Virtue Ethics Flashcards
What is eudaimonia?
end purpose of human life is to be happiness, flourishing or fulfillment
What are intellectual virtues?
cultivated through education
e.g. wisdom, rational thought
*born with these virtues
What are moral virtues?
achieved by habit
e.g. courage, justice, temperance
Intellectual and moral virtues…
go hand in hand if a person wishes to live life well
What did Aristotle believe about the virtues?
believed that intellectual virtues were the most important because he believed in wisdom and knowledge
What is the doctrine of the mean a.k.a golden mean?
there are opposing vices: EXCESS and DEFICIENCY.
*finding the middle ground between excess and deficiency within any characteristic to achieve eudaimonia
How does Aristotle use VE to describe mankind?
“man is a political and social animal”
- acknowledges that humans need to interact with others therefore cannot be moral without interaction
Problems with intellectual virtues
people who don’t have access to education cannot achieve eudaimonia as they cannot fulfill their intellectual virtues
Define arete
greek word meaning virtue
conveys idea of physical, moral and intellectual intelligence
