VIRTUE ETHICS:

ARISTOTLE
Virtue Ethics
Virtue ethics is an ethical theory that emphasizes the development
of good character traits or virtues. Instead of focusing on rules or
consequences, virtue ethics suggests that individuals should
cultivate virtues like honesty, courage, and compassion. The moral
agent's character is central to determining what is ethical, and
virtuous actions flow from virtuous character.
 Aristotle
• Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, greatly
contributed to virtue ethics.
• He believed that the highest good, or
"eudaimonia," is achieved through the
cultivation of virtues.
• Aristotle identified moral virtues as a mean
between extremes, avoiding deficiency and
excess. For example, courage is a virtue
between recklessness and cowardice.
• He also emphasized the importance of
practical wisdom (phronesis) in making
ethical decisions.
Telos
• Telos is a Greek term meaning "end" or "purpose."
• In Aristotle's philosophy, the concept of telos is crucial.
• He argued that everything has a telos, a purpose or goal toward
which it naturally tends.
• For humans, the telos is eudaimonia, often translated as
"flourishing" or "fulfillment."
• Virtue ethics, according to Aristotle, is a way to achieve this
ultimate human goal.
Telos
• Telos is a Greek term meaning "end" or "purpose."
• In Aristotle's philosophy, the concept of telos is crucial.
• He argued that everything has a telos, a purpose or goal toward
which it naturally tends.
• For humans, the telos is eudaimonia, often translated as
"flourishing" or "fulfillment."
• Virtue ethics, according to Aristotle, is a way to achieve this
ultimate human goal.
Virtue as a Habit
• Aristotle viewed virtue as a habit that is developed through
consistent practice.
• Virtuous actions result from ingrained habits rather than
occasional decisions.
• By repeatedly choosing virtuous behavior, individuals shape
their character, making virtuous actions a natural and habitual
part of their lives.
• Aristotle believed that cultivating virtues is essential for leading
a virtuous and fulfilling life.
1. Moral Virtue:
• Moral virtues, also known as ethical virtues, are qualities of character that
involve habitual dispositions to act in morally good ways. These virtues are
concerned with the regulation of one's desires and actions in relation to
others.
• Moral virtues are acquired through practice and habituation. They result from
consistently choosing to act in accordance with a mean between excess and
deficiency in various situations.
• Examples of moral virtues include courage (a mean between recklessness
and cowardice), generosity, honesty, kindness, and justice.
2. Intellectual Virtue:
• Intellectual virtues pertain to the rational part of the human soul and involve
the use of reason and intellect. Unlike moral virtues, intellectual virtues are
primarily concerned with knowledge, understanding, and the pursuit of truth.
• Intellectual virtues are developed through education, learning, and
intellectual inquiry. They involve the cultivation of a well-trained and
disciplined mind.
• Examples of intellectual virtues include wisdom (phronesis or practical
wisdom, which aids in ethical decision-making), knowledge, understanding,
and scientific reasoning.
 Relationship Between Moral and
Intellectual Virtue:
• While moral and intellectual virtues are distinct, Aristotle believed they were
interconnected. A person with developed intellectual virtues, such as
wisdom, would be better equipped to make morally sound decisions.
Similarly, a person with moral virtues would be disposed to act in ways that
align with ethical principles.

• Aristotle saw the cultivation of both types of virtues as essential for

achieving eudaimonia (flourishing or living a fulfilling life). Intellectual
virtues contribute to a well-functioning and rational mind, while moral
virtues contribute to a well-regulated and virtuous character.
Happiness as Virtue
• The concept of happiness as virtue is closely tied to Aristotle's virtue ethics.
• Aristotle argued that the ultimate goal of human life, referred to as
"eudaimonia," is often translated as "flourishing" or "fulfillment," but it is
also associated with the concept of happiness.
• In Aristotle's philosophy, happiness is not merely a fleeting emotional state
but a state of overall well-being and contentment that comes from living a
virtuous life.
Here are key points regarding happiness as
virtue within the context of Aristotle's virtue
ethics:
1. Eudaimonia (Happiness as Ultimate Goal): Aristotle
considered eudaimonia as the highest good and the ultimate
goal of human life. It is not a superficial or momentary
pleasure but a deep and abiding sense of well-being that
comes from leading a virtuous life.
2. Virtue Leading to Happiness: According to Aristotle, virtues
are essential components of a virtuous life, and they contribute to
the achievement of eudaimonia. Virtues such as courage, wisdom,
justice, and compassion are cultivated habits that lead to good
actions, contributing to an overall sense of happiness and
fulfillment.
3. Habitual Virtuous Actions: Happiness is not the result of
isolated virtuous acts but is instead a product of consistently
practicing virtues. Virtues, viewed as habits, become ingrained in
one's character, shaping a person's actions in a way that contributes
to their own well-being and the well-being of others.
4. Balancing Virtues: Aristotle emphasized the importance of
finding a balance or mean between extremes when cultivating
virtues. Virtues are not pursued in isolation but in relation to other
virtues, avoiding deficiencies or excesses. For instance, courage is
a mean between recklessness and cowardice.
VIRTUE ETHICS:
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
• St. Thomas Aquinas born in Roccasecca, Italy during
medieval period
• Studied liberal arts at University of Naples
• Became a Dominican Friar in 1249
• Known as the Doctor of the Church for significant
contributions to Catholic theology and doctrine
• Considerable influence on western thought, especially
modern philosophy
• Most important works: Summa Theologica and
Summa Contra Gentiles
• Summa Theologica explores five proofs of the
existence of God
• Summa Contra Gentiles (Book on the truth of the
Catholic Faith) combines philosophy and theology
• Explores topics such as natural law, virtues, and
happiness in moral philosophy
Natural Law
• St. Thomas Aquinas starts his explanation of virtue ethics by emphasizing
natural law.
• He explores the connection between natural law and eternal law, highlighting
their theological foundation.
• Aquinas's philosophy is theistic, centered on the belief in God as the highest
being and good.
• God expresses Himself through eternal law, which encompasses His will and
plan for all creatures.
• Aquinas argues that natural law reflects moral requirements, consisting of
rules, commands, and action-guiding principles.
The Four Cardinal Virtues of Aquinas
1. Prudence – the virtue is an exercise od understanding that helps us know the
best means in solving moral problems in which we encounter in the concrete
circumstance. Knowing the best means, and without acting carelessly without
thinking, will incline us to apply them immediately with certainty.

2. Justice – this habit is an exercise of the will to give or render the things, be
intellectual or material, to anyone who owns it. if a thing belongs to you, then
everyone should respect it and not own it, or if it belongs to someone, then we
must not treat it as ours.
The Four Cardinal Virtues of Aquinas
4. Fortitude – this habit is an exercise of courage, to face any dangers one
encounters without fear, especially when life is at stake.

5. Temperance – this habit is an exercise of control in the midst of strong

attraction to pleasures. The key word here moderation. Getting indulged into
strong pleasures has undesired consequences, either excess or disorder.
 KANT AND THE
RIGHT THEORISTS
• Immanuel Kant, a renowned German
philosopher from the modern period, was
born in Konigsberg in 1724.
• He spent his entire life in Konigsberg and
worked at Konigsberg University as a
lecturer and later as a professor in
Philosophy from 1755 until his death in
1804.
• Kant's significant contributions to moral
philosophy include works like the
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
(1785) and The Critique of Practical
Reason (1788).
Good Will
• Kant asserts that the only inherently good thing is the "good will."
• He considers the good will the highest good because its intentions are
always good, and it is a prerequisite for all other goods.
• According to Kant, reason, especially in ethics, is meant to generate a good
will, and this will is truly good only when it is driven by duty.
• Acting from duty, therefore, demonstrates the presence of the good will in
our actions.
Categorical Imperative
• Kant believed that if everyone followed the categorical imperative,
we would have a genuinely moral system.
• It would be a system based on two essential principles:
universality and impartiality.
• In such as system, every individual would be treated fairly since
the same rules would apply universally to all persons.
Legal Rights
• Legal rights are universally acknowledged claims crucial for societal
development, enforced by the state.
• These rights, recognized and upheld by the state, are subject to legal
consequences for violations.
• Law courts, representing the state, oversee the enforcement of legal rights
against individuals and the government.
• Legal rights differ from moral rights and are equally accessible to all
citizens without discrimination.
 Moral Rights
• "Moral rights," translated from the French term "Droit Moral," don't relate to
religious morals but rather refer to authors' control over their works.
• Authors have the "moral right" to control their creations, emphasizing the
connection between an author and their work.
• Moral rights protect the personal and reputational value of a work rather than just
its monetary worth.
• These rights are based on human consciousness, goodness, and justice, not
enforced by law but supported by the moral force of the human mind and public
opinion.
• Violations of moral rights don't lead to legal action; courts don't recognize or
enforce them.
• Moral rights encompass good conduct, courtesy, and moral behavior, aiming for the
moral improvement of individuals.
UTILITARIANISM
 Utilitarianism
• The moral philosophy that actions derive their moral
quality from their usefulness as means to some end,
especially as means productive of happiness or
unhappiness.
• Applied to civics and politics, the greatest happiness of
the greatest number should be the sole end and criterion
of all public action.
 Jeremy Bentham’s
Utilitarianism
• Recognized as ‘Act Utilitarian’
• Right actions result in ‘good or
pleasure,’ wrong actions result in pain
or absence of pleasure.
• ‘Max pleasure/min suffering morality
criticized as “pig-philosophy”
• Hedonic Calculus
 Hedonic Calculus
• measuring pleasure and pain using what amounts to a
formula
• (for a group, it measures intensity, duration, certainty,
propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent.). This calculation
allows a utility based decision to be made on virtually any
subject.
 Three points of Utilitarianism
1.The basis for an act to be treated as morally right or wrong is in its
consequence they produced. It is known as consequentialism.

2.What matters in every act that we do would be the amount of pleasure

produced. One must not forget the element of happiness in assessing the
morality of the act.

3.Which is the happiness by every person is counted the same. It means that
every person’s happiness is taken into account and no one is left behind.
JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS:
PROMOTING THE
COMMON GOOD
 John Rawls
• John Rawls is a crucial political philosopher
from the 20th century.
• His main work, "A Theory of Justice,"
published in 1971, addresses social issues,
especially regarding justice within the state
and among citizens.
• Rawls proposes "justice as fairness" as an
ethical framework in his work.
• Rawls emphasizes that fairness, in this
context, does not mean strict equality but
rather equity, ensuring a just distribution that
considers the needs and circumstances of
individuals.
Two principles of Justice
1.Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive
scheme of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar scheme
of liberties for others

2.Social and economic inequalities are to be arrange so that they

are both (a) reasonable expected to be everyone’s advantage, and
(b) attached to positions and offices open to all.
The Nature of the Theory
• John Rawls, in "A Theory of Justice," aims to present a social
justice theory as an alternative to prevailing doctrines.
• He acknowledges that while most recognize the idea of social
justice, existing conceptions are often influenced by personal
interests and may not benefit everyone.
• Rawls criticizes Utilitarian and Intuitive theories that prioritize
maximum benefits or assume inherent differences in people's
expectations.
The Nature of the Theory
• His philosophy advocates for acknowledging inequalities and
ensuring a fair distribution of social cooperation, rights, and
duties based on individual conditions.
• Rawls firmly believes that justice doesn't justify sacrificing
some for the greater good of others.
• A just social justice system, according to Rawls, provides equal
liberties, social and economic rights (like health and education),
and compensates for weaknesses, allowing everyone the
opportunities needed for a dignified life
.
 Distributive Justice
• Rawls views it as a property of social institutions.
• A just basic structure balances citizens' claims for the production and
distribution of primary social goods.
• It's not about specific allocations but ensuring a fair procedure.
• Just allocations result from the fair procedure within a distributively just
social structure.
• Rawls seeks the right distributive justice for a democratic society.
• Every citizen, as a free equal, should have an equal claim on the basic
social structure.
• Rawls's principles act as constraints, ensuring a balance of citizens' claims
in the institutional structure of a society.
 Egalitarian Distributive Justice
• as egalitarian, one is concerned with a distribution in terms of receiving
an equal share.
• There are two kinds of distributive justice under egalitarian on the level
of state of government distributions. The first is political egalitarianism
where legal rights of every citizen are equally observed. The second is
economic egalitarianism where the distribution of socioeconomic goods is
equally observed.
 Capitalist Distributive Justice
• As a capitalist, one is concerned with a just distribution in terms of
receiving one’s share according to how much one contributes to the over-
all success of the goals of the institution where one is employed. One
receives one’s share according to the proportion of one’s contribution. If
one contributes more, one receive more. If one contributes less, the less
one receives.
 Socialist Distributive Justice
• In a socialist perspective, fairness in distribution is based on fulfilling
individual needs.
• The distribution is tied to the effort one puts in, aligning with the extent
of one's needs.
• Aims to equalize opportunities in society, recognizing natural inequalities
among individuals.
MORAL CHALLENGES
OF GLOBALIZATION
 1. The rise of radical inequality
• Some people benefit at the expense of others.
• Globalization is used by advances capitalist countries to perpetuate their
political and economic leadership or dominance.
• Both the consequentialist and deontological perspectives find
globalization condemnable form.
 2. The problem of managing global
environment to prevent global ecological
collapse
• While the advanced capitalist countries enjoy the benefits of
industrializations; the rest of the world is forced to share in the negative
consequences resulting from the industrial activity
• Exacerbating the global environmental problem is the explosive human
population growth that is threatening to exceed the Earth’s capacity to
support (Mcleish, 2010)
 3. the intrusion of international economic
organizations on indebted nations
• In the sphere of economic management, states are increasingly losing
their sovereignty since international economic organizations can address
issues which were previously dealt with at the level of national
governments.
• International financial institution are seen to have become so powerful it
can forcibly impose policies on
 Calls for Global Ethics
• The global ethic perspective assumes that a set of shared ethical values
and standard will help lessen social injustices committed by a large global
community; and this ethic is indispensable for global and justice.
 Moral Absolutism
• It is the belief that actions can be judged as right or wrong based on
absolute standards, regardless the situational background or framework of
act. It holds that there is a fundamental moral law inherent to the universe.
 Advantages of Moral Absolutism:
• It allows moral rules to be evaluated critically.
• It is fair as people are treated the same as the rules are the same for
everyone.
• If a moral rule is right, then there would be no need to have different rules
for different people because the absolute rules are universal.
 Criticism to Moral Absolutism
• Sometimes it is not appropriate to treat people the same due to
circumstances that arise from different situations.
• Life is not simply “black and white”
 The Challenge of Pluralism
• Pluralism as process refers to ways of recognition.
• It is a state society in which members of diverse ethic, racial, religious, or
social groups maintain an autonomous participation and development of
their traditional culture or special interest, within the confines of a
common civilization.
• In Ethics, Pluralism is the supposition that there are many independent
sources of value and that there is no single truth, even in moral matters.
 Ethical Pluralism
• Ethical pluralism is the idea that values may be equally correct, and that
there is no single moral system that can objectively judge an action to be
right or wrong.
 Challenge of Fundamentalism
• Fundamentalism is an approach to religion that literally and strictly
adheres to their religious doctrines.
 Structures of fundamentalism:
1. Dualistic Thinking: fundamentalists are inclined to see the world in clear
categories. You are either good or bad, right or wrong, for them against them.
There is no room for context or probabilities in a fundamentalist’s view.
2. They are obsessed with the ultimate end for society and humanity. This
mindset usually has two components: first, the current system must end; and
second, to witness a new beginning.
 Structures of fundamentalism:
3. Cult leadership: fundamentalist groups are usually founded by
charismatic leader who is able to wield total devotion from followers.
4. Total conversion and commitment: Members are fully immersed and
committed to their religious doctrine. Loyalty and commitment is not only
expected, it is demanded.
 Moral Absolutism versus Fundamentalism
• Fundamentalism is kind of Moral Absolutism but in a radical way.
• Moral absolutism is an assertion that being should base their behaviour on
universal values.
• Fundamentalists, on the other hand, believe their doctrines are the
universal that everyone should follow.
 Moral Absolutism versus Fundamentalism
• Fundamentalism is kind of Moral Absolutism but in a radical way.
• Moral absolutism is an assertion that being should base their behaviour on
universal values.
• Fundamentalists, on the other hand, believe their doctrines are the
universal that everyone should follow.
 The Filipino Millenials (Fillenials)
• Filipino millennial aged 15-34 make up 53% of the working population
• Most of Filipino youths today own a mobile phone and use the internet
and Philippines was once dubbed as the social capital of the world.
 Currently there are four generations working in
the same workplace:
• Traditionalists – (1900-1945) the generation that lived through two
World Wars. Their formative years were survival
• Baby boomers – (1946-1964) they are called baby boomers because pf
the significant increase of population in their generation
• Generation X – (1965-1976) the generation born in video games and
computers
• Millenials – (1977-1995) also called as digital natives for they grew up in
the digital age and internet era.
• Generation Z- Gen Z, also known as iGen, Centennials, etc., starts
with those born in approximately 1996. the generation born in an era of
individualized mobile technologies
 Qualities of Fillenials
• 83% of Filipino youths rely heavily on their parents for advice
• On adulthood, Fillenials value close family relationships
• Filipino millennials are more active in social media and are more easily
influenced by peers
• 61% feel pressured to portray themselves in the best way possible in
social media
 Difference Between Ethics and Religion
• Religion is the a system of beliefs and practices.
• various religions claim that their belief systems are the best way to live
and that their faith represents the path to enlightenment
• Ethics is not dependent on religion
• Ethics is a universal decision-making tool that may be used by many
person from any religion and even by atheists
 The role of religion in a Globalized World
• Globalization made possible for religions to come in direct contact with
one another.
• An example of this was the gathering at UN’s Millennium Peace Summit
where the conversation encouraged the world’s religious communities to
stop fighting and arguing among themselves and begin working together
for peace, justice and social harmony
• Through readily available modes of communication, shared religious
values such human dignity and human freedom can be relayed to each of
their members at the shortest time; and this can be used as means to
manage religious diversity and avoid violence