Transcript What is a Virtuous Person?

Philosophy 2030
Class #3
Title:
Introduction to Ethics
Instructor:
Paul Dickey
E-mail Address: [email protected]
Nina Rosenstand, The Moral of the Story: An Introduction to Ethics,
7th Edition, 2013.
Assignment Due Today:
1) Chapter 8, pp. 391-400. 406-412
2) Chapter 9, pp. 450-458
3) Portfolio Project #1
Assignment for Next Week
1) Chapter 3, pp. 119-141
2) Portfolio Project #2
Sherman Alexie,
Smoke Screens
Discussion
Are emotions rational?
Is “story telling” moral or
immoral? Can one “tell the
truth” though fiction?
Plato & Socrates:
What is the Nature of a Virtuous Character?
What makes an Act Moral or Good?
What is the Good Life?
How Should We Live?
What Makes Life Worth Living, that is, Good?
What is the Good Life?
Wealth?
The Love of Family & Friends?
Job Satisfaction?
Security & Being Protected?
Adventure & Challenge?
Having Purpose?
Fulfillment?
Seeking the Truth?
Obeying God (or “the gods”)?
Perhaps all (or at least many) of these are necessary but
not individually (or perhaps even combined) are not
enough.
Socrates continually probed for what is the one essential
thing that makes life good!
Plato’s Dialogues &
the Socratic Search for How to Live
•
Plato’s dialogues demonstrate Socrates’ pursuit of
how one should live. He is asking the question:
WHAT IS THE GOOD LIFE?
•
In The Apology, Socrates claims that the wisest
man is he who knows he does not know. The
unexamined life is not worth living. It is better to
obey God than man. His pursuit of philosophy is
following the instruction of God.
•
In Crito, Socrates is awaiting execution in his
prison. Crito arrives and tries to persuade Socrates
to escape. In order he says to act on reason alone,
he asks Crito what is right and wrong. Socrates
argues we must obey the laws of the society in
which we live.
Plato
Plato is history's first great philosopher
because, among other reasons, he provided
the first set of answers to some of the largest
and most difficult questions: What is the
structure of reality? What can be known for
certain? What is moral virtue? What is the
nature of the ideal state?
No philosopher before Plato had ever
attempted such a wide and deep exploration
of philosophical problems.
Is Morality an issue of character or
conduct?
That is, does one do the right thing because
one has a virtuous character, or does one
have a virtuous character because they
consistently do the right thing?
Or, saying this another way, in studying ethics
should we focus on acts of conduct and
determine what makes an act moral, or
should we focus on virtue to determine what
makes a person good, such that guarantees
that her actions will be good.
Plato & The Tripartite Soul
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For Plato, humans have a nonphysical or material
soul or self. That is a person’s essence. And the
fundamental nature of that essence is the pursuit
of reason.
•
Yet Plato contends that since reason often
conflicts with our desires (or appetites) and that
either of these can conflict with our
aggressiveness or spirit, each of these comprise
one of three main elements of our soul (self).
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Thus, the soul is composed of three necessary
elements which must be kept in balance for
happiness and goodness. Different virtues are
reflected in each of the three parts of the soul –
wisdom from reason, courage from our spirit, and
temperance from our desires.
•
Reason should rule the other two elements, just as
a charioteer controls the wild horses. This
achieves the fourth virtue – justice.
•
For Plato, man can choose what part of his self
rules his actions. (Free Will?) Because reason
alone can know how we ought to live, it should
rule the appetite and our aggressions without
disturbing the soul’s balance.
•
Thus, a truly virtuous and just man is one who
controls his desires and aggressiveness through
reason. From such virtue arose the moral acts of
a virtuous man.
•
Note Plato is not describing morality in terms of
what constitutes good conduct, but what
constitutes virtue.
•
What is the problem with which Plato is faced?
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How can one live a happy and satisfying life in a
contingent, changing world without there being
some permanence on which one can rely?
•
Indeed, how can the world appear to be both
permanent and changing all the time.
•
Plato observed that the world of the mind, the world of
ideas, seems relatively unchanging. Justice, for
example, does not seem to change from day to day,
year to year.
•
On the other hand, the world of our perceptions change
continuously. One rock is small, the next large, the
next…?
African Theory:
Tribal Virtue Ethics
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The culture of the Akan people of West Africa dates from before the
13th century.
•
Morality does not come from Onyame (God). Morality comes
from the nature of being human and having good character.
•
The issue is what makes a “good person.” We can develop good
character though by exercising good habits.
•
Knowledge of good habits is taught through storytelling.
•
Thus, the Akan ethics is a matter of linking conduct and virtue.
A human being is born ethically neutral.
•
This ethics emphasizes values that promote social well-being
(recall Socrates’ argument to Crito). Thus, it is basically
utilitarian. The individual is not a palm tree.
•
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/akan-person/
Native American Values
Ecological Virtue
•
Native American tribes lived in harmony with nature. The
moral community consists not only of the human members,
but also non-human elements, including animals, spirits, the rocks,
the trees, the winds and the waters.
•
The issue is what moral obligations one has to all members of
the moral community.
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“Beauty before me, beauty behind me.”
•
This system of virtue and values came into serious conflict
with the settlers from Europe who were coming from a moral
point of view that did not see the moral community in the
same way.
•
The Native American approach emphasizes the balance of
nature as the major part of virtue.
Aristotle:
What is a Virtuous Person?
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Aristotle suggests to be virtuous is to act with
excellence, that is to live your life well according to
its purpose
•
Each person has both an individual purpose (what
you do best?) and a human purpose.
•
Man’s universal, human purpose is to reason, to
think rationally. In so doing, he will develop a
rational character which is moral goodness.
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There are two forms of virtue:
1) When our soul controls our desires, we
engage our moral virtues.
2) When our soul contemplates intellectual or
spiritual matters, we engage our intellectual
virtues. (“sophia”)
Aristotle:
What is a Virtuous Person?
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Virtue thus responds to each situation at the
right time, in the right way, in the right amount,
for the right reason.
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Thus, a virtuous person will act with
“moderation.”
•
This view is called “The Golden Mean” (and
should be distinguished from “the golden
rule.”)
•
Aristotle would cite the example of an artistic
masterpiece from which nothing can be added
or subtracted without harming the work’s
“excellence.”
Aristotle:
What is a Virtuous Person?
•
Aristotle though recognizes the need to act to be
virtuous and thus virtue and conduct must be
considered together. Thus, he describes habit of
action as a way of developing character as in the
Akan view.
•
How can all acts of virtue be acts of moderation? Is
acts of murder “in moderation” potentially virtuous?
Actually, Aristotle agrees that some acts are absolutely
wrong in themselves, yet…. He would say that this is
because some acts cannot be done in the right
amount.
•
Still, for most considerations, virtue comes from
moderation, such as in the nature of pleasure seeking,
spending money, pride, being angry, even
truthfulness. See page 455 for a good chart on the
Golden Mean.
Aristotle:
What is a Virtuous Person?
•
Only by following such a life of moderation
will a person achieve excellence, happiness or
courage, not by pursuing them directly.
•
The reward of a virtuous man is happiness and
all things “good.” There is no other way to
achieve it.
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Ironically, Aristotle was ultimately charged with
the same crime as Socrates, but acted the
opposite and left Athens so that “Athens would
not sin twice against philosophy.” In so doing,
he may have been acting courageously on his
principle of the Golden Mean, but some argue
his action lacked the moral strength of
Socrates’. What do you think?
“To Do the Right Thing”
In Opposition to Virtue Ethics
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Christianity emphasized following God’s rules and
conducting oneself by the will of God. Christianity
prescribes that man cannot be virtuous in oneself, but
only by the grace of God.
•
Thus, the virtue ethics of the Greeks was supplanted
with “Doing the Right Thing.’ Human nature by itself
is frail.
•
From the time of the Renaissance, the trend continued
in favor of ethics of conduct (not virtue), but
somewhat changed to pursuing acts of right perhaps
out of seeking the best for others and the welfare of all,
acts from reason, etc.
•
But the fundamental approach to morality in terms of
virtue has not died. We shall see it’s influence when we
study Immanuel Kant and the Categorical
Imperative.
Is Ethics Based on Virtue?
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A Video
Student Portfolio:
Assignment #2
Virtue or Conduct?
In 2-3 paragraphs each, describe two moral choices that you
made in the last few weeks and evaluate if they were
examples of you acting out of a core nature of being a
virtuous person, or as an independent act of conduct based
on a principle of action that just seemed to be the right thing
to do given the situation? For example, perhaps you chose
to tell the truth when telling a lie would have “got you out of
trouble.” Was your fundamental motivation to act from
personal and permanent virtue or was it primarily an
independent choice that you should “do the right thing?” at
this time? Is this a difference that makes a difference to
you?
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