Virtue

Ethics
What is
VIRTUE
ethics?
• Depend on character
development
• Focuses on the formation of
one’s character brought about
by determining and doing
virtuous acts.
 What is
excellenc
e for
you?
VIRT
UE
ARETE (Greek)
- the excellent way
of doing things.
“Virtue is something
that one strives for in
time”
“ For one swallow does
not make a summer, nor
does one day; and so too
one day, or a short
time, does not make a
 What
exactly
makes a
human being
excellent?
 “Excellence is an activity
of the human soul and
therefore, one needs to
understand the very
structure of a person’s
soul which must be directed
by her rational activity in
an excellent way”
Irrational Rational
element faculty
Vegetative
MOral
Aspects

Appetitive Intellectu
Aspects al
Irrational element

• Irrational element of a man

consist of the vegetative and
appetitive aspects.
VEGETATIVE ASPECTS
- Functions as giving nutrition and providing
the activity of physical growth in person.
- As an irrational element, this part of man is
not the realm where virtue is exercised
because, as the term suggest, it cannot be
dictated by reason.
- Follows the natural processes involved in
physical activities and growth of a person.
APPETITIVE ASPECTS
- Work as the desiring faculty of
man.
- the act of desiring in itself is an
impulse that naturally runs counter to
reason and most of time refuses to go
along with reason. (Irrational part of the
soul)
• “ Sexual impulse for example, is strong
in a person that one tends to ignore
reasonable demands to control such
impulse. However, unlike vegetative
aspect, the desiring faculty of man can
be subjected to reason.
ARISTOTLE SAYS,
“..Now, even this seems to have a
share in the rational principle,
as we said; at any rate in the
continent man it obeys the
rational principle…”
 Desires are subject to reason
even though these do not
arise from the rational part
of the soul.
Rational element

Exercises excellence .
One can rightly or
wrongly apply the use of
reason in this part.
Divided into 2 aspects.
MORAL
- concerns about the acts
of doing.

Intellectual
- Concerns with the act of
knowing.
FOR ARISTOTLE:
“Excellence is
attained through
teaching”.
One can attain
intellectual excellence
through: Philosophic
and practical wisdom.
Philosophic wisdom
- Deals with attaining
knowledge about the
fundamental principles and
truths govern the universe.
- Helps one understand in
general the meaning of life.
- Examples: general theory of
the origin of things
Practical wisdom
- is an excellence in knowing
the right conduct in carrying out
a particular act.
- One can attain a wisdom
that can provide us with a guide
on how to behave in our daily
lives.
-an acquired trait that
enables its possessor to identify
the thing to do in any given
 Although the condition of being
excellent can be attained by a
person through the intellectual
aspect of the soul, this situation
does not make her into morally good
individual.
SOCRATES
AND
ARISTOTLE’S
POINT OF VIEW
ARISTOTLE

• Suggest that although the rational functions

of a person (moral and intellectual) are
distinct from each other, it is necessary for
humans to attain the intellectual virtue of
practical wisdom in order to accomplish a
morally virtuous act.
• “knowing what to act upon does not
make someone already morally virtuous.
Knowing the good is different from
determining the acting on what is good.
But a morally good person has to achieve
the intellectual virtue of practical wisdom
to perform the task of being moral.”
• Having intellectual excellence does not
necessarily mean that one already has
the capacity of doing good. Knowing the
good that needs to be done is different
from doing the good that one needs to
accomplish.
• Moral virtue can be attained/ acquired
by means of habit.
• A morally virtuous man is “someone
who habitually determines the good
and does the right actions”
• “PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT”.
• Person is not initially good by nature.
SOCRATES

• “Moral goodness is already

within the realm of intellectual
excellence. Knowing the good
implies the ability to perform
morally virtuous acts. ”
MORAL VIRTUE….

A Moral person habitually chooses the

good and consistently does good
deeds.
CHARACTER as an identification mark
of a person.
- Intoduced by Aristotle
- “Middle”/ “Middle disposition”/
intermediate
- According to Aristotle, he designates
the position of a virtue between two
opposing vices, the EXCESS and the
DEFECT.
ARISTOTLE
• Developing a practical wisdom involves
learning from experiences.
• Knowledge is not inherent to a person.
• When it comes to life choices, we can seek
the advice of the elders.
• Morally virtuous person aimed the middle,
intermediate or mesotes.
• Determining the middle becomes proper tool
by which one can arrive at the proper way of
doing things.
• For instance, if ten is many and two is few, six is
the intermediate, taken in terms of object; for it
exceeds and it exceeded by an equal amount ;
this intermediate is according to arithmetical
proportion
But….
• If ten pounds are too much for a particular
person to eat and two too little, it does not follow
that the trainer will order six pounds; for this also
perhaps too much for the person who is to take
it, or too little-for Milo(a famous Greek athletes),
too much for the beginner in athletes exercises.
• Morally virtuous person is concerned with
achieving her appropriate action in the
manner that is neither excessive nor
deficient.
• Virtue is the middle or intermediary point
in between extremes.
• Mesotes is constantly moving depending
on the circumstance where she is in.
• THE MEAN IS NOT THE SAME FOR
ALL INDIVIDUALS.
• The task of being moral involves seriously
looking into and understanding the situation and
assessing properly every particular detail
relevant to the determination of the mean.
• MORAL VIRTUE---- “a state of character
concerned with choice, lying in a mean, that
is, the mean relative to us, this is being
determined by a rational principle, and by
that principle by which man of practical
wisdom would determine it.”
THUS….
Moral Virtue,
1. Firstly, the condition arrived at by one person
who has a character identified out of her
habitual exercise of particular actions.
2. The action done that normally manifest feelings
and passions is choosen because it is in the
middle.
3. Rational faculty that serves as guide for the
proper identification of the middle is the
practical wisdom.
VIRTUES AND VICES BY
ARISTOTLE:

EXCESS MIDDLE DEFICIENCY

Indecisivenes
Impulsive Self- control
s
Reckless Courage Cowardice

prodigality Liberality Meanness

MIDDLE: COURAGE
• Cowardice- a deficiency in terms of feelings
and passions; Lack of bravery of carrying
herself in a given situation.

• Reckless- excess in terms of feelings and

passion; acts with a surplus of guts that she
overdoes an act in such rashness without
any deliberation.
• The virtue of having courage is
being able to act daringly
enough but able to weigh up
possible implications of such
act that she proceeds with
caution.