Foundations of Moral Values

Lesson 3
Virtue Ethics

University of Macau
Dr. Dimitra Amarantidou 易冬蘭
damarantidou@um.edu.mo
 Virtue ethics
z

Virtue-based
Emphasizes the acquisition of positive character traits (virtues) and the
avoidance of negative traits (vices) towards the development of a moral
character.
 z
Virtue ethics
Virtue ethics is a general term for ethical theories which take
the individual's character and virtue as most morally
significant.
美德伦理学是伦理学理论的一个总称，它把个人的性格和美德作为最重
要的道德意义。
 Scenario:
z
What do we want in a partner?

 Appearance
 Character
 Character: what makes you who you are
z

 Character > charaso (to sharpen, cut out, carve, write)

 When something is carved, it cannot be uncarved…
 Our character is very difficult, if not impossible, to change
 A good character will most probably manifest good qualities in most situations
e.g. When someone is courageous in one kind of situation, they will probably be
courageous in most kinds of situation.
The same with a bad character:
People who are messy in one area,
will probably be messy
in other areas as well.
 But how do I carve out the best possible Me?

 How do I become a person of good character?

 How do I develop good/positive character traits (virtues)?

 How do I avoid developing bad/negative character traits (vices)?

Answer: By doing what is good, and by avoiding what is bad.

 How do I acquire virtues? How do I become virtuous?
z
 Acquiring virtue is like learning a craft (e.g. playing basketball or music)

I become courageous by acting courageously, just as a person becomes a good piano player
by practicing on the piano every day or a good basketball player by working on their free
throws (NE* 2.1)

 But vice is also developed through a person’s repeated actions.

By cheating a person makes themselves unjust and by engaging in drinking bouts they
become dissolute drunkards (NE 3.5 1114a4–7).

* NE: Nichomachean Ethics:

Aristotle’s best known work on ethics
where he discusses how humans should best live their lives.
 We Are What We Do: Our habits make us who we are
z

 (Good/bad) Habits create (good/bad) character.

 If you want to be good (virtuous), you need to do what is

good, not know what is good (practical focus).
 By repeatedly doing virtuous deeds, we become virtuous.
 z We Do What We Are:
Our character determines our habits
Aristotle admits that some people who are bad cannot change, because they
have fixed bad characters, and so they cannot control what appears good to
them.
But at one time, they HAD the ability to change their character, and so they are
responsible for what now seems good to them.
Aristotle compares such a person to a sick person who doesn’t get well and
who made themselves ill through a bad lifestyle and their refusal to listen to
their doctor’s advice.
The sick person is responsible for their sickness, even though there is nothing
they can do about it now; the same happens to the bad person (NE 3.5
1114a12–22).
Good character: good performance of your function
z

 Every living or human-made thing, including its parts, has a unique or

characteristic function (ergon) or activity that distinguishes it from all other things.
 The virtue or excellence of a thing (areti) consists of the good performance of its
characteristic function, and consists of whatever traits or qualities enable it to
perform that function well.
Examples:
The virtue or excellence of a knife is whatever allows the knife to perform its function
(cutting) well.
The virtue or excellence of an eye is whatever allows the eye to perform its function
(seeing) well. 
 The good knife
 What is
z the function of a knife?

 Cutting

 What is the purpose of a knife?

 To cut

 A thing is good if it performs its function (ergon),

and in doing so well fulfils its purpose (telos).

 A knife is good when it performs its function

(cutting) and in doing so well fulfils its purpose

(to cut).

The goodness/excellence or areti of a knife is sharpness.

 1. Humans: they are living things
which absorb nourishment, grow,
propagate, perceive the world
around them, move about, but also
think (order their perceptions into

The good person? categories and classes).

2 . An ima ls : t hey a re liv ing th ing s
whic h a bsor b nour ishm ent , gr ow, a nd
p r opa ga te , but whi ch ca n a lso perc eiv e
th e worl d a round th em a nd m o ve
a bout.
3. Plants: they are living things which
absorb nourishment, grow, and propagate.
 What is the function (ergon) of humans?
z Practical reasoning

 Human beings are good

when they perform their function:

practical reasoning.

 Reasoning helps humans decide

and act on what is good.

 What is the purpose (telos) of humans?
z Eudaimonia

 Eudaimonia: human flourishing or living well.

 “Happiness” is not a good translation because for Aristotle

and most other ancient philosophers,
it is NOT an emotion ( 开心 )
but a general state of being 幸福 .
 eudaimonia: flourishing

Flourishing manifests in three forms:

1. A l i f e o f p l e a s u r e a n d e n j o y m e n t
2. A l i f e a s a f r e e a n d r e s p o n s i b l e c i t i z e n
3. A l i f e a s t h i n k e r a n d p h i l o s o p h e r

All three forms of flourishing are

needed,
in a balanced relation.
 To Know What is Good vs. to Do What is Good
z

Our character is determined by our choosing good or evil, not by the opinions
we hold. We choose to take or avoid a good or an evil, but we hold opinions as
to what a thing is, whom it will benefit, or how: but (the decision) to take or
avoid is by no means an opinion. Also, a choice is praised for being directed to
the proper object or for being correctly made, but opinions are praised for
being true.
 How to be virtuous? Hit the mean!
z

 The (Golden) Mean (meson), a kind of balance.

 Is the Mean in the middle?

 Where is that middle?

 Is it the same for everyone?

 How much food is 'too much' for you? Is it also too

much for others?
 Like a good archer 射手
z

 I strike the mean (meson) between two extremes

(deficiency and excess).
 I find the middle between ‘too little’ and ‘too much.’

 ‘too little’ and ‘too much’ are both vices.

 The mean is

where virtuous behaviour is.

 z
What should I reason about?
 Do not bother deliberating about: mathematical truths, celestial motions,
and the past.
 Think about how to act in accordance with virtue in the present/immediate
future.
 There are many things that we cannot change (e.g. our physical
appearance)
 Aristotle recognizes the role of contingency 偶然 or luck in achieving
eudaimonia.
 But there are many things that we CAN change.

Things that are not necessary before they happen, but may either happen or
not happen.
e.g. a coat wearing out: before it wore out, it did not have to wear out, as it
was still possible that we cut it in pieces.
 weak-medium-strong
z

agency otherworldliness reason/emotion predictability concrete reality

Religious ethics

Virtue ethics

Deontology

Consequentialism

Care ethics

Confucianism

Daoism