ARISTOTLE

We all know that Aristotle is one of the most illustrious figures when we talk about Philosophy and the
same can be said when we talk about Ethics. But before we go through his contributions, I think it is just
as important to stop for a moment and take a glimpse of Aristotle’s life.

Well, our group won’t be tackling any unnecessary information about him like his early life, childhood,
family life, and the like. So basically, he was a student of Plato who happens to be another great figure.
While they may have had similarities in their contentions, the main distinction between them is that
Plato’s approach is more theoretical and abstract in character, whilst Aristotle’s is more practical and
experimental.

So, let’s go important events that may have influenced his beliefs. Well, his father was actually the King’s
physician so medicine and biology greatly inspired him, which eventually led him to do philosophy.

As a starting point for his ethical inquiry, Aristotle considered what the good was. He wasn’t satisfied
with Plato’s conception of the good because it was too abstract, too neat, and all-encompassing. How
could one concept of “good” cover everything from a good house to a good horse to a good human life?
Moreover, such an abstract idea of the good was of little practical use. Aristotle took a more scientific
approach to grasp the meaning of a good life. This required studying both human character as well as
the conditions and circumstances that made a life, as a whole, well-lived. For this, as with Aristotle’s
other investigations, he began his analysis by thinking about causes and purposes.

Dito niya naformulate yung tinatawag na four causes.

The third cause, called the telos, is the most useful in understanding Aristotle’s philosophy. For his
ethics, Aristotle posed the following question: what is the aim, the telos, of a human life?

ITO NA YUNG PINAKA BODY

His answer? Eudaimonia. “A life of eudaimonia is a life of striving. It’s a life of pushing yourself to your
limits, and finding success. A eudaimonistic life will be full of the happiness that comes from achieving
something really difficult, rather than just having it handed to you.” Sometimes it is translated simply as
happiness, but this can be misleading and a closer translation would be “flourishing” or perhaps “well-
being”. Flourishing is best understood by thinking about plants. When a plant has good soil, enough
sunlight, and water, it is full of life, grows stronger, and reaches its full potential. When these conditions
are not met, the plant’s growth is stunted.

It is easy to see what eudaimonia is for a plant, but for a person, it is a little more complicated. It can’t
just come down to the simple everyday things that we think we want or need to do – catch the bus, earn
a living, eat lunch, physical intimacy – as all of these are temporary and don’t give life much substantial
meaning. So, Aristotle comes to the same conclusion as Socrates: living a virtuous life guided by
reason is what leads to eudaimonia.

Because eudaimonia is the telos of all human life, it is not a means to an end, but an end in itself. The
kind of happiness that comes from a state of eudaimonia is closer to contentment and it is quite distinct
from pleasure. In his philosophy, Aristotle doesn’t deny that pleasure is important; in fact, he says that if
we aren’t getting pleasure from life, we can’t flourish. However, he says that pleasure is the result of
living well, and can’t itself be a purpose. He considers whether honor or fame bring contentment, but he
dismisses these as they are out of the control of the individual. True eudaimonia is self-contained and
should be achievable independently of the honors bestowed by other people.

EXAMPLE: For instance, the goal of medicine is good health, and by seeing this one
can best comprehend what medicine is or should be. A knife's function is to cut, and by
seeing this one can best understand what a knife is. If one continues to do this over
time, it will become clear that some goals are more important than others, which are in
turn more important than yet other goals. A medical student's objective of becoming
a doctor, for instance, may be subservient to her goal of curing the sick, which is
itself subordinate to her goal of earning a livelihood by performing valuable work.
This list might go on forever, but nothing the medical student achieves is
genuinely worthwhile unless she has a goal that is a means to an end in and of
itself.

NOTE: INSTEAD OF DOCTOR, PALITAN MO NG LAWYER

In his ethics, Aristotle is not trying to convince the moral skeptic of the need to be virtuous, as Plato sets
out to do in the Republic. Instead, he is talking to people who already have some interest in and some
experience with ethical reasoning, and so he focuses on discussing how to use reason to understand and
practice virtue. Aristotle divides virtues into two types: moral virtues and intellectual virtues. It is the
moral virtues that we are interested in here as they are the foundation of a good life.

Aristotle thought that in the sphere of action, moral virtues sit between two opposing vices. On one side
the vice is an excess of that characteristic, and on the other, there is a lack of it. The typical example is of
courage, where a lack of courage is cowardice and excess is foolishness or rashness. Another example is
generosity, where the excess is to be wasteful and the lack to be greedy. This is one of the most famous
parts of Aristotle’s philosophy: The Golden Mean. By using this principle and reason we can discern,
define and categorize the virtues.

VIRTUE THEORY MUNA

Aristotle saw the goal of human existence as the active, rational search for excellence, and
excellence requires the personal virtues of honesty, truthfulness, courage, temperance,
generosity, and high-mindedness. This pursuit is also termed "knowledge of the good" in Greek
philosophy.

According to Aristotle, virtues are character dispositions or personality traits. This focus on our
dispositions and our character, rather than our actions in isolation, is what earns Aristotelian
Virtue Ethics the label of being an agent-centered moral theory rather than an act-centered moral
theory.

Aristotle refers to virtues as character traits or psychological dispositions. Virtues are those
particular dispositions that are appropriately related to the situation and, to link back to our
function, encourage actions that are in accordance with reason. Again, a more concrete example
will make clear how Aristotle identifies virtues in practice.
 Aristotle provided fourteen virtues in his theory. These are: (1) courage, particularly in battle; (2)
temperance, or moderation in eating and drinking; (3) liberality, or spending money well; (4)
magnificence, or living well; (5) pride, or taking pleasure in accomplishments and stature; (6) high-
mindedness, or concern with the noble rather than the petty; (7) unnamed virtue, which is halfway
between ambition and total lack of effort; (8) gentleness, or concern for others; (9) truthfulness; (10)
wit, or pleasure in group discussions; (11) friendliness, or pleasure in personal conduct; (12) modesty, or
pleasure in personal conduct; (13) righteous indignation, or getting angry at the right things and in the
right amounts; and (14) justice.

Example: Kapag may ayaw kang tao. Diba best resort is maging civil. (example si Audi)

Vegans

Date between Tine and Zharyne

Para madetermine ang moral standard:

AGENT CENTERED THEORY:

The concept primarily focuses on people and their characters rather than singular actions.
An example of an agent-centered moral theory is the Aristotelian Virtue Ethics. Aristotle,
morality has more to do with the question “how should I be?” rather than “what should I
do?” If we answer the first question then, as we see later in this chapter, the second
question may begin to take care of itself. When explaining and evaluating Aristotelian
Virtue Ethics you must keep in mind this focus on character rather than specific comments
on the morality of action