Transcript Martha Nussbaum*s *Non-Relative Virtues: An

Martha Nussbaum’s “Non-Relative
Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach”
Introduction to Ethical theory, Benjamin Visscher Hole IV
240W8L2
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Clicker Quiz
Review
Assess Nussbaum’s Aristotelian Approach
AGENDA
Clicker Quiz
Nussbaum claims that at the first stage of ethical inquiry,
terms for the virtues should be:
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A. as descriptive as possible.
B. in accordance with what all
rational beings would will
C. those that are
conventionally used.
D. those drawn from endoxa.
E. neutral between
competing specifications of
the virtue.
F. all of the above.
G. none of the above.
Nussbaum claims that the specification of particular
virtues:
A. will always consist of
a single answer.
B. might sometimes
turn out to be a
disjunction.
C. is necessarily relative
to Aristotle’s culture.
D. can be settled in
such a way as to be
no longer revisable.
E. none of the above.
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According to Nussbaum, the decisions a
virtuous person makes:
A. will always be responsive
to local features of her
context.
B. should not depend on
local features of her
context.
C. will always be based on
abstract general
principles about duty.
D. will never have negative
consequences.
E. all of the above.
F. none of the above.
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“NON-RELATIVE VIRTUES: AN ARISTOTELIAN
APPROACH,” Martha C. Nussbaum
REVIEW AND DISCUSS NUSSBAUM
Main takeaways from yesterday
• How Aristotle’s theory can be used by Neo-Aristotelian virtue
ethicists
• Universality and context-sensitivity
• Moral dilemmas and residue/remainder
• The relativism worry
• Nussbaum’s program
An Aristotelian Program
This is Nussbaum’s virtue ethical response to the relativism worry.
A two-stage inquiry
1.
Isolate a sphere of human experience that
figures in more or less any human life, in which
nearly everyone will have to make some
choices about how to act.
2.
Find a correct fuller specification of what it is to
act well in that sphere.
Nussbaum’s Spheres of Virtue
VIRTUE
SPHERE
1. Courage
Fear of important damages, esp. death.
2. Moderation
Bodily appetites and their pleasures.
3. Justice
Distribution of limited resources.
4. Generosity
Management of one’s personal property where others are concerned.
5. Expansive hospitality
Management of one’s personal property where hospitality is
concerned.
6. Greatness of soul
Attitudes and actions with respect to one’s own worth.
7. Mildness of temper
Attitude to slights and damages
8.a. Truthfulness
8.b. Easy grace (contrasted with coarseness, rudeness,
insensitivity)
8.c. Nameless , but a kind of friendliness (contrasted with
irritability and grumpiness)
“Association and living together and the fellowship of words and
actions.”
a. Truthfulness in speech
b. Social association of a playful kind
c. Social association more generally
9. Proper judgment (contrasted with enviousness,
spitefulness, etc.)
Attitude to the good and ill fortune of others.
10. The various intellectual virtues, such as perceptiveness,
knowledge, etc.
Intellectual life.
11. Practical Wisdom
The planning of one’s life.
Greatness of soul: “features of humanness
that lie beneath all local traditions”?
• Greek megalopsuchia
• Christian humility
Sphere: Attitudes and actions with respect to one’s own worth.
We should revise Aristotle’s theory and maintain an objective
Neo-Aristotelian approach to ethical theory.
A. Strongly Agree
B. Agree
C. Somewhat Agree
D. Neutral
E. Somewhat Disagree
F. Disagree
G. Strongly Disagree
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Top-down and bottom-up methodologies
General
Particular
Perceptive Equilibrium
• Virtuous agents must negotiate between
moral particulars and ethical principles.
• Our moral perceptions and ethical principles
“hang beautifully together … an equilibrium
that is always ready to reconstitute itself in
response to the new.”
Nussbaum (Love’s Knowledge, 1990), 29, 183.
• The metaphor is the ship of Neurath, whose
planks can be replaced one by one –just as we can
replace our individual beliefs in our belief sets.
Nussbaum’s Perceptive Equilibrium
A. Strongly Agree
B. Agree
C. Somewhat Agree
D. Neutral
E. Somewhat Disagree
F. Disagree
G. Strongly Disagree
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An Aristotelian Program
A two-stage inquiry
1.
Isolate a sphere of human experience that
figures in more or less any human life, in which
nearly everyone will have to make some
choices about how to act.
2.
Find a correct fuller specification of what it is to
act well in that sphere.
Objection 1


Objection: Even if we settle on a single subject matter
(how to behave in a particular sphere of human
experience), this does not establish that there is a
single correct answer.
Reply: There might be many concrete specifications of
the virtues, in connection with local conditions.
Objection 1 to Nussbaum’s
Aristotelian Program
A. Strongly Agree
B. Agree
C. Somewhat Agree
D. Neutral
E. Somewhat Disagree
F. Disagree
G. Strongly Disagree
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Objection 2


Objection: The allegedly shared human experiences
are in fact differently constructed by different cultures.
Reply: This is true, but we can nonetheless identify
certain features of our common humanity that are
nearly universally shared, including mortality, pain and
pleasure, and practical reason.
Objection 2 to Nussbaum’s
Aristotelian Program
A. Strongly Agree
B. Agree
C. Somewhat Agree
D. Neutral
E. Somewhat Disagree
F. Disagree
G. Strongly Disagree
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Gary Watson’s Dilemma
Horn One
• An ethical theory
grounded in human
experience is morally
indeterminate
Horn Two
• An ethical theory
grounded in human
experience is circular