Virtue Ethics

Question 1

What is Macintyre’s book?

Answer 1

After virtue (1981)

Question 2

What is Macintyre’s science analogy?

Answer 2

Imagine a society where all science is destroyed. People afterwards bicker over fragments left behind, they have very partial knowledge and are not actually engaging in science. There is no context to the fragments and so the meaning is lost.

Question 3

G.E.Anscombe’s article?

Answer 3

Modern moral philosophy (1958)

Question 4

Anscombe’s argument for virtue ethics?

Answer 4

Moral philosophy is preoccupied with moral codes, obligations, duties. Leads to too rigid a moral code. We should jettison “ought” as its a “survival or derivative of survivals”
We shouldn’t do moral philosophy until “we have an adequate philosophy of psychology”

Question 5

What is Susan wolf’s article?

What is her argument?

Answer 5

‘Moral Saints’
“[a moral saint] will have to be dull witted, humourless, or bland.”
Rational saints use reason to calculate duties, they deny themselves pleasure and operate based on self hate or fear of damnation.
Loving saints readily give all they have to charity, they ignore other goods like art.

Question 6

Aristotle’s book?
Nature of his questioning?
Eudaimonia?

Answer 6

‘Nicomachean Ethics’
“What do we aim for? What makes human life worthwhile?” Rather than “is x wrong/acceptable?”
Flourishing, not happiness.

Question 7

Arete?

Answer 7

A particular excellence it virtue

Question 8

Internal vs external goods?

Answer 8

Internal=qualities of character/virtues

External=physical wellbeing eg food shelter clothing

Question 9

Function (ergon) argument?

Answer 9

Human parts have functions, organs do different things, so the whole human does. This is to live rationally (refer to hierarchy of souls).

Question 10

Macintyre’s argument?

Answer 10

Deontology and consequentialism “leave something out” allowing for rape/ snaking Jews.
Scientific developments in 18th century enlightenment undermined sense of purpose. Led to moral scepticism but we can’t truly accept it, we need some teleology (even communitarian politics, place in society) to resolve moral issues.

Question 11

What’s the issue with precision in ethics?

Answer 11

Aristotle said one can’t demand the same precision in ethics as one would from maths or sciences.

Question 12

Two types of virtue?

Answer 12

Intellectual=developed in training and education

Moral=developed by practicing virtuous actions. “We acquire virtues by first doing virtuous acts.”

Question 13

Explain phronesis and the chess and instrument example.

Answer 13

Phronesis is practical wisdom. We can only recognise what would be virtuous if we are experienced in a given situation. Like with chess-there are rules of thumb but a grandmaster is good because of a certain instinctual skill from experience.
With instruments- learn all you want but you will only be able to play once you have experience.

Question 14

Doctrine of golden mean?

Answer 14

Between two vices (deficiency and excess) there lies a virtue, not necessarily exactly in the middle however

Question 15

List three virtues and their respective vices

Answer 15

Rashness-courage-cowardice
Boastfulness-truthfulness-mock modesty
Irascibility-good temper-lack of spirit

Question 16

Issue of elitism?

Answer 16

Some of the virtues include the ability to donate to charity and pay for large constructions, you must be rich to be virtuous?

Question 17

Philippa Foot’s argument for?

Answer 17

In ‘natural goodness.’
We can make statements that are both normative and descriptive. When we say “humans have 32 teeth” it doesn’t mean most do or the average one does, it means we are meant to. Ethics is the same, we can find ethical values as facts to discover.

Question 18

Rosalind Hursthouse’s book and arguments?

Answer 18

‘Virtue theory and abortion’ (1990)

• responds to idea that virtues don’t tell us what to do by using the precision argument, you can’t expect it to dictate everything.
• with virtue theory a given act may or may not be acceptable. Aborting foetus example, virtuous if old or with genetic disease but not if shagged in sandy mess in kavos and now wants to travel.

Question 19

Peter Singer’s criticism?

Answer 19

It’s based on an untenable teleological view “Darwin showed we aren’t here for a purpose. We don’t have a telos.”

Question 20

Richard Norman’s criticism?

Answer 20

“It is distinctive of human beings that we are the only species capable of destroying all life on this planet by means of nuclear war.” Just because humans have an ability distinct from all other life doesn’t mean it’s our purpose.

Question 21

Hume’s criticism?

Answer 21

Fallacy of composition. Why assume the human has a purpose as a whole has a purpose just because all the parts have one. Eg all English people have a mother, but England doesn’t have a “mother.”

Question 22

Tim Scanlon’s criticism, and response to this?

Answer 22

The notion of eudaimonia is purely self interested and so the premise of virtue ethics is selfish, and therefore undermined.

This doesn’t appreciate the actual virtues- kindness etc. A focus on yourself to be less selfish is a coherent objective.

Question 23

What is the distinction of agent centred against act centred?

Answer 23

How we can develop our virtues and character rather than act on rationally or empirically deduced prescriptions