5.1 Virtue Ethics

Question 1

Eudaimonia

Answer 1

For Aristotle - what makes a person happy

Question 2

Golden mean

Answer 2

also known as virtuous mean: the midway point between vices and deficiency

Question 3

Virtue ethics

Answer 3

• Judges the person committing the act rather than the act itself.
• An approach to ethics that emphasizes the character of the moral agent, rather than rules or consequences, as the key element of practical thinking.
• Virtue ethics asks ‘What kind of person are you?’
• Believed it is one thing to know ‘the Good’ but another to act on that Good.
• Began his system in his Nicomachean Ethics.

Question 4

Teleological

Answer 4

Those moral theories that hold that the consequences of actions are the true basis for any judgements about such actions

Question 5

Supreme Happiness

Answer 5

The end to which Virtue Theory looks, an end which is about both an individuals personal development and the whole community

Question 6

Homeric

Answer 6

Relating to the stories of great heroes such as Achilles and Odysseus. The ethics of these stories is “you are what you do”

Question 7

Excessive

Answer 7

Having too much of a characteristic

Question 8

Deficient

Answer 8

Having too little of a characteristic

Question 9

Liberality

Answer 9

Open minded / Being giving or generous

Question 10

Prudence

Answer 10

The ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason

Question 11

Moral Agent

Answer 11

A being whose actions are capable of moral evaluation

Question 12

The Function Argument 1

Answer 12

Aristotle thought that everything that a person does has a purpose (telos) and a higher aim, it is a rational activity. Aristotle described this as ‘the Good’ - good for yourself and good for everyone.
Everything has a function (ergon) and being Good is to perform your function well. The end of human action is flourishing and, according to Aristotle, you can truly flourish only when you perform your function well.
Every action is a MEANS TO THAT END.

Question 13

The Function Argument 2

Answer 13

Purpose of human beings is to be rational. What is frequently missed is the significance of ergon - putting reason into practice. Through the practice of arete (excellence, therefore virtue), reason becomes an activity of the soul, leading to eudaimonia. True happiness is the process of flourishing, the joy of being what you are meant to and doing what you are meant to do & doing it well. This is the eudaimonia life.

Question 14

E U D A I M O N I A

Answer 14

• Aristotle saw as the goal in life but agreed that pleasure doesn’t lead to happiness.
• Eudaimonia is having a good quality of life and being a morally good person.
• Aristotle isn’t talking about a state of mind, he is talking about living virtuously, dealing with good and bad as best we can, while continuing to develop our virtues.

Question 15

Intellectual virtues

Answer 15

from the mind e.g. ability to understand reason/ make sound judgements. May be taught like logic and mathematics.

Question 16

Moral virtues

Answer 16

• Moral character of the agent.
• They aren’t innate but required through repetition and practice.
• They are ‘states of character’
• Aristotle argues the four cardinal virtues are PRUDENCE, TEMPERANCE, FORTITUDE AND JUSTICE

Question 17

Virtues explained

Answer 17

Virtues help fulfil our function.
No one is virtuous by nature.
You can gain MORAL VIRTUES only by PRACTISE.
You are only described as virtuous only once you are seen to act in a particular way, of your own free will and with honesty of intention.

Question 18

Phronesis

Answer 18

The good life is the interaction between intellectual or practical wisdom (phronesis) and the virtuous actions that result in a virtuous character.
Involves interpreting a moral dilemma from a holistic standpoint which acknowledges emotions and inclinations BUT through pursuing the mean allows rational choice to take precedence over irrational desires.

Question 19

Polis

Answer 19

A city state in ancient Greece, especially as considered in its ideal form for philosophical purposes.

Question 20

THE GOLDEN MEAN (also the doctrine of the mean)

Answer 20

Aristotle considered it impossible to strike a balance between extremes, recognising this balance leads to virtue.
Developing virtues isn’t about being the best but about acting in the mean between excess and deficiency. Choosing right way to act with appropriate degree of love, honesty etc. in the circumstances.
Do not want to be the person who is fearful all the time nor the person who is not afraid enough.
Vice of deficiency: sarcasm
Vice of excess: boastfulness
Virtue: sincerity

Question 21

Aristotle’s distinction between passions, capacities and states of character.

Answer 21

1. Passions: our bodily appetites, our emotions & feelings accompanied by pleasure/pain.
2. Capacities: faculties e.g. sight or mathematical ability - naturally.
3. Virtues: states of character which are freely chosen and developed out of habit.

Question 22

Temperance

Answer 22

A moral virtue. A temperate person abstains from indulging in bodily pleasures, is not ‘self-indulgent’. Temperance is about moderation and self-restraint which can only be developed out of habit.

Question 23

Other key points in Aristotle’s argument

Answer 23

Aristotle distinguishes between VOLUNTARY and INVOLUNTARY actions. Moral responsibility is about voluntary action involving CHOICE. For Aristotle, CHOICE is about deliberation (reasoned thought about how to achieve an end). The virtuous person chooses to act virtuously.

The good life is the interaction between PHRONESIS and VIRTUOUS ACTIONS that result in a virtuous character. Development in turn produces Eudaimonia. This is a ‘VIRTUOUS CIRCLE’ because virtuous acts and people are defined in terms of one another. Virtues are the only thing worth persuing for thir own sake.

Question 24

Strengths of Virtue Theory

Answer 24

1. Focuses on the growth of the moral agent. Individual rather than the act. It is not prescriptive.
2. Has flexible moral guideline. Virtues are dispositions to act in the right way at the right time, to the right people. Virtue theory adapts itself to the situation.
3. Allows reason to develop the whole person, including the emotions.
4. Takes into account the whole person in forming a judgement about their moral worth. It recognises the value of family and the paradox that life is constantly in a state of flux and change and yet week seek a consistent character.
5. Enables us to develop a moral education. Utility and Kantian Ethics focus on learning a method or principle & how to apply it but this does not take into account the experience and learning itself.

Question 25

Weaknesses of Virtue Theory

Answer 25

1. Doesn’t give us defined rules and therefore can’t really help with decision making e.g.one choosing between two virtuous acts whilst not being a virtuous person and lacing wisdom.
2. There is a problem with moral relativism - virtue theory lacks universal application. ‘Virtue’ definitions differ in communities and therefore decisions too will differ.
3. Aristotle assumes we have a function but commits to the fallacy of consumption. The theory falls apart if we don’t have a function that undermines eudaimonia.
4. Eudaimonia cannot be calculated and is too idealistic. How many people develop a character that causes them to act morally? What might make us happy might not lead to the type of moral character & good life that Aristotle envisions.
5. Kant might argue that sometimes we must act out of duty and take actions that might not make us happy.
6. Problem of finding the mean. Acts of temperance have no mean because temperance itself is the mean.

Question 26

Compatible with religious approaches to ethics

Answer 26

• Aquinas drew inspiration from Aristotle in his understanding of the purpose of the universe.
• Virtue theory is compatible with a religious way of life, with a focus on flourishing and happiness achieved through the development of a moral character.
• FOOT argues that religious approaches to ethics aren’t compatible because religious doctrines on morality are legalistic and inflexible and virtue theory isn’t.
• Christianity encourages moral development and sees Jesus as an example of this. Virtue theory asks us to aspire to be virtuous and this can be achieved when taking the example of virtuous people as role models and adopting their virtues. The two approaches compliment one another.

Question 27

Alasdair Maclntyre as Scottish Philosopher on Modern Virtue Theory

Answer 27

• Argues virtue theory is still the best option for defining moral behaviour.
• Argues society is confused about moral behaviour - deontology and teleology don’t really show us how to behave - as people have different backgrounds our judgements are just expressions.
• Believes virtue theory is community based, we live in an emotivism culture where moral decisions depend on how we feel.

Maclntyre identifies two types of good:
INTERNAL GOOD - a good specific to an activity itself & is achieved within it.
EXTERNAL GOOD - something of moral value that results from the practice of a good.

e.g. someone gives money to a good cause. Internal good = people benefit & satisfaction for doner. External good = acts as good example to others.

Question 28

Philippa Foot as British Philosopher on Modern Virtue Theory

Answer 28

• Foot is very critical of duty-based ethics & seeks a return to Greek ethics which advocate virtue.
• Foot states that using virtues to a bad end is wrong. A virtue is only virtuous if used to the right end. Loyalty isn’t a virtue if used to a bad end e.g. loyalty to Hitler.
• Foot characterises virtues as ‘correctives’. She likens humans to planks of wood that are left out to season. Wood naturally warps and changes shape & needs continual attention to make it straight. Virtues do the same for human character: they continually straighten us out so that eventually we can, through habit, become virtuous.