Virtue Ethics: A Basic Introductory Essay Character traits are…

Aristotle - Dispositions or habit-like tendencies that are deeply

entrenched or engrained.
- Discussed the nature of moral virtue.
o Referred to as the “second nature”
- Wrote Book II of the Nicomachean Ethics
o The “first nature” refers to the tendencies we are
Virtue Ethics: borne with.
- Not innate
- An approach that deemphasizes rules, consequences
o We are not born with them.
and particular acts
- Formed as a result of more or less freely selected
- Places the focus on the kind of person who is acting.
actions of a certain kind.
- Issue is NOT primarily whether or not…
o We are not borne honest or liars
o an intention is right
▪ We become so by repetitive honesty or
o one is following the correct rule
lying.
o the consequences of action are good
- Issue is primarily based on whether or not… Moral Virtues
o The person acting is expressing good character
- Are admirable character traits
Person’s Character: o Desirable dispositions
o Contributes to social harmony
- The totality of his character traits
- Enable us to act in accordance with reason
o Can be good
o One cannot be morally reasonable in the fullest
o Can be bad
sense
o Can be somewhere in between
▪ Prudence is not attained without being
o Can be admirable or not
morally virtuous.
▪ An admirable character is the perfection
▪ A person who is not morally virtuous:
in character
• May have their emotions hinder
▪ Also known as “virtue”, the opposite of
them from doing what is
“vice”
reasonable.
 • Or may find it difficult to
recognize what the reasonable
thing might be.
- Enable us to feel appropriately and have the right
intention
o The person whose character is less than
virtuous…
▪ may do what looks like the right thing to
do but their motives will leave something
to be desired.
o A truthful person will usually tell the truth
▪ And they will do so because it is the right
thing to do
- Are orientations towards the mean, rather than the
extremes (vices to extremes)
o According to Aristotle, virtue lies between two
vices.
o Courage lies between the vices of rashness and
cowardice.
o Mildness or Gentleness lies between irascible
Criticism of Virtue Ethics
and inirascible.
o Generosity lies between Stinginess and
Prodigality
o Moderation lies between Insensibility and Self-
Indulgence
- Can be used to determine the rightness or wrongness of
an action by relating the choice to admirable character
traits
o An act or choice is morally right if
▪ An act exhibits or develops a morally
virtuous character
o An act or choice is morally wrong if,
▪ By making the choice, one exhibits or
develops a morally viscious character
o To apply virtue ethics to a given case, one should
▪ Discuss which character traits (virtues,
vices, intermediate states) are relevant
▪ Reflect on the kind of actions, attitudes,
and feelings
- Can be used to praise or criticize institutions
o Application of virtue ethics requires a sensitive
appreciation of human character, therefore…
▪ Considers familiarity with human
psychology
- Different cultures provide different models of moral
virtues.
o Greek = pride
▪ Appropriate sense of one’s honor
▪ Greeks has a moral ideal of seriousness
 • Expressed in religious,
philosophical, or ethical activity,
but not so easily in physical
production
▪ Early modern thinkers
• Recognize virtue of
industriousness, which is
expressed in activity related to
production, to subduing physical
environments.
o Christianity = Humility
o However valuable virtue ethics may be, it needs
another ethical theory in order to complete it
Virtue Ethics
- Why should we bother with virtue ethics?
o If you want to be liked or loved by good people
for what kind of person you are, if you want to be
the kind of person who can stand on her or his
own two feet and who, after examining an issue
carefully, can be fairly confident of his own moral
judgements, or if you want to be able to do the
courageous thing, the honorable thing, honest
thing, and enjoy doing it, even if most other
people would find it uncomfortable or painful,
you would want to develop the good character
traits known as moral virtues.
- Other Reasons:
o Often, we are concerned with evaluating a
person and their enduring moral characteristics
instead of a single action and how it relates to a
rule or what sort results it produces.
o We cannot evaluate an action unless we know
something about the psychology of the person
who is acting
o One of the best ways to foster social
cooperation and harmony is to promote and
solidify the better sides of humanity.
- What do we need to know about human psychology in
order to understand the virtues?
o “To Understand First”
▪ Analysis is derived from Plato and
Aristotle
▪ The mental side of the human person
consists of several capacities.
o “Soul-Roughly”
▪ The mental side of the person
• Has capacities for many kinds of
activities(calculating,
deliberating, etc)
o These can be grouped into two or three
“faculties” as Plato and Aristotle did:
▪ Reason
▪ Passions
 • Pertains to what is necessary
• Spirited part (social emotions:
fear, anger, hate, jealousy, love of
victory, love of honor)
• Appetitive part (love of money,
hunger, thirst, sexual desire,
desire for other physical
pleasures, aversion to physical
pain)
▪ Desire (not limited to just one part
• Rational part (naturally desires to
understand and to promote the
good of the whole as it perceives
this good.
o “wish” or “intention”
o In a virtuous person, this
part is fully educated
▪ Perceives the
good, trains the
spirited and
appetitive to
follow the lead of
reason
• Spirited Part desires pleasure,
possessions, etc.
- Relate the notion of moral virtue to reason and the
emotions
o Aristotelian definition of virtue:
▪ Moral virtue is a disposition to act as the
morally reasonable person would act
(according to reason) and to feel
emotions and desires appropriately.
▪ A moral disposition is relates to a mere
capacity and to an activity or actual
feeling as follows.
▪ One who has a disposition is not
necessarily using it at any given moment
but is able to put it to use immediately.
▪ When one is capable of disposition, they
have Knowledge, and will be able to have
Moral Virtue.
- What did Aristotle say that virtue is a middle ground or
“mean”?
o It’s possible to err morally by going too far and
also by not going far enough.
o Virtue of generosity is a mean between
stinginess and a tendency to give excessively.
- Is there a condition (a moral disposition) between virtue
and vice?
o Aristotle thinks so. In fact, there may be two:
▪ Moderate person (virtuous in relation to
pleasure)
• Knows and wishes to do the
moderate thing, and does it.
 ▪ Self-Controlled Person
• Knows and wishes to do the
moderate (correct) thing, but has
to struggle against strong
appetites in order to do so.
▪ Immoderate or Self-Indulgent Person
(Vicious in relation to pleasure)
• Has no wish to do the moderate
thing and does not do it.
- How do we use the virtue ethics approach in analyzing a
case?
o Try to determine what state of character is
exhibited by the person in the case.
o The externals of the action do not give us much
guidance.
Kohlberg’s 6 Stages of Moral Development ▪ Interpersonal accord (acting based on
societal expectations) and conformity
- Lawrence Kohlberg (American Psychologist)
guides our moral judgments.
o Pioneers of moral development research
• What do others think of?
o Building from the original propositions of Jean
o Stage 4: Authority and Maintaining Social Order
Piaget.
▪ We value authority and want to maintain
o Theorized that humans develop their moral
social-order.
judgements in 6 stages
• How can I maintain law and
▪ Conducted interviews of boys between
order?
the ages of 10 and 16.
- Post-Conventional Morality Level (16+ years old)
▪ Analyzed their justification if confronted
o Stage 5: Social Contract
with different hypothetical moral
▪ We understand rules as a social contract
dilemmas.
as opposed to a strict order.
▪ Postulated that humans progress through
the stages in a hierarchical order, as their • Does a rule truly serve all
cognitive abilities develop. members of the community?
- Pre-Conventional Morality Level (0-9 years old) o Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles
o Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment ▪ We are guided by universal ethical
▪ We make moral judgments based on principles (principles based on shared
obedience and punishment. human values)
• How can I avoid punishment? • What are the abstract ethical
o Stage 2: Self-Interest principles that serve my
▪ We are motivated by self-interest. understandings of justice?
• What’s in it for me?
- Conventional Morality Level (10-15 years old)
o Stage 3: Interpersonal Accord and Conformity