Virtue Ethics Flashcards
Who is the founder of virtue ethics?
Aristotle
What is the defining characteristic of Virtue Ethics?
The classical greek concept of “eudaimonia”, usually translated “happiness” and well-being. However it is complex, and does not concern an emotional state within an individual.
What can Eudaimonia be connected and translated to?
It can seen as a connection to the concept of “phronesis”, which usually gets translated into “practical wisdom”.
How is practical wisdom achieved?
It is achieved from experiences of social life. These experiences let a rational person know what could be counted as a good person and good actions.
These experience we also get to know certain social virutes (such as friendship, honesty, loyalty), Such visdom reveals also the vices.
According to Aristotle, there are innate properties of human beings that can be realized. How should this be achieved?
The rational goal should be to live a virtuous life. To live a balanced life where human potential are actualised as much as possible for the indivual.
What is Aristotle’s “Golden mean”?
Golden mean was in Aristotle’s view the goal in the cultivation of virutes. Golden mean is a mean between the deficient and the excess, given the wisedome category.
How is the capability approach connected to virtue ethics?
According to some, to care for others, can be seen as a virtue in the Aristotelian way, as we could see or include it in the list concerning “humanity” as a general virtue. In addition, virtue ethics seems to imply that societies can vary in development and that human beings are either supported or prevented in achievnign eudaimonia. The idea of wellbeing insipired the capability approach,
Who came up with the capability approach?
Marta Nussbaum and Amartya Sen, but Sen mostly on global ethics
What is the core idea of the capability approach?
The core idea is that freedom to achieve wellbeing and that wellbeing can be defined in terms of the development of human capabilites.
What are the characteristic foundational focus for the capability approach?
- The assessment of the indiviudal wellbeing:
- The evaluation and assessment of social arrangemnets;
- The design of policies and proposal about social change in society
Why is culturl settings important for the capability approach?
It is important to be aware of different social conditions and cultural settings, as it can vary in which way it supports or inhibit the development of human capibilities.
