UNIT V - Lesson 12 - Virtue Ethics (Aristotle)

Virtue ethics

– is a moral philosophy that teaches that an action is right if it is an action that a virtuous person would perform in the same situation. It puts emphasis on developing good habits of character and avoiding bad character traits or vices. It focuses on the character of the agent and describes right actions as those chosen and performed by a suitably virtuous person.

Virtuous person

– is someone who acts virtuously and people act virtuously if they possess and live the virtue.

Virtuous actions

– those which the person with wisdom would choose because what is good is obvious to such a person.

Virtue

– is a moral characteristic that an individual needs to live. These are the freely chosen character traits that people praise in others.

Aristotle

Virtue ethicists, like ________, hold that people live their lives trying to develop their faculties to the fullest extent. Such faculties to develop are intellectual, physical, social, moral and so on. Developing one’s moral capacity to the fullest is pursuing ethical excellence, which is displayed by the virtues.

Wisdom, Courage, Moderation, Justice

The four cardinal virtues (Greeks) are:

Wisdom

- focuses on knowledge and other principles connected to intellectual understanding.

Courage

- the moral principle determining the strength to withstand in danger.

Moderation

- the harmony between reason, spirit and desire

Justice

- the moral principle determining just conduct.

Faith, Hope, Charity, Love

Christian virtues

Faith

- strong belief or having a trust on someone or something

Hope

- having an expectation

Charity

- doing good things without expecting or waiting in return

Love

- emotion and behavior with passion and deep affection

Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness, Honor, Restraint, Reasonableness, Solidarity

Humanity virtues

Grace

- provide strength to bear trial and resist temptation, as well as a specific divine virtue or characteristics

Mercy

- act of showing compassion to someone whom one has the power to punish or damage

Forgiveness

- act or process of forgiving or receiving forgiveness

Honor

- entails a high level of respect and esteem

Restraint

- keeps someone or something under check or within bounds

Reasonableness

- trait of being as appropriate or fair as possible

Solidarity

- feeling or action that is shared by a group of people who share a common interest

ethical act

is the action of a virtuous person who would do in the same circumstances.

person-based

Virtue ethics is _________rather than action-based

Virtue ethics

is the ethics of behavior which focuses on the character of the person involved in the decision or action

Intellectual virtues, Moral virtues

Types of virtue (Aristotle)

Intellectual virtues

– pertain to the excellence of the mind. This are thought to include traits such as open-mindedness, intellectual rigors, intellectual humility and inquisitiveness.

Moral virtues

– pertain to a person’s disposition to act well. Moral virtues are thought to include traits such as courage, justice, honesty, compassion, temperance and kindness.

Self-realizationism, Eudaimonistic, Aretaic

Three general descriptions, which are interrelated, can be used to depict Aristotle’s ethics.

self-realizationism

when someone acts in line with his nature or end and thus realizes his full potential, he does moral and will be happy.

eudaimonistic

it focuses on happiness (eudaimonia) or the good for man and how to obtain it.

aretaic

or virtue-based, act-oriented ethics is focused mainly on what we should do,