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A. What is Virtue Ethics?A. What is Virtue Ethics?
- Can be described as another part of normative ethics:
- axiology studies what makes things (e.g. pleasure or knowledge) good or bad
- normative ethics of behavior studies what makes actions (e.g. murder/charity) right or wrong
- virtue ethics studies what makes the character traits of people (e.g., bravery, greediness) virtuous or vicious
A. What is Virtue Ethics?A. What is Virtue Ethics?
- Sometimes, however, it is described as an alternative approach to ethics altogether
- A different explanation of why an action is right or wrong given might be given by a virtue ethicist E.g. a lie is wrong not because of its consequences and not because it violates rules but because it is not what a virtuous and honest person would do
- Focus is on what sort of people we should strive to be , not what things should we do on individual occasion
- Proponents say it captures more of what is important: being an honest person is more than just not telling lies: it requires thinking and feeling about lies in a certain way.
A. What is Virtue Ethics?A. What is Virtue Ethics?
- Encourages us to think about moral heroes and saints: E.g., Jesus, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King
And consider what about their personalities made them virtuous.
- Virtue ethicists don’t ignore actions, but regard them as outgrowths of a person’s character.
The notion of character is the morally more important concept.
- We praise courageous acts, but courage is not really a feature of the act on its own, but of the person doing it.
E.g. grenade example.
B. Aristotle on Moral KnowledgeB. Aristotle on Moral Knowledge
- Most famous form of virtue ethics comes from Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics
Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
- Two kinds of knowledge: theoretical knowledge ( episteme ): aims at the truth in some kind of science or branch of mathematics.
practical knowledge ( phronesis ): aims at wisdom about how to act and what to be.
- Ethical knowledge is a form of the latter.
- Practical knowledge only comes with practice: doing it yourself. (E.g., knowing how to ride a bike.)
C. Aristotle on the GoodC. Aristotle on the Good
- Does a human being have a function? Aristotle says yes.
a) Explains functions in terms of what makes somewhat what it is.
Something is a knife because it can be used to cut things.
b) What makes human beings distinct is our capacity for rational behavior , gaining knowledge and acting on reasons.
- To live a good life, is to live a life of practical knowledge, one that expresses our capacities for learning and reason.
- Aristotle thinks this is the same as living a life of virtue.
D. What is a Virtue?D. What is a Virtue?
- A virtue is a trait that contributes to a person functioning well as a human being.
(Examples include bravery , generosity , friendliness , etc.)
- A virtue is not just a feeling.
A person who “feels” brave but does not act on it is not brave.
- A virtue is not just a natural inclination.
A person who is just born a certain way is not virtuous in virtue of being born that way.
- A virtue is not just doing a given action on a given occasion.
A person who does something brave or generous once is not a brave or generous person.
D. What is a Virtue?D. What is a Virtue?
- Aristotle concludes a virtue is a learned disposition to reason and act in a certain way.
a) A disposition is a tendency , a characteristic that regularly brings one to reason and act in a certain way.
b) A friendly person is a person who tends to act in a friendly manner on a regular basis.
(This does not mean that there can be no exceptions, especially in unusual circumstances.)
E. The Golden MeanE. The Golden Mean
- Aristotle describes a virtue as a “mean” or “intermediate” between two extremes: one of excess and one of deficiency.
- Example: bravery (e.g. on a battlefield) Involves how much we let fear restrict or modify our actions.
Bravery is the mean or intermediate between cowardliness and rashness.
- A coward is afraid too much, and lets it keep him/her from acting in the necessary ways during a battle.
- A rash person is afraid too little: (s)he takes unnecessary risks, and performs dangerous actions when there is little good to be got from them.
- A brave person is someone in the middle of these extremes.
F. Some ExamplesF. Some Examples
- The mean between buffoonery and boorishness is wit.
- The mean between an insincere flatterer and an unpleasant character is a friendly person.
- Aristotle also says that the mean is “relative to us”
a) He means that the mean might be different for different people at different times.
b) The same amount of food may be too much for one person, but just the right amount for someone else
c) An appropriate kind of sense of humor for a comedian might not be appropriate for a funeral director
G. AristotleG. Aristotle’’s Advice on Achieving Virtues Advice on Achieving Virtue
- Virtues must be learned through practice. They cannot be learned on a purely intellectual level.
- Sometimes certain virtues are closer to one extreme than the other.
- Bravery is closer to rashness than cowardice.
- Generosity is closer to wastefulness than miserdom.
If need be, err on the side of the extreme closer to the virtue.
- Be mindful of your natural tendencies. (If timid by nature, be sure to be extra outgoing and forthright.)
- Aristotle admits that he cannot give guidance for all cases. No set of principles can replace wisdom coming from practice.
H. Criticisms of AristotleH. Criticisms of Aristotle’’s Virtue Ethicss Virtue Ethics
- Is there really such a thing as a human function?
- What constitutes the mean or intermediate between two extremes? Here one can think of two possibilities:
(a) the mean is the strict average, or
(b) the mean is determined in some other way
- Is it really just an average? An average of whom? All people? If so, then it being average is virtuous.
H. Criticisms of AristotleH. Criticisms of Aristotle’’s Virtue Ethicss Virtue Ethics
c) An argument against thinking of the mean as just an average:
(P1) If the averagist interpretation of Aristotle’s theory of virtue is the correct theory of virtue, then it is logically impossible for the average person to be too lazy, or not generous enough, etc. (P2) It is not logically possible for the average person to be too lazy, or not generous enough, etc. (C) The averagist interpretation of Aristotle’s theory of virtue is not the correct theory of virtue.
H. Criticisms of AristotleH. Criticisms of Aristotle’’s Virtue Ethicss Virtue Ethics
- Can virtue ethics really give us guidance in concrete situations?
- Is a special category of virtue ethics necessary at all? E.g., can’t the other theories tell us what to do with regard to cultivating traits within ourselves?
- Makes the morality of individuals depend on luck?
a) Modern psychology tells us that character traits depend largely on genetics and early environment.
b) But doesn’t being moral just depend on being the person you can be in the situations you are in.
H. Criticisms of AristotleH. Criticisms of Aristotle’’s Virtue Ethicss Virtue Ethics
An argument based on this objection: (P1) If Aristotle’s virtue ethics is correct, then whether or not a person is moral depends mostly on factors outside of that person’s control.
(P2) Whether or not a person is moral does not depend on factor’s outside of that person’s control.
(C) Aristotle’s virtue ethics is not true. What do you think?
