Virtue Ethics

Question 1

Question we must ask ourselves in Virtue Ethics is no longer “What should we do.?” It is:…

Answer 1

• Who should we be?
• What would a virtuous person do?
• What kind of virtue does the situation reacquire?

Question 2

Aristotle’s philosophy focuses/requires:

Answer 2

• Virtues- human qualities
• Awareness of everything involves (personality, needs, emotions, wider socio-cultural/economic context, intellectual intelligence- judgment).

Question 3

What is a good life according to V.E?

Answer 3

• One that demonstrates the most virtue

Question 4

Aristotle believed that virtues constitute a _______ between two extremes.
Give an example.

Answer 4

• Mean/Midpoint
• Courage is a midpoint between cowardness and brazenness

Question 5

What is the difference between Kant’s definition of rationality and Artistotle’s?

Answer 5

Kant’s Rationality:
- Capacity to reason logically (pure logic).
- Requires training

Aristotle’s Rationality:
- Practical reasoning- requires judgment (capacity to make a choice depending on context + finding the mean of actions).
- Is not learned, but implemented when someone is surrounded by virtuous people for multiple years
- sometimes a lifetime.

Question 6

Virtues are a complex combination of:

Answer 6

• Practical
  AND
• One’s life experiences
• Luck/Fate
• Innate tendencies
• Education

Question 7

Is it okay to sometimes lack virtue according to Aristotle?

Answer 7

• Yes! We are human: sometimes emotionally low.
• However, must be habitually virtuous .

Question 8

Exercise: Case of the bad father on a deathbed: How are we supposed to solve it according to V.E.?

Answer 8

• No specific answer: two equally virtuous people may react differently.
• Example of virtues reacquired in this situation: Forgiveness, respect, empathy, understanding, tolerance, attentiveness, generosity, kindness, respect, courage, honesty, fairness.

Question 9

What is the mainly differentiates Aristotle from other philosophers according to his views?

Answer 9

• Believes ethics are not only a set of rules- belief that ethics are an art!
• Not only one solution to dilemmas- does not come up with a specific solution, just a set of virtues- we may then choose the set we’d like best to use.

Question 10

Strengths of V.E PT1: 1) Acknowledges moral complexity- explain…

Answer 10

A) Being good is an art- V.E.: more messy, imprecise, yields several possible solutions
B) Requires multi-dim set of skills
1) Practical reasoning/jugement
2) sound info and facts
3) good understanding of life and challenges of realities of being human, and world-societies we live in
4) good role models
5) experience and habit
6) sensitivity so that we could read people and pick up social cues
7) emotional intelligence and maturity
8) certain consciousness of body and read people and situations
9) Emotions that are trained to listen to the voice of practical reasoning, something which also requires time and training- education of the emotional self for one to become happy of being virtuous.
10) Luck

Question 11

Strengths of V.E- Does not come with a prob of motivation explain…

Answer 11

• Implemented since childhood so people end up acting virtuously out of habit- naturally.
• Virtue has become part of their inclination with the result that they take pleasure in acting virtuously.

Question 12

Strengths of V.E- Doesn’t overemphasize impartiality explain…

Answer 12

• too much impartiality can also b an issue- asking us to get rid of our personal preferences which is also part of being human

Question 13

Weaknesses 1: luck explain

Answer 13

• not accessible to everyone

Question 14

Other weaknesses:

Answer 14

• No neat answer to what we should do
  (Not very clear what is virtuous and what isn’t)
• Aristotle himself believed that slavery was ok.- we would tend to think that he is virtous but his society wasn’t at all- who was virtuous is athens when NO ONE opposed to slavery.