Virtue Ethics Flashcards
An ethical theory developed by Aristotle in his book Nicomachean Ethics.
Virtue Ethics
Virtue ethics is an ethical theory developed by who?
Aristotle
What is the title of the book that contains the ethical theory virtue ethics?
Nichomachean Ethics
In this particular book, Aristotle offers moral principles of conduct that would guide human actions in attaining the __ ____.
“good life”
What guides human actions in attaining the “good life”?
moral principles of conduct
Who is the teacher of Aristotle in the Academia?
Plato
Who founded his own school, the Lyceum, because of his intellectual differences with Plato.?
Aristotle
What is the name of Aristotle’s own school?
Lyceum
The formulation of virtue ethics is primarily grounded in the _____ _____
Greeks tradition
demonstrates theories essential for the moral development of the entire morally capacitated beings.
formulation of virtue ethics
defined as an approach to ethics that emphasizes the person’s character in moral thinking.
Virtue Ethics
This theory (virtual ethics) further posits that the basic function of morality is the _____ _____ of persons.
moral character
Rather than following a set of rules, what must be cultivated instead is the _____ __ ___ ______.
character of the person
_________ is essential to the person’s achievement of the ____.
*character
*good
In any moral situations, virtue ethics does not provide the _____ ________ _________ principles to guide his/her actions.
moral agent specific
What virtue ethics provides in attaining the good?
simply ideal behaviors, traits, and characters.
-for Aristotelian ethics, ________ ______ is a central category that can help individual become virtuous.
-a moral skill that enables a person to discern what’s right from what’s wrong, to be able to know how to respond to everyday moral situations.
practical wisdom
focus on the consequences of one’s action as the definitive basis for the rightness or wrongness of one’s actions.
consequentialist theories
Virtue ethics emphasizes the person’s practical moral development which is key to the attainment of _____ ______.
authentic happiness
virtue ethics deals with broader questions like:
-What kind of life should I live?
-What is the good life?
-How can I be consistent in my moral actions?
To fully understand Aristotle’s ethics, we must take into consideration the notions of ______, ______, and _______.
-virtue
-telos
-good habit
notions of virtue, telos, and good habit will help us understand the true meaning of Aristotle’s notion of _______ or _______.
-happiness
-Eudaimonia
Aristotle’s concept of happiness differs from that of?
-Socrates
-Plato
for Aristotle, happiness only consists in ______ _____.
virtuous activity
-the ultimate goal or end of human life.
-This happiness or the ultimate end is genuinely desired for its own sake or without qualification.
happiness or eudaimonia
actions which precede this end become the most valuable and cannot be superseded by any actions driven by _____ ____ of ends.
ordinary kinds
Like Eudaimonia, ________ is also good. That’s why, Aristotle does not condemn man for desiring ________ because it is a significant part in human flourishing.
pleasure
for Aristotle, the desire and actions that lead to pleasure only presuppose limited value since its end is?
temporary
is it true that the satisfaction that one gets from these actions (pleasure) cannot be truly called happiness?
Yes. It is true.
For Aristotle, these actions (pleasure) which only lead humans into the pit of two opposing vices (either _____ or_____), drive them away from the ultimate end.
-excess
-deficiency
For Aristotle, only _____ ____ can lead man toward living the good life or happiness.
virtuous acts
defined as a behavior showing high moral standards or the general quality of goodness in a person. It is categorically described as the opposite of vice.
Virtue
Vices, according to Aristotle, are the two extremes of the spectrum, what are those spctrum?
-one is the excess
-the other is deficiency
Virtue is the _____ or the middle ground.
Mean
Excess at ___ ____ and deficiency at the ____ ____.
-one side
-the other side
A _____ _____ means practicing moderation – that is avoiding excess and deficiency.
virtuous behavior
a principle that suggests that a moral behavior is one that is in the middle of two extremes.
Doctrine of the mean
(A virtuous behavior means practicing moderation – that is avoiding excess and deficiency) Aristotle calls this the ______ __ ___ ____.
Doctrine of the mean
Below are the examples of the Doctrine of the mean.
Between shameless and touchiness is _______.
If a moral agent maintains patience or ____ _____(mean) and ____ _____ (excess) or _____ _______(deficiency), then he is said to have possessed virtue.
-modesty
-good temper
-rejects irascibility
-lack of spirit
The excess, mean, and deficiency of fear and confidence
Excess: Rashness
Mean: Courage
Deficiency: Cowardice
The excess, mean, and deficiency of pleasure and pain.
Excess: Self-indulgence
Mean: Temperance
Deficiency: Insensibility
The excess, mean, and deficiency of Getting and Spending
Excess: Prodigality
Mean: Liberality
Deficiency: Meanness
The excess, mean, and deficiency of honor and dishonor.
Excess: Ambition
Mean: Proper ambition
Deficiency: Unambitiousness
The excess, mean, and deficiency of anger.
Excess: Irascibility
Mean: Patience
Deficiency: Lack of spirit
The excess, mean, and deficiency of Self-expression.
Excess: Boastfulness
Mean: Truthfulness
Deficiency: Mock modesty
The excess, mean, and deficiency of Indignation.
Excess: Envy
Mean: Righteous indignation
Deficiency: Spitefulness
Telos: The ______ ____.
ultimate end
The Greek word telos is translated as ______ or ____. Its verb form teleo means __ ____ __ __ ____.
-Result or end
-to come to an end
Aristotle conveys two distinct notions of end, namely:
a. Telos as ____ ___
b. Telos as ____ ___
-ordinary ends
-ultimate achievement
composed of hierarchy (lower and higher ends).
Telos as ordinary ends
the final end
Telos as the ultimate achievement
Ordinary ends signify a goal wherein accomplishments are simply viewed as ________ of human beings’ _____ ______.
-byproducts
-common desire
This goal is the stopping point, but it is not really the final or the ultimate one.
Since it is ordinary, it entails only temporary fulfilment from one’s experience of an apparent good.
Ordinary ends
telos is indeed the point of completion of an activity that an individual wishes to achieve because of the foreseen ______ ____.
apparent good
every human person is directed toward a goal or end which is good because such good is, most of all, the ______ ___.
desired end
the series of ends cannot go on ___ ______(toward infinity).
ad infinitum
For Aristotle, there must be an apex of the hierarchy which is also known as the __ ___ or the ____ ___. This is because, without the highest good as the ultimate end, there would be no reason for a ___ ___ to act morally.
-ultimate end or the
highest good
-rational being
