Ar Flashcards
State the 3 main types of Normative Ethical Theory.
1) Consequentialist - Focuses on versions of utilitarianism.
2) Virtue/character-based - Focuses on Aristotle’s account.
3) Deontological/duty-based - Focuses on Kant’s account.
Summarise ‘Aristotelian Virtue Ethics’.
Aristotelian Virtue Ethics is a Virtue/Character-based theory in Normative Ethics that proposes that a morally good life is one where humans fulfil their function through exhibiting good character/virtue.
State the main claims in ‘Aristotelian Virtue Ethics’.
(MAIN) A morally good life is one where humans fulfil their function through exhibiting good character/virtue.
1) Agent-based - Focuses on the character/virtues of someone living a good life.
2) A morally good life is one that is lived well, one in which you flourish / achieve Eudaimonia.
3) In order to flourish, you need to fulfill the function that is unique to / characteristic of human beings.
4) The qualities of character that you have which enable you to fulfil this function well are called virtues.
5) Acquiring virtues is like (but not exactly like!) acquiring a skill and acting virtuously requires practical (as opposed to merely theoretical) wisdom.
6) Each virtue sits between a vice of excess and a vice of deficiency (this is called ‘the doctrine of the mean’).
7) Being virtuous means acting in the right way at the right times, but also feeling the right way in response to situations.
8) We can only be held morally responsible for actions where we (1) had sufficient knowledge and (2) acted voluntarily.
Summarise ‘Aristotle’s account of Eudaimonia’.
Aristotle’s account of Eudaimonia within Aristotelian Virtue Ethics is a Virtue/Character-based theory in Normative Ethics that proposes Eudaimonia / living well / flourishing is the highest good for human beings.
State the main claims in ‘Aristotle’s account of Eudaimonia’.
(Main) Eudaimonia is living well / flourishing
1) Eudaimonia is the highest good: all other activities are done for the sake of eudaimonia; eudaimonia is not done for the sake of anything else.
2) Eudaimonia is not the same as pleasure/ feelings of happiness.
Summarise ‘Aristotle’s function argument’.
Aristotle’s function/“ergon” argument within Aristotelian Virtue Ethics is a Virtue/Character-based argument in Normative Ethics that proposes that reason is the function unique to humans that determines what it means to flourish.
State ‘Aristotles function argument’ in standard form.
P1: The function of a human is whatever humans can do that non-humans cannot.
P2: Humans can grow and reproduce but so can plants and non-human animals.
P3: Humans can move and perceive but so can non-human animals.
P4: Only humans can reason; plants/non-human animals cannot.
C1: Therefore, using reason is the function of a human.
P5: A good X (human, plant, knife etc) is one that fulfills the function of X well.
C2: Therefore, a good human is one that uses reason well.
P6: Virtues are qualities of something that allow it to fulfill its function well.
C3: Therefore, in order to be a good human (and so flourish / achieve eudaimonia), we need to have particular virtues that allow us to reason well.
Summarise ‘Aristotle’s argument for virtues being character traits/dispositions’.
Aristotle’s argument for virtues being character traits/dispositions within Aristotelian Virtue Ethics is a Virtue/Character-based argument in Normative Ethics that proposes that virtues must be character traits because they can’t be passions and they can’t be faculties, and those are the only three options.
State ‘Aristotle’s argument for virtues being character traits/dispositions’ in standard form.
P1: Virtues are part of the soul (the mind), and so they must be either a passion, a faculty or a state (trait) of character.
P2: Virtues can’t be passions (i.e. bodily appetites, emotions, pleasure/pain) because (1) just having/not having a particular passion doesn’t make you a good or bad person but having/not having virtues does, (2) we don’t choose our passions, but virtues are related to the choices we make.
P3: Virtues are not faculties (i.e. things like sight or the ability to feel fear) because we have these naturally but we have to acquire virtue.
C1: Therefore, virtues are states of character.
Summarise ‘The Doctrine of The Mean’.
The doctrine of the mean within Aristotelian Virtue Ethics is a Virtue/Character-based theory in Normative Ethics that proposes that Each virtue lies between a vice of excess and a vice of deficiency (this requires judgement).
State the main claims in ‘The Doctrine of The Mean’.
(MAIN) To be virtuous is to feel feelings and perform actions in the right way at the right time.
1) Virtues are the mean between vices.
2) Acting/feeling wrongly (viciously) normally involves an excess or deficiency of something (the vice of excess or the vice of deficiency).
3) This mean is not a mathematical mean (the halfway point) because what the mean is will depend on the person, the circumstance etc.
4) Because of this, Aristotle thinks that ethics is ‘uncodifiable’ (i.e. it can’t be captured in one or more rules).
5) Not all wrong emotions/actions involve an excess or deficiency of something - some are just wrong.
Summarise ‘The role of education/habituation and the skill analogy’.
The role of education/habituation and the skill analogy within Aristotelian Virtue Ethics is a Virtue/Character-based theory in Normative Ethics that proposes that acquiring virtue requires education, a good role model and practice/habituation (like a skill does).
State the claims in ‘The role of education/habituation and the skill analogy’.
1) We are not innately/naturally virtuous.
2) We acquire good moral character/virtues by practicing them (by habituation).
3) It helps if you are educated well morally as you grow up.
4) Good role models can act as exemplars that you can follow/imitate.
5) Habituation by itself is not enough though - acting morally is not acting robotically: it still requires thought/reflection.
6) Becoming virtuous is like acquiring a skill.
Summarise ‘The relationship between virtues, actions and reasons; the role of phonesis/practical reasoning/wisdom’
The relationship between virtues, actions and reasons; the role of practical reasoning/wisdom within Aristotelian Virtue Ethics is a Virtue/Character-based theory in Normative Ethics that proposes that Practical wisdom (which involves several parts) is required for an action to be fully virtuous.
State the claims in ‘The relationship between virtues, actions and reasons; the role of practical reasoning/wisdom’.
(MAIN) Practical wisdom is the reasoning we use to make changes in the world; to make choices.
1) It requires (1) general knowledge of the good, (2) particular knowledge of how to achieve that good, (3) good reasoning skills, and (4) willpower.
2) Practical wisdom does not consist in a set of rules: it will be context-dependent.
3) It cannot be taught and cannot be captured in rules, it requires experience/practice.
4) It is related to being virtuous:
(1) It is what helps us to identify how to achieve our virtuous ends.
(2) It 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).
(3) It requires virtue, since it needs to have a morally good aim/end.
Summarise ‘Moral responsibility: voluntary, involuntary and non-voluntary actions’.
Aristotle’s account of moral responsibility for voluntary, involuntary and non-voluntary actions within Aristotelian Virtue Ethics is a Virtue/Character-based theory in Normative Ethics that proposes that the responsibility you have for you actions depends on (1) whether you were in control of what you did (2) whether you had sufficient knowledge, and (3) whether you regret what happened.
State the claims in ‘Aristotle’s account of moral responsibility for voluntary, involuntary and non-voluntary actions’.
1) Voluntary Action - Where two conditions must be met: (1) The control condition (it is done intentionally by the agent and not compelled externally) and (2) the epistemic condition (the agent must be aware of the non-moral facts about what it is she is doing).
2) Involuntary Action - An action that is (1) 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 is regretted.
3) Non-voluntary Action - An action that is (1) 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 not regretted (the thing that marks a non-voluntary act from an involuntary act is that the moral agent does not regret what happened).
