Virtue Ethics - Part A

Question 0

1st key feature - approaches

Answer 0

• 3 approaches to happiness - seek through different ways
• pleasure - basic e.g. Sex, food and shelter
• honour - reputation e.g. Celebrities
• contemplation - wisdom and knowledge e.g. Aristotle

Question 1

Introduction

Answer 1

• neither teleological or deontological
• agent centred, concerned with morality, not consequence
• Aristotle called a virtue “ a characteristic habit of excellence of the mind that aligns a person in accordance to right reason and the proper human end “telos”
• virtues must be practiced to reach eudamonia
• GEM Anscombe and Alasdair McIntyre

Question 2

2nd key feature - types of people

Answer 2

• four types of people
• virtuous - enjoy good things, no moral dilemma
• continent - good mostly, but some vices, face some little dilemma
• incontinent - often face moral dilemma, chose vice over virtue
• vicious - always chose vice, no attempt at virtue
• bottom three need to practice to become virtuous

Question 3

4th key feature - how to achieve eudamonia

Answer 3

• achieve eudamonia though practising virtues. 2 virtues moral and intellectual
• moral - characteristics of behaviour and attitude that contributes to appropriate behaviour e.g. Patient and courage
• intellectual - characteristics of thought and reason to contribute to state of mind that leads to appropriate behaviours
• virtues spilt to primary and secondary intellectual virtues e.g. Wisdom and resourcefulness respectively

Question 4

3rd key feature - eudamonia

Answer 4

• eudamonia - Greek word happiness/flourishing
• Aristotle -final virtue for humans - anything to help is good
• aim towards telos - practice virtues
• “every art and every inquiry and similarity every action and choice! is thought to aim at some good, and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to which all things aim”

Question 5

5th key feature - golden mean

Answer 5

• golden mean - key to good life
• striking the balance between the vice of excess and deficiency; too much and too little
• e.g. Ode sty is striking the balance between shamelessness; the vice of deficiency and bash fullness the vice of excess

Question 6

6th key feature - cardinal virtues

Answer 6

• 4 cardinal virtues - hinges which all modern virtues depend on
• justice - ability to treat others equally
• prudence - practical wisdom
• courage - ability to act between cowardliness + recklessness
• temperance - quality of self control