Virtue Ethics

Virtue Ethics

1. Aristotle

   • Aristotle's emphasis was on people realising their own potential and developing characteristics which made them virtuous human beings. It mattered not what people do but what kind of people they are.
     • THE NATURE OF HUMANITY (what people need) - According to Aristotle humans have the capacity for rational thought reasoning in a logical way. He claimed the purpose of man is rational thought and that the highest good were the intellectual virtues.
       • INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES - what he meant by this were virtues developed by training and education these would help people to reason well.
         • MORAL VIRTUES - are ones developed by habit and those include qualities of character such as courage, friendliness, truthfulness etc. Although these are practical virtues, Aristotle said they are still under the control of your intellect.
           • EUDEMONIA - is based on the virtues - these are the qualities that lead to good life. Being virtuous is of intrinsic value for its own sake not just for the individual but also for society of which they are a member. You've got to do the right because it is the right thing to do.
             • GOLDEN MEAN - is the perfect balance between the 2 extremes. It is discouraged by the intellect and leads to practical wisdom and moral virtues e.g. courage is the right balance between cowardis and fool hardiness. We are not born with virtues we cultivate them through practice:
               • ROLEMODEL's - a good person should from virtuous rolemodels train and exercise their virtue's in till it becomes a part of their character. To aquire virtues through through doing by the following the examples of virtuous people e.g. Martin Luther King gives us examples of moral excellence even though they are not perfect people.
                 • A GENUINE VIRTUOUS PERSON - is virtuous all the time. They develop regular habits of goodness and continually practice their virtues. A person should not only desire a good but known when and how to do it this is called 'prudence'.

2. VIRTUE ETHICS HAS HAD A REVIVAL IN THE 20TH CENTURY

   • Elizabeth Anscombe - argued that ethical codes which puts a stress on moral absolutes and laws are out of date in a society who have abandoned God. She urged a return in morality focused on persons character e.g. the return to virtue ethics.
     • Richard Taylor - rejected absolute christian ethics because he felt it discouraged people from achieving their potential.
       • MacIntyre - (wrote a book called 'After Virtue') where he argued the naturalistic ethical theories (NML) are of little value as they are time consuming and overly complex. He felt that virtue ethics approach was more realistic and applied to everyday situations.

3. Strengths

   • *It fits in with both religious and secular morality e.g. Jesus can be a rolemodel to both of these groups. *Its a simple system based on well-being for the individual and the community. *By using rolemodels it isn't setting unrealistic goals. *Its accessible by reference to the real world. *It links to theory and practice in ethics and encourages moral behaviour as part of developing a good life.

4. "Do all good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can , as long as you can" - Wesley

   • "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you" - Jesus Christ

5. Weaknesses

   • *How do we decide which virtue to cultivate the most? *Some cultures value different virtues e.g. physical courage or intellectual excellence. You have to make a valued judgement to what is best. *The golden mean is not easy to apply to all virtues. How do we decide how couragious we have to be? *Aristotle gave no guidence for hen Virtues conflict. *Many people feel they had very clear guidelines and rules - this could lead to society being open to personal inclination.
     • ROSALIND HURSTHOUSE - argued its difficult to decide what to do when faced with what to do. Not really giving you any guidelines.

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