5.1 virtue ethics and deontology Flashcards
What is Aristotle’s argument based on?
- anything that a person does has a telos and a higher aim - it is a rational activity
What is the end of human action, according to Aristotle?
- flourishing, or eudaimonia = a sense of satisfaction that comes from being yourself
What does Aristotle argue that humans should do in order to become better people?
- pursue the virtues or arete
- the person who aims to cultivate these qualities is maximising his/her potential for a happy life
What are the 2 categories of virtue?
- intellectual virtues
- moral virtues
What is meant by intellectual virtues?
- they can be taught
e.g. intelligence, wisdom, scientific skill, techne, phronesis
What is meant by moral virtues?
- they need to be acquired through practice
- Aristotle gives 12: courage, temperance, self-discipline, generosity, friendliness, honesty, righteoues indignation, pride, patience, magnificence, magnamity, wittiness and modesty
What is phronesis?
- the interaction between intellectual or practical wisdom gives you the ability to think over your experience, to analyse a situation based on previous outcomes
- there are no rules or maxims about how to act, human beings are able to work out for themselves what is good
How does one become virtuous?
- you can only gain moral virtues by practice and they become a habit
- as our phronesis grows sod do our moral virtues
What is the Golden Mean?
- it is important in every situation to exercise the right virtue to the right degree
- developing virtues is about acting in the mean between excess and deficiency
In Nicomachean Ethics how does Aristotle characterise virtues?
- Aristotle distinguishes between three different kinds of things:
1. passions - not virtues as we aren’t morally judged according to how we feel
2. capacities - not virtues as people aren’t equally praised/admonished for the ability to feel things
3. therefore they are states of character
What are some strengths of Aristotelian virtue ethics?
- Richard Taylor described it as ‘an ethics of aspiration rather than an ethic of duty’
- it offers flexible moral guidlines
- allows reason to develop the whole person
- takes account of the whole person in forming a judgement about their moral worth
What are some weaknesses of Aristotelian virtue ethics?
- lacks universal application
- fallacy of composition = if we don’t have a function, this undermines the idea of pursuing eudaimonia
- not all actions have a mean e.g. adultery
How did Aristotle define virtues in Nicomachean Ethics?
- He distinguishes between three different types of things:
1. passions
2. capacities
3. states of character
Why aren’t passions virtues?
- because we aren’t morally judged according to how we feel
Why aren’t capacities virtues?
- people aren’t equally praised/admonished for the ability to feel things
What are virtues?
- states of character
What does Alisdair MacIntyre argue about modern society and virtues?
- our society is confused about moral behaviour and deontology doesn’t really show us how to behave
- we celebrate new virtues: celebrity, rich aesthete and bureaucratic managers
Where does MacIntyre argue that real morality comes from?
- shared traditions and values
What are the two types of good, according to MacIntyre?
- internal good
- external good
What is meant by internal good?
- a good that is specific to an activity itself and is achieved within it
What is meant by external good?
- something of moral value that results from the practice of a good
What is an example of an action that leads to internal and external good?
- giving money to a good cause = creates internal good as people benefit and it creates a feeling of satisfaction; it is also an external good as it acts as a good example to others
How does Philippa Foot characterise virtue?
- as correctives that continually straighten us out so that eventually we can, through habit become virtuous
What does Kant argue about morality?
- it is independent of God’s will: it’s part of the fabric of the universe and something we can all discover through reason
What does Kant mean by The Good Will?
- what counts is solely the motive behind the action
- the good will is in acting solely because it is the right thing to do, it is your duty
- our judgements of good will are determined by reason alone
How is the good will cultivated?
- through the use of reason and by working hard to be rid of those tendencies which make rational decision making impossible
What are the two types of imperative Kant identified?
- hypothetical imperative
- categorical imperative
What is meant by the hypothetical imperative?
- ‘you ought to do x, if you want to get y’
- it tells us how to act in order to achieve a specific goal and the commandment of reason only applies conditionally
What is meant by the categorical imperative?
- ‘you ought to do x’
- they embody our moral duty, are unconditionally binding and apply equally to all rational beings
- it is universal and necessary rather than subjective and contingent, so we CAN use it to work out laws that it is our duty to perform
What is the first formulation of the categorical imperative?
- ‘act in accordance with that maxim through which you can act at the same time will that it become a universal law’
What does the first formulation mean?
- if the rule/maxim governing our actions can’t be universalised, then it isn’t morally acceptable
What is the second formulation of the categorical imperative?
- ‘act as to treat humanity…always at the same time as an end, never simply as a means’
What does the second formulation mean?
- people are rational beings who deserve dignity and respect and that means always treating them as an end in themselves
What is the third formulation of the categorical imperative?
- ‘act according to the maxims of a member of a merely possible kingdom of ends legislating in it universally’
What does the third formulation mean?
- Kant envisions a utopian kingdom where all people share the same moral vision
What are some strengths of Kantian deontology?
- justice is always absolute - a human being is of intrinsic worth, a rational creature and not something to be exploited for the greater happiness of others
- he makes a sharp distinction between duty and inclination preventing us from assuming that what is good for us is good for everyone else
- he uses objective reason for the basis of his argument
What are some weaknesses of Kantian deontology?
- the fact that a rule can be universalised doesn’t mean that it is morally good
- it creates absolute rules
- the good will is the only motive that has moral worth
How does W.D. Ross adapt deontology?
- he explains why we regard certain courses of actions as good with reference to prima facie duties - that we can instantly recognise and become apparent through our intuition
What are the 7 prima facie duties?
- fidelity
- reparation
- gratitude
- justice
- beneficence
- self-improvement
- non-maleficence
What are some problems with Ross’ deontology?
- How do we know which duties apply in which cases?
- Why do we have moral intuition in the first place?
- we do something because it is the norm, not because it is our duty
- seems to suggest that moral truths are self-evident
What is Thomas Nagel’s deontology?
- argues that the central question in ethics is the reasoning behind our moral choices
- there are agent-relative and agent-neutral reasons
What is meant by agent-relative reasons?
- a personal reason for you to do something, that wouldn’t necessarily apply to anyone else
What is meant by agent-neutral reasons?
- general reasons why anyone should do something
Which type of reasons should moral decision making be based on according to Nagel?
- agent-relative reasons, which include deontological reasons
What does Bernard Williams add to deontology?
- the moral justification for each under Kant or utilitarianism is going to be complex
