aristotelian virtue ethics Flashcards
eudiamonia
often translated as happiness but better understood as ‘living well and faring well’, artistotle says eudiamonia is not subjective, but an objective quality for someones life as a whole, it is the final end for human beings
relationship between eudaimonia and pleasure
- eudaimonia characterises the activity of living ones life
- it can’t be a matter of having certain passive states of mind + pleasure is a passive mental state
- therefore eudaimonia is not pleasure
relationship between virtues and function
- function is better understood in terms of functioning, rather than purpose
- the characteristic activity of something provides an insight into what type of thing it is, and thereby produces and evaluative standard for that thing
- in order to fulfil its ergon, a thing will need certain qualities, arete is a quality that aids the fulfilment of a things ergon
- which can be translated as virtue
- so sharpness is a virtue in a knife designed to cut
ergon
the characteristic form of activity (function)
the function argument
- virtues for human beings will be those traits that enable them to fulfil their ergon
- Something is considered “good” if it performs its function well, like each part of my body is good if it does its job
- In order to be a “good” person, I must first know what my function is
- Aristotle believed that this function was to use the rational part of the soul (reason) - this must be done virtuously so it’s done well
Aristotle’s account of virtues and vices
- two types of virtues; intellectual and moral
- intellectual virtues have to be taught from childhood and can only be taught by someone who has them
- moral virtues are a product of habit, they are more consistent with practice and become more generated over time
virtue
a trait of mind or character that helps us achieve a good life
virtues as character traits/dispositions
- since virtues are part of the soul they must either be passions or faculties, so virtues must be a state of character
- states of character are thing in virtue of which we stand well or badly with reference to the passions
- character involves a persons dispositions that relate to what they feel, think or react
- character traits last much longer and change less easily than many ‘states of mind’
- assumes that there is a sense in which i can think about my life as a unity
- any virtue makes the thing which it has good and able to perform its characteristic activity well
- a virtue of character is a disposition to feel and choose well, which is necessary if we are to live well and achieve eudaimonia
the role of education/habituation in the development of moral character
- we acquire virtues through habit, in particular the habits we form during our up brining
- we need to developed virtue because Aristotle argues we are not virtuous by nature
- he points out that we can do it naturally, we have the potentiality and then exhibit the activity
- to gain these virtues, you must first practice acting in a virtuous way before you can be virtuous
- we aren’t naturally virtuous but we are naturally capable of becoming virtuos
the skill analogy
- we can understand how we acquire virtues by an analogy with acquiring practical skills
- being told how to be good, isn’t enough to become good, you have to actually practice being good
- in order to become just we have to do just acts
- the actions that we do when learning to become just are acts in accordance with justice
- we become better able to recognise situations in which action is called for and what to do in response
- as we develop in virtue, we understand in a practical way, more about what is good, in which all of this is part of our developing practical wisdom
the importance of feelings
- virtue involves being disposed to feeling in an intermediate way, neither too more or too little
- some people may feel angry too often over too many things, other people feel angry not often enough
- to be virtuous is to feel passions at the right times with reference to the right objects towards the right people with the right motive in the correct way; the doctrine of the mean
- there is a mean for actions as well as for feelings
the doctrine of the mean and its application of particular values
- the doctrine of the mean entails that we can place a virtue between 2 vices
- just as there is a right time to feel fear, some people can feel fear too often, other people can feel afraid not often enough
- shy - modest - shameless
voluntary action
we act voluntarily when we act as we choose, we know what we are doing and we bring it about ourselves
involuntary action
an act is involuntary if it is either forced or done from ignorance that is not culpable
non-voluntary action
an action is non-voluntary if it is done from ignorance and if the ignorance is lifted, the agent does not regret the action
