virtue ethics Flashcards
Aristotle aims to answer a different question to Kant and Utilitarianism, what is it?
Instead of answering ‘what should I do?’ (action-centred) he addresses a question more like ‘what sort of person should I be?’ (agent-centred)
Instead of defining a good person as someone who does good actions, what would Aristotle say?
Defining good actions as those done by good people
What is the virtue?
The middle point between a vice deficiency and a vice of excess
What is Aristotle’s ethical theory concerned with?
What is the word Aristotle uses for this?
What does this sometimes translate to?
A good life for a human being
Eudaimonia
Human flourishing
How does eudaimonia differ from Kant and Utilitarianism?
It’s not just about following moral laws or being happy, or being successful - it’s about all these things together and more. It’s a good life in the moral sense as well as in the sense that it’s the kind of desirable and enjoyable and valuable life you would want for yourself
What does eudaimonia take into account?
What does this mean?
Someone’s life taken into account
It takes into account the fact that good people sometimes do bad things, but this doesn’t make them bad people and people who have good lives can sometimes have bad days
Aristotle says that eudaimonia is a final end, what does this mean?
We don’t try to achieve eudaimonia as a means to achieve some goal but instead it is something that is valuable for its own sake
What does ergon relate to?
function/characteristic activity of a thing
What does arete translate to?
What is an example of this?
Property/virtue that enables a thing to achieve its ergon
A knife’s ergon is to cut things, and a good knife has the arete of sharpness because this enables it to cut things well
What does Aristotle argue about eudaimonia?
What does he say is the ergon to humans?
It must consist of something unique to humans
To use reason, reason is what makes us unique from everything else in the world
What is Aristotle’s claim?
Humans always choose their actions for some reason - good or bad. So what, Aristotle actually says is that the good life for a human being is one full of actions chosen according to good reason
What are virtues?
Character traits that enable us to choose our actions according to good reason
How are virtues similar to eudaimonia?
Virtues are not something you have one day but not the next, virtues are character traits - they are a part of what we are
What does the doctrine of the mean say?
What is an example of this?
So what is the correct and virtuous way to act?
Virtues are the intermediate or average between two extremes
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 for the slightest reason then you are reckless (vice of excess).
Somewhere in between these two extremes
What does phronesis translate to?
It translates as ‘practical wisdom’ and basically means a general understanding of good such that the person can think through and act according to what is good
What can a person with phronesis understand?
What is good and why, with relation to eudaimonia
What does this enable the person with phronesis to understand and deliberate?
What is required in each particular situation, the person with phronesis is then able to act on that deliberation
How is phronesis ‘practical wisdom’?
It is a general understanding of good that enables us to think through, understand and act according to what is good
What does Aristotle say in regards to voluntary and involuntary action?
We should only praise or condemn actions if they are done voluntarily. In other words, you can’t criticise someone for acting unvirtuously if their actions weren’t freely chosen
What does voluntary mean in this context (Aristotle)?
Acting with full knowledge and intention
What does involuntary mean in this context (Aristotle)?
- Compulsion: being forced to do something you don’t want to do
- Ignorance: doing something you don’t want to do by accident
Aristotle says we can only judge what?
A person’s voluntary actions
What are the problems with virtue ethics?
- No clear guidance
- Circularity
- Competing virtues
NO CLEAR GUIDANCE
How does Aristotle fail to give clear guidance?
He describes virtues in the middle of the two extremes and that this varies depending on the situation. But this isn’t very helpful as a practical guide of what to do
NO CLEAR GUIDANCE
What does Kant do to give guidance?
The categorical imperative as to say whether an action is moral or not
What does utilitarianism do to give guidance?
The felicific calculus
How does the doctrine of mean fail to give guidance?
It doesn’t give actual quantities, only vague descriptions and if you genuinely don’t know what the correct cause of action is, virtue theory doesn’t provide any actual guidance
