Normative ethics: Aristotle's virtue ethics Flashcards
How does Aristotle virtue ethics differ to Kants?
A: agent centred adresses questions like “what sort of person should I be?”
Kant: action centred perspective of “what should I do?”
25 mark plan:
is Aristoles virtue theory an accurate account of moral responsibility?
intro: A virtue ethics is correct
define: agent centred, virtue, golden mean, eudiamonia
para1: against, no clear guidance
response: V theory was nvr intended as a set of rules
para3: against, conflicts between virtues
response: conflicts between virtues r impossible (practical wisdom)
para5: against, different between eudimonia + being morally good
response: A doesn’t claim eudiamonia is apt self interest, involves commitment to others.
conclusion: A is correct account of moral responsibility, objections fails.
what does eudiamonia mean?
The good life for human beings.
what does good life for human beings consist of?
something that is unique to human beings.
human beings are rational animals = reason is unique characteristic.
good life therefore = be one full of actions chosen according to reason.
what is eudaimonia translated as
human flourishing
what is eudaemonia about?
Its a good life in the moral sense as well as the sense its the kind of desirable, enjoyable and successful life you’d want for yourself.
E is the property taken from someones life as a whole, not something you can have one day + lose the next.
A- says eudiamonia is final end for humans.
Ergon definition
the function or characteristic activity of a thing
Arete defintion
a property or virtue that enables a thing to achieve its Ergon.
what does Aristotle argue eudiamonia must consist of for human beings?
Argues that eudiamonia must consist of something unique to humans. The Ergon of humans is to use reason. Reason makes us unique from trees, plants, books - everything else in the world.
how do humans achieve eudiamonia?
A says good life for human beings is one full of actions chosen according to good reason.
what’s the doctrine of the mean also referred to as?
golden mean
what does the doctrine of mean do
- provides more detail about what virtues actually are.
-says that virtues are the intermediate or average between two extremes.
Give a doctrine of the mean example
If you never stand up for yourself then you are cowardly (vice of deficiency). But if you go too far the other way and start fights with anyone then you are reckless (vice of excess). But if you have a courageous character you will stand up for yourself when it is appropriate to do so.
So courage is a virtuous character trait because it is in-between two extremes.
what does the skill analogy say
acquiring virtues is analogous to acquiring skills such as learning to ride a bike or play the piano
what is phronesis translated as?
practical wisdom
what does phronesis mean
means a general understanding of good that enables someone to think through, understand and act according to what is good.
what is bristles words of phronesis
“practical wisdom, then must be a reasoned and true state of capacity to act with regard to human goods.”
What are the components of pheronesis:
- a general idea of what is good + bad as relates to eudiamonia
- the ability to apply this general idea to specific situations + “deliberate” (i.e think through) what is required to act on this deliberation.
what distinction does A make about voluntary and involuntary actions?
people are only morally responsible for voluntary actions. we can’t criticise someone for acting unvirtuously if their actions weren’t freely chosen.
what are the two different kinds of involuntary actions:
-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
what’s a response to aritstoles virtue ethics
No clear guidance!
response to A: no clear guidance explained (doctrine of the mean)
doctrine of the mean says this varies depending on the situation. But this isn’t helpful in practical guide of what to do.
DOM doesn’t give actual quantities, only vague descriptions such as “not too much” + “not too little”. virtue theory doesn’t provide any actual guidance for how to act.
Aristotle response to virtue ethics has no clear gudiance
virtue theory was never intended to provide a set of rule of how to act. life is complicated- so you can act virtuously in the many complicated situations that arise.
what’s circularity and how does it relate to virtue ethics
A defines virtuous acts + virtuous people in terms of each other which is circular.
-a virtuous person would do
- and a virtuous person is a person who does virtuous acts.
response to objection that virtue ethics is circular:
virtuous person is defined in terms of eudiamonia so the definition is not circular.
