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Aristotle's virtue Ethics:
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Aristotle's virtue Ethics:
What is 'The good'?
- That which all humans aim at
- Top of the hierarchy of ends
- Must be: a final end, self-sufficient, desirable and specific to humans
- Happiness
- Not in the utilitarian sense
- Eudaimonia, or flourishing
- What is eudaimonia not?
- Pleasure - passive, animals
- Is pleasure part of the good life?
- Yes - though it is not the supreme good
- Someone who truly posesses the virtues enjoys being virtuous
- More disposed to act virtuously
- Some bodily pleasures are to be encouraged e.g. sport, music
- Others are natural and necessary e.g. food, sex
- Indulgence of these to be avoided
- Others are natural and necessary e.g. food, sex
- Someone who truly posesses the virtues enjoys being virtuous
- Yes - though it is not the supreme good
- Is pleasure part of the good life?
- Wealth - means to an end, passive
- Honour - passive as received by others, result of some good
- Wisdom - not an activity
- How do we know how to achieve eudaimonia then?
- A good X fulfils X's function (ergon) well
- A good human fulfils their function as a human being well
- The good for humans is eudaimonia
- Therefore to be eudaimon one must fulfil their function as a human well
- How do we know about our function?
- The function argument
- Stage 1 - The good for humans is fulfilling our function
- Goodness of any class of people determined by how well they perform their function
- E.g. artists judged on how well they draw
- Same is true of humans as a whole
- Stage 2 - Humans do have a function
- People with different occupations all have functions; likely that man as a whole also does
- Each part of a human has a function, so we should assume the being as a whole does
- Stage 3 - Identifying our function
- Function understood in terms of 'characteristic activity'
- Must be unique to humans
- We are the only creatures with a rational soul
- Our function is to exercise these rational parts of the soul, to be guided by 'right reason'
- Our virtues are the traits that help us be guided by the right reasons
- Eudaimonia is living a life where we develop and exercise these virtues
- Happens over a lifetime, not achieved by one event
- Requires habituation and education
- Begins by repetition i.e. copying a virtuous person
- We learn to be virtuous by repeatedly acting in a virtuous way
- Eventually enjoy, and are disposed to, acting virtuously
- What is acting virtuously? Finding the mean between excess and deficiency
- E.g. courage is the mean between cowardice and rashness
- What the mean is will vary from situation to situation
- How do we know what the mean is? By developing our practical wisdom
- Virtue of practical reasoning
- To have practical wisdom requires:
- General conception of good and bad
- Conception of good and bad in particular situations
- Ability to deliberate well
- Identify right end
- Identify right means to that end
- Do so in a timely manner
- Ability to act on this deliberation
- Uses the moral virtues, which give us emotions, desires and goals, to achieve the exactly right action, and helps us be guided by right reason
- We can then find the mean - the most appropriate action in any situation
- People who develop their character in this way can flourish
- What kinds of actions are there?
- Voluntary - in line with intention
- Only intentions reveal desires and dispositions
- Only for these are we praiseworthy, blameworthy and responsible
- Cause lies within us
- Involuntary - contrary to intention
- Either through ignorance or compulsion
- Not responsible for these
- Some actions can be mixed e.g. blackmail
- Partly responsible
- Non-voluntary - unintended
- Acts done from ignorance e.g. tragedy of Oedipus
- If you regret it, and would have acted differently with full knowledge, you're not responsbile
- How do these relate to justice?
- Injustices not stemming from voluntary actions
- Unjust state of affairs
- No action involved e.g. illness
- Unjust act
- Involuntary act leads to an injustice
- What is injustice?
- In the wide sense, it is the law
- Law instructs us to be virtuous, so justice = virtue
- In the narrow sense, it is an unfair distribution of something good or bad
- Someone not receiving their 'fair share'
- Must be rectified. What is unequal must be made equal
- Someone not receiving their 'fair share'
- In the wide sense, it is the law
- What is injustice?
- Involuntary act leads to an injustice
- Unjust state of affairs
- Injustices stemming from voluntary actions
- Being an unjust person
- Comes from voluntary act having deliberated
- Worst form of injustice
- Comes from voluntary act having deliberated
- Acting injustly
- Comes from voluntary act with no deliberation e.g. lashing out
- Being an unjust person
- Injustices not stemming from voluntary actions
- Voluntary - in line with intention
- What kinds of actions are there?
- People who develop their character in this way can flourish
- We can then find the mean - the most appropriate action in any situation
- How do we know what the mean is? By developing our practical wisdom
- What is acting virtuously? Finding the mean between excess and deficiency
- Requires habituation and education
- Happens over a lifetime, not achieved by one event
- Eudaimonia is living a life where we develop and exercise these virtues
- Our virtues are the traits that help us be guided by the right reasons
- Our function is to exercise these rational parts of the soul, to be guided by 'right reason'
- We are the only creatures with a rational soul
- Must be unique to humans
- Function understood in terms of 'characteristic activity'
- Goodness of any class of people determined by how well they perform their function
- Stage 1 - The good for humans is fulfilling our function
- The function argument
- How do we know about our function?
- Therefore to be eudaimon one must fulfil their function as a human well
- The good for humans is eudaimonia
- Using virtues that help it do so
- A good human fulfils their function as a human being well
- A good X fulfils X's function (ergon) well
- Pleasure - passive, animals
- What is eudaimonia not?
- Eudaimonia, or flourishing
- Not in the utilitarian sense
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- A2 Philosophy Mind Map on Aristotle's virtue Ethics:, created by Felix Iggo on 30/05/2018.
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- Felix Iggo
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