Aristotle

Chapter 8: Virtue Ethics/Ethics of Virtue

Virtue and Character: Overview of Aristotle

• Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

  • Considered one of the most significant philosophers.

  • Son of a physician.

  • A student of Plato and tutor to Alexander the Great.

  • Contributions spanned logic, sciences, and multiple areas of philosophy.

• In his work Nicomachean Ethics:

  • Argues a happy or good life is fundamentally active and aligns with virtue.

  • Defines virtue as a disposition to avoid extremes in feeling and action.

  • Example: Generosity as a virtue situated between extravagance and stinginess.

Characteristics of the Good

1. The Good as the End of Action

   • The good is the ultimate aim of actions across various crafts (medicine, generalship, house-building, etc.).

   • The end is the purpose for which actions are performed.

   • Argument concludes that the highest good is ultimately the 'good' pursued in all actions.

2. The Good is Complete

   • Distinction between complete ends and those pursued for the sake of other ends (e.g., wealth pursued for happiness).

   • The best good must be complete and self-sufficient.

3. Happiness Meets Criteria for Completeness

   • Happiness is unique as it is always chosen for its own sake, never for the sake of something else.

   • Other goods (e.g., honor, pleasure, understanding) are chosen for happiness.

4. The Good is Self-Sufficient

   • A good life is one that provides satisfaction to the individual and their social circle, not just to oneself.

   • Self-sufficiency defined as what makes life meaningful and complete.

5. The Good is Most Choiceworthy

   • Happiness is considered the most valuable good, as it is not seen as just another good among multiple goods.

   • Any addition to happiness does not increase its value, which asserts it as the top good.

A Clearer Account of the Good

1. Finding the Function of a Human Being

   • Happiness and good derived from the human function, similar to craftsman excellence depending on their function.

2. Human Functions Defining Good

   • Sets aside nutrition and growth as functions shared with plants; focuses on a uniquely human function involving reason.

3. Human Function as Activity Expressing Virtue

   • The human function aligns with the soul's activityexpressing reason.

   • Refers to both the rational aspect (thinking) and the obedient aspect (following reason).

   • Virtue is tied to achieving this function through proper activity.

4. Human Good as Activity Expressing Virtue

   • Excellence is performing the function (reason) well within a complete life; repetitive good actions lead to virtue.

   • A single day does not encapsulate a virtuous life; virtue requires time and habitual practice.

Virtues of Character in General

• How a Virtue of Character is Acquired

  • Differentiates between:

  • Virtue of thought: Acquired through teaching and experience.

  • Virtue of character: Developed through habitual practice (ethos).

  • Virtues arise not by nature but through habituation.

1. Natural States versus Habituation

   • What is natural cannot be altered by habit.

   • Example: A stone's natural tendency cannot be changed by attempts to habituate it in an opposite direction.

2. Natural Capacities

   • Capacities exist prior to habituation (e.g., senses).

   • Unlike natural abilities, virtues are attained through repetition.

3. Legislators and Habituation

   • Citizens become virtuous through habituation orchestrated by legislators.

   • Effectiveness of habituation delineates a successful political structure.

4. Formation of Virtue and Vice

   • Virtues and vices are shaped by repeated actions.

   • Good actions cultivate virtue, while bad actions lead to vice (just, brave, temperate versus unjust, cowardly, intemperate).

Conclusion: The Importance of Habituation

• Virtue arises from repeated actions, stressing the essence of active engagement in virtuous practices from youth.

• Addresses potential objections regarding becoming just or temperate without prior goodness.

  • Highlights the distinction between mere attempts and actual virtuous action, akin to crafts and skills.

  • Emphasizes the need for knowledge, firm decision-making, and stability in state to develop virtues.

A Virtue of Character: Definition

• Genus of Virtue

  • Types of conditions in the soul: feelings, capacities, states.

  • Virtues are states, not feelings or capacities.

1. Virtues Defined as States

2. Human Functionality Declared by Virtue

   • Virtues enable individuals to perform their functions effectively.

3. Mean Relative to Us

   • Virtue seeks a mean relative to human experience; each situation requires assessment to determine excess, deficiency, and the mean state.

Application of the Definition of Virtue

1. Virtues Concerned with Fear and Confidence

   • Bravery as the mean between cowardice (deficiency) and rashness (excess).

2. Pleasures and Pains

   • Temperance as the mean; Intemperance as excess and insensibility as deficiency.

3. Generosity as a Virtue

   • The mean in monetary dealings; wastefulness as excess and ungenerosity as deficiency.

4. Magnificence

   • Related to larger monetary acts; excess associated with ostentation and deficiency with niggardliness.

5. Magnanimity

   • In honor; excess is vanity and deficiency is pusillanimity.

6. Social Life Virtues

   • Mildness in anger; excess lauded as irascibility and deficiency as inirascibility.

7. Truthfulness and Witty Behavior

   • Description of virtues surrounding social interactions; excesses are boastfulness and buffoonery.

8. Indignation

   • Recognizes proper indignation as the mean between envy and spite, drawing attention to the relationship with neighbors' fortunes.

Summary of Virtues

• The ultimate objective of virtue ethics is achieving the good life through virtuous actions and proper character formation, emphasizing the mean state individuals should strive for in all areas of life.