VIRTUE

ETHICS
ACCORDING TO PLATOPLATO

ETHICS

PRESENTED BY: BSA 1-12

GROUP 1
 VIRTUE ETHICS
– currently one of three major approaches in normative ethics.
– identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character,
contrast with deontology and consequentialism
– In the West, virtue ethics’ founding fathers are Plato and Aristotle,
and in the East it can be traced back to Mencius and Confucius.
VIRTUE
– a disposition, well entrenched in its possessor
– To possess a virtue is to be a certain sort of person with a certain
complex mindset.
– Possessing a virtue is a matter of degree. To possess such a
disposition fully is to possess full or perfect virtue, which is rare,and
there are a number of ways of falling short of this ideal
– The fully virtuous do what they should without a struggle against
contrary desires
PRACTICAL WISDOM
– Another way in which one can easily fall short of full virtue is
through lacking phronesis—moral or practical wisdom.
– which conveys a general sense of knowing the proper behavior
in all situations
– Without phronesis, it would be impossible to practice the moral
virtues properly. A person who has all the right moral virtues
knows what ends to pursue
 PLATO

Student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle

the most outstanding philosopher to have ever lived.
QUICK FACTS ABOUT PLATO
Plato’s reasoning was based on his belief
that there are two realms of reality

REALM OF FORMS REALM OF APPEARANCES

– transcend time and space
– an eternal, perfect, unchanging ideal – everyday world of imperfect,
copy (Forms) of all phenomena exists decaying, and changing phenomena
in the realm of forms.
– essence of concepts, objects, and even
the essence of objects' properties
PLATO’S THEORY OF FORMS
– According to Plato the World we live in is a poor imitation of the real
world.
– Our World is constantly changing and we rely on our senses to understand
what is going on.
– You are not the same person you were 3 years/ hours/ seconds ago, cells
are forever changing and ideal flit through our minds.
– Plato was therefore sure that the real world is outside the one we live in.
– This world is unchanging and eternal. It is the world of ideas not senses,
where the perfect forms of the things we know on earth.
PLATO’S THEORY OF FORMS
– The idea of the Forms is illustrated in the Allegory of the
Cave.
– Plato believed true reality existed beyond normal perceptions of
the world.
– What we perceive around us is a shadow of this truth.
ALLEGORY OF CAVE
Plato also proposed
that humans have a tripartite soul
FACULTY OF REASONING (HEAD) THOUGHT AND TRUTH

FACULTY OF SPIRIT (CHEST) EXPRESS LOVE, BEAUTY AND THE

DESIRE FOR ETERNAL LIFE

FACULTY OF APPETITE (GUT) EXPRESSION OF HUMAN DESIRES

AND EMOTION
 Thou shall
Unless I
not KILL
say so

WUT
DIVINE COMMAND THEORY

KILLING,
BAD >:-(
 EUTHYPRO
— A book created by Plato
— Features Plato’s teacher
Socrates and Socrates
SOCRATES partner in conversation,
Euthyphro
EUTHYPRO DILEMMA
Are right actions
God Loves good commanded by God
actions because it is because they are
good. right?

Are right actions Good action is

right because God good because it is
commands them.? loved by God.
 Abraham kill your
son

I’m not really cool

It’s just a test bro. wth that, but sure
 EUTHYPRO

THE PROBLEM WITH THE 2nd POSITION

It won’t be rational
Morality is not objective
ACCORDING
TO PLATO
THE SOUL HAS
THREE PARTS
• REASON
• SPIRIT
• APPETITE
PLATO’S
THEORY OF
THREE SOULS,
VIRTUES AND
CLASSES
 CARDINAL VIRTUES OF PLATO

– SOPHIA- WISDOM
– ANDREA- COURAGE
– SOPHROSYRIE- TEMPERANCE
– The ability to discern our highest good and the right action in each moment.
– It is often ascribed to elders, and to ancient teachings and teachers, yet wisdom is
ageless, timeless, and faceless: a magic that we all feel and know when we
experience it. Wisdom is truth.
– It flows from the mouths of young children and can be seen in nature, in
animals, and in the innate qualities of the heart.
– A wise person has nothing to prove, and nothing to lose.
– Courage is the resolve to act virtuously, especially when it is most difficult. It is
acting for the good, when it would be much easier not to this time.
– Courage is a virtue that connects to the passion and energy of the soul linked to the
soul’s faculty of Spirit
– Behaving courageously leads to self respect and confidence
– Being courageous doesn't mean there is absence of fear
– Involves knowledge and assessment of how scared an individual should be
– Andrea
BEING
COURAGEOUS
– Temperance is a strength that protects against excess; and consists self-regulation and
obedience to authority. It suggests harmony among conflicting elements.
– The virtue of temperance is the friendship of the ruling and the subject principles,
both in the State and in the individual.
– Temperance does not detain the reasonable pleasures that are contrary to our reason.
– It requires us to prepare ourselves even when we are not faced with an immediate
temptation.
– The lack of temperance challenges prudence, i.e., being careful about one’s choices;
not taking undue risks; not saying or doing things that might later be regretted.
– In Charmides, the one who has ‘sophrosune’ is defined as (1) one who has quietness
(‘hesuchia’), (2) one who has modesty [aidos], (3) one who does his own business,
and (4) one who knows himself.
BEING
TEMPERANT
END