Virtue Ethics

Question 1

Origins of Virtue Ethics

Answer 1

• began with Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
• the ancient Greeks recognised virtue as a central element of ethical thinking
• the emphasis that the theory puts on the whole person is typical of the ancient Greeks
• Aristotle was focused on purpose, not the outcome or the action itself

Question 2

Our Purpose according to Aristotle

Answer 2

• all things have a purpose according to Aristotle, a Telos
• our purpose is to become happy by becoming virtuous
• Aristotle focused not on what people do, but on what kind of a person they are. This takes practise, not just one action

Question 3

Eudaimonia

Answer 3

living a good happy life, literally translates to human flourishing

• intrinsic value - pursued for its own merits not as a means to an end but an end in itself, to try and be good is to be good
• beneficial for individuals and for society
• Eudaimonia must be deserved by
developing virtuous character traits and avoiding negative ones, thus they will be
completely moral - by choice

-we should not act in a particular way because they ought to or because they want to, but because they have identified it as the right way to act
-Humans are like archers aiming for a target (goodness)
-we achieve Eudaimonia through practice and education

Question 4

Virtues and Vices

Answer 4

Virtues: positive character traits which promote individual and collective well-being. They belong to a morally good person.

Vices: negative characteristics that do not promote individual well-being. They belong to a morally bad person.

Question 5

Alastair Macintyre

Answer 5

Points out that different virtues have been prized by different societies and at different points in history (cultural and temporal relativism). Virtue Ethics is therefore a morally relativist, non-cognitivist theory.

Question 6

St Ambrose’s Christian Virtues

Answer 6

St Ambrose (340-397) defined the following Greek virtues as the four cardinal virtues:
• courage
• justice
• temperance
• wisdom
-He took the following from St.Paul and these became known as the three theological virtues:
• faith
• hope
• love (charity from Greek ‘caritas’)

Question 7

The Golden Mean

Answer 7

Aristotle believed in the middle path between two extremes:
• deficiency is a vice
• the golden mean is a virtue
• excess is a vice

Question 8

Moral Virtues

Answer 8

Aristotle thought intelligence was not enough to be virtuous, he believed that man must also have practical morals or ‘moral virtues’:
• Courage: to put oneself at risk for a greater good
• Temperance: self restraint
• Liberality: open-mindedness/generosity
• Magnificence: good taste, achievement
• Greatness of soul: knowledge of self worth
• Good temper or gentleness: control of emotions
• Being agreeable in company: being reasonable and amiable
• Wittiness: good humour
• Modesty: humbleness, not boastful

Question 9

Aristotle’s sides to becoming fully human

Answer 9

-Acts one should avoid, things that diminish us
-Acts one should develop as habits, those things which make us more human/develop virtues