’).
* There are other things – such as knowing and being virtuous – which we do, as a matter of fact,
seek out.
* We seek out these things even if they bring us no pleasure.
* The pleasure they bring us is not why we seek them.
* Therefore they are final ends (in themselves) and not means to pleasure.
* Therefore pleasure cannot be the only good.
Outline Aristotle’s Function argument
Aristotle uses his “function argument” to demonstrate that all humans have a function (ergon). Aristotle aims to prove that human life is distinctively the life of a being that can be guided by reason. A good human for Aristotle, lives a rational life where one exercises the virtues, where you excel in the distinctively human quality of reason.
To put it formally:
P1. The human organism is made of many parts, which are organized in a highly precise way
P2. Each of these parts has a function
P3. If something has many functional parts which are organized into a whole, the whole must also have a function
C1: Therefore, the human organism has a function
P4. The function of a complex whole is its distinctive activity, for instance, the distinctive activity of a car is moving, or the distinctive activity of a fish is swimming
P5. The distinctive activity of humans is to use reason
C2: Therefore, our function is to use reason
P6. The “good” for any organism or machine lies in performing its function well
C3: The good for human is to use reason well
The relationship between virtue and function
Virtues are those qualities (positive character traits) required for humans to perform their function well.
Possession of
virtues enables human beings to fulfil their function through making good/rational moral
choices thus living a good (eudaimon) life.
The role of education/habituation in the development of moral character
By “moral character” is meant the possession of the virtues, where virtues are stable states/traits of
character (ie dispositions to think, feel and react in particular situations).
We do not have moral character/virtues by nature (we are not virtuous by nature). Rather, we have
the capability to become virtuous.
We can understand how we acquire virtues by drawing an analogy with how we acquire practical
skills:
You don’t learn to play the lyre by just acquiring knowledge about lyre playing, but by actually
practising the activity (ie by playing the lyre).
You don’t become virtuous just by acquiring knowledge of how to be good, but by practising
being good (ie doing good actions).
Thus, we become virtuous through habituation and, in particular, through the habits we develop when
growing up.
The importance of feelings
For Aristotle virtue requires having appropriate feelings; virtuous feeling exists between a vice of deficiency (feeling too little) and a vice of excess (feeling too much). A virtuous person is someone whose emotional responses are in harmony with correct moral reasoning about
how they ought to act.
Explain Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean
The idea that virtue (e.g. courage) exists between a vice of deficiency, e.g. cowardice) and a
vice of excess (e.g. rashness).
Explain Aristotle’s skill analogy
The skill analogy is Aristotle’s account of how you acquire the moral virtues to become virtuous. He draws an analogy between acquiring a skill and becoming virtuous.
No-one is born able to play the harp; rather, we have the capacity to play the harp. No-one is born virtuous; rather we have the capacity to become virtuous
We don’t learn to play the harp and then play it. We learn by playing. We don’t learn to be virtuous, then be virtuous. We become virtuous by doing
virtuous actions.
To become a harp player, we need to practise. We do this by playing until playing becomes a fixed disposition –
so by habituation. To become a virtuous person, we need to practice. We do this by doing virtuous actions until being virtuous becomes a fix.
Explain the difference between a voluntary, involuntary, and non-voluntary actions
-> A voluntary action is one that meets two conditions: (1) the control condition (it is done
intentionally by the agent and not compelled externally) and (2) the epistemic condition (the
agent is aware of the non-moral facts about what it is they are doing).
->An involuntary action is one that (1) is not voluntary (either because it is done under
compulsion (so fails to meet the “control condition”) or because it is the result of ignorance (so
fails to meet the “epistemic condition”)) and (2) is regretted.
->A non-voluntary action is one that (1) is not voluntary (either because it is done under
compulsion (so fails to meet the “control condition”) or because it is the result of ignorance (so
fails to meet the “epistemic condition”)) and (2) is not regretted.
The relationship between virtues, actions, and reasons and the role of practical wisdom
Practical wisdom is the reasoning we use to make choices about our actions and it requires (1)
general knowledge of the good, (2) particular knowledge of how to achieve that good, (3) good
reasoning skills, and (4) willpower. Practical wisdom is context-dependent and requires
experience/practice/habituation. Practical wisdom is what helps us to identify how to achieve
our virtuous ends, is required for an action to be fully virtuous (it is additional to just doing
what a virtuous person would do, which could be done with no understanding at all and/or for
the wrong reasons) and it also requires virtue since it must have a morally good aim/end.
Issues including: Whether a trait must contribute to Eudaimonia in order
to be a virtue; the relationship between the good for the
individual and moral good.
Virtue ethics claims that virtues are traits that contribute to human flourishing; that doing what is
morally good contributes to one’s individual good. However, there are examples of people
who don’t flourish (where their lives are not good for them) but who live a good/virtuous life
(they do what is morally good).
Issues including: Clashing/competing virtues
Issues, including:
The possibility of circularity involved in defining virtuous acts and virtuous persons in terms of each other.
Virtue ethics defines a virtuous person as someone who is disposed to virtuous acts and defines virtuous acts as acts that would be done by a virtuous person. This is a circular argument as it does not give any significant definition of what a virtue is, it merely defines virtues as something virtuous people do.
