Aristotle Book II Handout

What is cultural/moral relativism?

There is no such thing as universal truth in ethics; there are only cultural codes and nothing more

What reasons did we discuss that seem to support moral relativism?

It seems arrogant to assume all of our values are correct( & some of our actions in the past seem very problematic) Different societies clearly have some different moral views (this empirically true) We don’t have proof that one system of morals is correct, and some argue morals truth is impossible because morals are merely subjective

What were the responses that support moral relativism?

It would be arrogant to assume our values are correct, but that does not mean that there are not correct values we could discover Having some different moral views does not mean that no views are shared. There could be use some shared moral claims What is meant by proof? Do we mean there is no logical proof, or there is no evidence? Even if we don't yet have proof, we may want to keep looking because we don't have proof that there is not a correct system of morals

We looked at 3 famous replies to the question of where moral truth could come from. What were they?

God/religion (religious texts tell us what is right or wrong) if god is eternal, god moral commands would be too Reason(our ability to reason shows us what is right or wrong) Science(empirical evidence shows us the certain behaviors seem to make society possible)

How does Aristotle tie happiness to morality?

Aristotle ties morality to a notion of excellence and he thinks an excellent human being will be happier than a bad human being, so he also ties morality to happiness

For Aristotle, how do we become moral? That is, what kind of actions must we preform?

We must perform virtuous actions

According to Aristotle, virtuous activity is incompatible with what?

Virtuous activity (correct conduct) is incompatible with excess or deficiency

What is virtuous activity according to Aristotle?

Doing something or feeling something the appropriate amount(not too much and not too little)

How do we determine the appropriate amount to act or feel?

We use rationality and the doctrine of the mean

What were the three important features of the doctrine of the mean that we discussed? (See: “Some important features of the doctrine of the mean”)

1)if something can be done or felt too much or too little, then we must search for the mean(the middle ground) 2) discovering the mean tell us what we need to do to be virtuous 3) the mean may be relative to the individual, the mean will be different for people of different size and constitution

What were some of the examples of actions that have a mean? We discussed some actions/feelings that do not have a mean. What were they?

No, actions like adultery, theft, and murder have no mean; they are simply evil/immoral #