Transcript Virtue Ethics

Aristotle’s Virtue
Ethics
How should we distribute the guitars?
(Who should get one? Why?)
Telos
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Aristotle would argue that we should give the
guitars to the best guitar players.
Why?
Because the purpose of guitars is to make
beautiful music. Therefore, giving them to the
best guitar players best accomplishes their
purpose.
Telos = purpose, end, or essential nature.
What is just in a situation?
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Aristotle says that in order to determine what is just in
any situation, one must determine the telos of the
item, task, or social function.
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We need to determine the nature and purpose of the
task. Otherwise, we have no way of saying what
qualities are essential.
This leads to the question: what qualities are worthy of
honour?
The purpose of the task depends on what virtues you
think deserve recognition and reward.
Virtues and Happiness
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Happiness is a result of a virtuous life.
Moral excellence: aligning pleasures and pains, so that
we delight in noble things and take pain in base ones.
Happiness is not a state of mind, but a way of being,
‘an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.’”
Moral Education and Lawmaking
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The way to become virtuous people is to see
other virtuous people and practice the virtue.
However, how does one practice virtuous
behavior if they are not yet virtuous?
The law must encourage virtuous behavior
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However, there is more to virtue than acting
virtuous out of habit or because of practice.
The virtuous behavior must ultimately be
accompanied by an understanding of the virtue
and how it should be applied.
There is more to moral excellence than rules.
There has to be wisdom and discernment
regarding the application of the rules.
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Intentions matter – if you help someone to
simply get noticed then you are not being
virtuous. Note: the utilitarian would not care
about your motive
Circumstances matter – if war is brought to you
then it is a virtue to kill your enemy to protect
the freedom of your country. However if you
bring war to another country in order to gain
more power then this is certainly not virtuous
What is a virtue?
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A virtue is always found between two extremes
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Virtue Ethics is starting to make a comeback in
the philosophy of the 21st century – especially
when people experience the shortcomings of a
life pursuing happiness via a different path
The Church bases its rules on virtue ethics
Standard Rule – Be Virtuous
Teleological Moral Reasoning
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Locates morality in the consequences of the act
(Telos is Greek for goal, consequence, end,
result, purpose)
In order to make correct moral choices, we
have to have some understanding of what
will result from our choices. When we make
choices which result in the correct
consequences, then we are acting morally;
when we make choices which result in the
incorrect consequences, then we are acting
immorally.
Virtue Ethics
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Virtue-based ethical theories focus on
helping people develop good character
traits, such as kindness and generosity.
These character traits will, in turn, allow a
person to make the correct decisions later
on in life. Virtue theorists also emphasize
the need for people to learn how to break
bad habits of character, like greed or anger.
These are called vices and stand in the way
of becoming a good person.