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Aristotle's Virtue Ethics
Aristotle's Virtue Ethics
Aristotle's Virtue Ethics
TIES
Moral Virtue (practical wisdom)
Proponent
• Aristotle (384 B.C. to 322 B.C.)
• Virtues
• Aristotle later poses a simple question: what is the good and what is the
highest of the goods achievable by action?
HAPPINESS “EUDAIMONIA”
Virtue = Happiness
• Aristotle suggests that to better understand the nature of
happiness we must investigate the nature of virtue, since
happiness is “the active exercise of the mind in conformity
with perfect goodness of virtue”.
The Golden Mean
• Moral behavior is the mean between two extremes – at
one end is excess, at the other deficiency.
Criticisms of Virtue Theory
• Some vices (murder, adultery) don’t have a “mean” or
a virtue-correlate.
• Social practice:
– Experienced veterans provide “mentorship” and constraints (laws)
Reference
• https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-ancient/#4