The document discusses the distinction between virtue and vice and their relation to man as a moral agent. It states that individual acts shape moral character, with virtuous acts cultivating virtues and vicious acts cultivating vices over time through repetition. Habits, whether good or evil, are formed from the frequent repetition of acts. Therefore, vice and virtue are determined not by single or occasional acts but by acts performed frequently. The document provides quotes from Aristotle relating individual acts to the development of character and examines how freely chosen will and conditions like choice and freedom factor into whether one's character becomes morally virtuous or vicious.
The document discusses the distinction between virtue and vice and their relation to man as a moral agent. It states that individual acts shape moral character, with virtuous acts cultivating virtues and vicious acts cultivating vices over time through repetition. Habits, whether good or evil, are formed from the frequent repetition of acts. Therefore, vice and virtue are determined not by single or occasional acts but by acts performed frequently. The document provides quotes from Aristotle relating individual acts to the development of character and examines how freely chosen will and conditions like choice and freedom factor into whether one's character becomes morally virtuous or vicious.
The document discusses the distinction between virtue and vice and their relation to man as a moral agent. It states that individual acts shape moral character, with virtuous acts cultivating virtues and vicious acts cultivating vices over time through repetition. Habits, whether good or evil, are formed from the frequent repetition of acts. Therefore, vice and virtue are determined not by single or occasional acts but by acts performed frequently. The document provides quotes from Aristotle relating individual acts to the development of character and examines how freely chosen will and conditions like choice and freedom factor into whether one's character becomes morally virtuous or vicious.
( On Vice and Virtue) Lesson Objectives: • Distinguish the nature of virtue from vice
• Explain the relation of Moral Choices to Man as
a Virtuous Being
• Establish the relation of individual acts to moral
character • Character is “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual” (Oxford English Dictionary, 11th edition). Disposition is “a person’s inherent qualities of mind and character” (Ibid). Habit is “the regular tendency or practice” (Ibid). • Moral Character on the other hand, refers to the total qualities of a human person which contain the nature of his/her choices (whether these choices are good or evil) observed in his/her actions. This is also seen in his/her disposition toward things. The Distinction of Virtue from Vice
• ‘Individual Acts Make Character ’
• “It is by harping that good harpers and bad harpers alike are produced: and so with builders and the rest; by building well they will become good builders, and bad builders by building badly…And it is just the same with the virtues also. It is by our conduct in our intercourse with other men that we become just or unjust, and by acting in circumstances of danger, and training ourselves to feel fear or confidence, that we become courageous or cowardly…acts of any kind produce habits or characters of the same kind. Hence, we ought to make sure that our acts be of a certain kind; for the resulting character varies as they vary.” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 35-36). • Activity 1
• From the notes given on Individual Acts makes
Character, elaborate your understanding on how does a virtuous act differ from vice.
• B) Observe and discuss what conditions are
involved, ex., will, choice, freedom, etc. On Virtue, Vice, and, Habit
• Now, since a man does more easily that which he
has done before and the more often the repetition of an act, the easier becomes its performance. Moreover, human acts tend to form habits. Since humans are moral agents, the habit of performing any human act will be a moral habit. If it is a good moral habit, it is a virtue otherwise if it is an evil habit, it is called a vice. (“On Virtue, Vice, and Habit”)
Hence, “vice and virtue are not matters of a
single human act, nor of an act once or twice repeated, but of an act frequently repeated (Glenn, Ethics, 1968) Self Assessment Questions (for forum purposes)
• How are the quotes below related to the
claim on Man as the Moral Agent? Assessment on Man as the Moral Agent (Vice and Virtue)
1. What do you think is the reason of not doing
what we know to be right and not avoiding what we know to be evil? Discuss briefly.
2. Under what condition/s can man possess what
we call morally vicious character or morally virtuous character? RELATED READINGS/SOURCES:
• Babor, Eddie. Bioethics. C & E Publication, Quezon City, 2010.
• • Glenn, Paul. Ethics, National Bookstore, Quezon City, 1930. • • Palma-Angeles, Antonette. "Cultural Drivers of Corruption in Business and Governance." In Business Ethics in Asia: Issues and Cases, edited by Oscar G. Bulaong Jr., Ike Danita Dewi, and J. Sedfrey Santiago, Quezon City, PH: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2014. • • Martin, Mike. Everyday Morality, Wadsworth Thomson Learning Inc., Canada, 2001. • • Que, Nemesio S., S.J, "Notes on Moral Deliberation." Introduction to course notes for PH104: Foundations of Moral Value. Ateneo de Manila University • • Rachels, James .The Elements of Moral Philosophy. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill College, 2004 • • Rae, Scott, "A Model for Moral Decision Making" Chapter 1, Beyond Integrity. • • Reyes, Ramon Castillo. "Relation between Ethics and Religious Belief." In Moral Dimension: Essays in Honor of Ramon Castillo Reyes, edited by Nemesio S. Que, S.J., Oscar G. Bulaong Jr., and Michael Ner E. Mariano, 107-12. Quezon City, PH: Office of Research • • Werhane, Patricia H. Moral Imagination and Management Decision Making. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.