LESSON 3:

VIRTUE ETHICS?

 Believes in pursuing virtues or ideal character traits rather than following a set of rules is what makes
us moral.

What is the FOCUS of VIRTUE ETHICS?

 Focusing on being a good person will eventually lead to doing the right actions.
 Concerned with the whole of a person's life, rather than episodes or actions for it focuses on the
characteristics and behavior a good person seeks to achieve.

TWO MAJOR THEORIES OF VIRTUE ETHICS

 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

 ARISTOTLE

THOMAS AQUINAS (Saint Thomas Aquinas)

 was an Italian Dominican friar, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church.
 He is an immensely influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism, within
which he is also known as the Doctor Angelicus and the Doctor Communis.
 He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology and the father of Thomism; of which he argued
that reason is found in God.

Virtue Ethics Theory: Thomism

 Principles (rules about how to act)

 Virtues (traits which are taken to be good or moral to have).

The purpose of these concepts is to direct people towards the goal of human fulfilment or living a worthwhile
life

Believes that the motive of an action is also crucial, and two apparently

identical acts may be right and wrong because of their motives

 Principles (rules about how to act)

1. Moral thought is that good should be pursued, and evil avoided. Interpreted as the golden rule, “Do unto
other as you would have them unto you.”

2. Moral thought should aim towards six basic human goods:

1. LIFE

2. KNOWLEDGE

3. FRIENDSHIP

4. MARRIAGE

5. RELIGION

6. PRACTICAL REASON.

 Virtues (traits which are taken to be good or moral to have).

1. Prudence
- Doing the right thing at the right time, in the right place, and in the right manner.
2. Temperance
- Denotes moderation of desires and physical pleasures such as eating, drinking, and sex.
3. Courage
- The desire to do actions that are difficult to attain or avoid, and the act of restraining fear to do
actions rightly.
4. Justice
- A disposition to give other what they are entitled to (rights) which serves as a guide in interacting with
other people and developing relationships.

A quote to ponder on:

THE THINGSS THAT WE LOVE TELL US WHAT WE ARE

VIRTUOUS MAN
  A virtuous man is all that is good. He is a man who is responsible, who stays away from anything wrong or
improper. One who is always humble regardless of where he is in his life.

Virtue is not born in a person, rather it is learned.

ARISTOTLE

 a Greek philosopher.
 He was one of the most important philosophers in the history of Western civilization.
 Aristotle first used the term ethics to name a field of study developed by his predecessors Socrates and
Plato.
 Aristotle makes the interesting assertion that ethics is not primarily a theoretical matter. Ethics is not about
theorizing but about being good.

Virtue Ethics Theory: Nicomachean

Phronesis + Arete = Eudaemonia

 Believes that virtues are dispositions that act to effectively perform one’s proper function in similar
situations creating habits of behaving in certain ways.

Virtues of Character:

1. Generosity
2. Temperance

Virtues of Thought:

1. Wisdom
2. Intelligence
3. Comprehension

Doctrine of the Mean

VIRTUES – BALANCE (GOOD)

VICES – DEFICIENCY AND EXCESS (BAD)

“Virtue is a state of character concerned with choice, determined by a rational principle which
means that anybody who aspires to live a happy life must endeavor to live a life of contemplation,
reflection, and search for balance.”

A quote to ponder on:

HAPPINESS DEPENDS UPON OURSELVES

LESSON 4 : Deontology (Immanuel Kant)

DEONTOLOGY ETHICS

 Deon= Duty
 Concerned with the adherence to certain rules or duties which means that the morality of an action should
be based on whether that action is right or wrong under a series of rules. It is more concerned with what
people do (intent), not with the consequences of their actions.

IMMANUEL KANT

 was a German
 Enlightenment philosopher most famous for his theories of morality and epistemology (the study of
knowledge)
 We have laws of nature, and that we can do science and learn about our
 world, because even if our perceptions are flawed, there is a relationship
 between them and the innate, universal concepts like existence, time,
 and space.

“I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal
law.”
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVES

 Commands that are intended to be the basis of all other rules which you should be doing regardless of your
interest and/or desire.

Universalizability Principle

 Always act in such a way that the maxim of your action should become a universal law.

Formula of Humanity

 Act so that you treat humanity, both in your own person and in that of another, always as an end and never
merely as a means. People should not be tricked, manipulated, or bullied into doing things.

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES

 Specific principles (maxims and moral laws) that emphasizes morality requires the fulfillment of moral
duties and not on self-seeking desires.

Perfect Duties

 These are duties that do not allow exceptions and are universal which means that they apply to all rational
beings despite the consequences of the actions

Imperfect Duties

 There are duties that do not always need to be followed in one way or all the time for this is dependent on
the rationality and autonomy of an individual. People have their own sense of duty towards themselves and
others

LESSON 5: Consequentialism (Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill)

TELEOLOGICAL ETHICS (CONSEQUENTIALISM)?

 Derives moral obligation from what is good or desirable as an end to be achieved.

 Morality of an action is contingent on the action’s outcome which means that the rightness or wrongness of
an action depends on outcomes/consequence, if it brings a good end or intrinsic value.

Ethical Egoism

 Moral duty is exclusive for the self which means that one ought to do/pursue whatever is in one’s own best
interest.

Utilitarianism

 Consequences of actions are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone which means that one ought to
perform actions which tend to produce the greatest overall happiness for the greatest number of people.

Jeremy Bentham

 Believes that human actions and social institutions should be judged right or wrong depending upon their
tendency to promote the greatest amount of pleasure or least amount of pain. We should commend an
action if it produces pleasure or prevents pain and condemn an action if it does the opposite.
 He is primarily known today for his moral philosophy, especially his principle of utilitarianism, which
evaluates actions based upon their consequences.

PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY

1. Recognizes the fundamental role of pain and pleasure in human life,

2. Approves or disapproves of an action based on the amount of pain or pleasure brought about by the
consequences of the action,
3. Equates good with pleasure and evil with pain
4. Asserts that pleasure and pain are capable of quantification, hence, measurable.

Act Utilitarianism - The right act is defined as the one which brings about the best results or the least amount of
bad result (e.g., charity work).

Utilitarian Calculus - A way to measure pleasure and pain using different factors/criteria in an action.
JOHN STUART MILL

 was a politician and philosopher, economist, and corporate executive, who remains of lasting interest as a
liberal thinker—an advocate of the individual's rights and pursuit of happiness—and an ethical theorist.
 A liberal classical economist
 Mill was an advocate of individual rights, progressive social policies, and utilitarianism (which promotes
actions that do "the greatest good for the greatest number").

GREATEST HAPPINESS PRINCIPLE

 It is not the quantity of pleasure but the quality of happiness that is central to utilitarianism. An action
should be judged right or wrong if it has the tendency to achieve happiness for the greatest number of
people.

Rule Utilitarianism

 We ought to live by rules which lead to the greatest good in general. Avoid short-time utility, instead Focus
on achieving long-term utility (e.g., equality for women)