aristotlian virtue ethics Flashcards
1
Q
phronesis
A
- practical wisdom
- means a general understanding of good, such that the person can think through and act according to what is good
- the person with phronesis is able to understand what is good and why with relation to eudaimonia
- the general conception enables the person with phronesis to understand and deliberate as to what is required in each particular situation
- the person with phronesis is able to then act in that deliberation
- the skill analogy helps to illustrate phronesis
2
Q
moral responsibility
A
- Aristotle claims that we should only praise or condemn actions if they are done voluntarily
- a person can not be criticised for acting un virtuously if their actions were not freely chosen
- voluntary actions: acting with full knowledge and intention
-
involuntary/non-voluntary:
compulsion (involuntary) - being forced to do something you don’t want to do
ignorance (non-voluntary) - doing something you don’t want to do by accident
3
Q
eudemonia
A
- eudaimonia is the good life for humans
- eudemonia is the final end
- the reason for what humans choose to do will ultimately trace back to what they think it will help them live a good life - Aristotle claimed this shows that living a good life is the goal (telos) of all human life, because it is the only thing valued for its own sake
- everything else we value only as a means to that end
- eudemonia must consist of something that is unique to humans
4
Q
ergon and arete
A
- Aristotle establishes that the goal/purpose (telos) of human beings is living a good life
- we call something good when it preforms its function well
- everything has a function (ergon)
- the ergon of humans is reason and this makes us unique from everything else in the world
- the good life for a human (eudaimonia) is one full of actions chosen according to good reason
- what will enable humans to fulfil their function of reasoning well is whatever qualities help us have good reasons for our actions; these are the virtues (character traits)
- the arête (virtue that enables a thing to achieve its ergon) of virtues help humans fulfil their ergon, which is to choose actions according to reason
5
Q
doctrine of mean
A
- the doctrine of the mean says that virtues are the intermediate/average (the mean) between two extremes
- virtues are character traits that enables us to act according to reason
- the virtue is the middle point between a vice of deficiency and a vice of excess
- virtues are developed through habit
- the correct and virtuous way to act is in the middle of these two extremes (vices)
6
Q
examples of vices and virtues
A
- cowardice (vice of deficiency), courage (virtue), recklessness (vice of excess)
- shy (vice of deficiency), modest (virtue), shameless (vice of excess)
7
Q
the skill analogy
A
- acquiring virtues is analogous to acquiring skills, eg playing the piano
- nobody is born knowing how to play the piano, but we are born with the capacity to know how to play the piano; likewise, nobody is born virtuous, but they have the capacity to become virtuous
- you don’t learn to play the piano by just studying the theory, you have to actually do it; likewise, it’s not enough to learn about virtue, you have to actually act virtuously until it becomes part of your character
- when you first start learning to play the piano, you don’t really understand what you’re doing; by following rules for acting virtuously, it eventually becomes part of our character
- we begin to understand what virtue is and this enables us to improvise according to what the situation demands
8
Q
role of education
A
9
Q
the importance of feelings
A
- Aristotle says we are striving for the good of life – a critical part of this is developing our character or ‘moral virtue’
- virtue ethics expect you to develop a disposition for a virtue so that, whenever required, we will do the virtuous thing
- Aristotle says virtues are about actions, emotions and a certain kind of feeling
- actions involve us affecting something
- emotions involve us being effected by something
- a virtue is our capacity to shape our behaviour both as active agents (through taking the right action) and as passive recipients (through having the right response to our emotions)
- someone who is virtuous is able to respond and act appropriately to the emotions
10
Q
no clear guidance (problems)
A
- Aristotle describes virtues in the middle of the two vices (the doctrine of the mean) and that this varies depending on the situation
- but this isn’t very helpful as a practical guide of what to do
- eg Aristotle would say it is correct to act angrily sometimes – but when and how angry are you supposed to get before it crosses over from a virtue to a vice of excess
- but with Aristotle, we have no such criteria against which to judge whether one course of action is better than another
- the doctrine of the mean doesn’t give actual quantities, only vague descriptions
- if you genuinely don’t know what the correct course of action is, virtue theory doesn’t provide any actual guidance for how to act
11
Q
circularity (problems)
A
- Aristotle can be interpreted as defining virtuous acts and virtuous people in terms of each other, which doesn’t say anything
- he’s basically saying something that a virtuous act is something a virtuous person would do
- and a virtuous person is a person who does virtuous acts
- these descriptions are circular and so say nothing meaningful about what a virtuous person or a virtuous act actually is
12
Q
competing virtues (problems)
A
- scenarios can be imagined where applying two different virtues (e.g. justice and mercy) would suggest two different courses of action
- eg if you’re a judge and someone has stolen something, you have to choose between the virtue of justice (i.e. punishing the criminal) and the virtue of mercy (i.e. letting the criminal go)
- you can’t choose to do both things, so whichever choice you make will be unvirtuous in some way
13
Q
difference between eudaimonia and moral good (problems)
A
- according to Aristotle, the good life for a human being is eudaimonia
- it includes many elements beyond simply being moral, such as honour, wealth, and happiness
- however, we often make a distinction between a good life for me (eudaimonia) and a morally good life
- there is a difference between what is morally good and eudaimonia, and so Aristotle’s virtue ethics fails as an account of what morality is
14
Q
response to the no clear guidance objection
A
- Aristotle could reply that virtue theory was never intended to provide a set of rules for how to act
- life is complicated which is why you need to develop practical wisdom, so you can act virtuously in the many complicated situations
- we can still reflect whether an action is a virtue or a vice
- just because virtue theory doesn’t provide a specific course of action, that does not mean it provides no guidance whatsoever
15
Q
response to the circularity objection
A
- Aristotle describes the virtuous person in terms of eudaimonia and so the definition is not circular
- virtues are traits that enable a person to achieve eudaimonia
