LC GEC 18 COURSE MANUAL UNIT3.

FRAMEWORKS AND PRINCIPLES BEHIND OUR MORAL DISPOSITION

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Module 9

Virtue Ethics: Aristotle and St.

Thomas Aquinas

INTRODUCTION

You have taken more than 50% of the course. We are now in Unit 3. Unit 3 will deal
with various frameworks and principles that can guide our moral dispositions. In this
module, we will listen to the moral principles of an ancient philosopher, Aristotle, and a
medieval philosopher and saint, Thomas Aquinas. We will discuss their moral
perspectives based upon virtue or the virtue ethics.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Articulate what virtue ethics is;

2. Critique virtue ethics;
3. Make use of virtue ethics; and
4. Explain the role of virtue and natural law in moral life.

DISCUSSION
THE ETHICS OF VIRTUE
The discussions below are taken from the book Elements of Moral Philosophy by James
Rachels Chapter 13 The Ethics of Virtue, pp 173-190.

The central question of Aristotle about character in the Nichomachean Ethics is “What is
the good man? His answer, a good man is “an activity of the soul in conformity with
virtue.” “To understand ethics, therefore, we must understand what makes someone a
virtuous person...” (Rachels).

“After the Renaissance, moral philosophy began to be secularized once again...instead,

the Divine Law was replaced by its secular equivalent, something called the Moral Law.
The Moral Law, which was said to spring from human reason rather than divine fiat, was

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conceived to be a system of rules specifying which action is right. Our duty as moral
persons is to follow its directives.” (Rachels)

“…we will consider some of the reasons that have been given for thinking that the ethics
of virtue is superior to other…we will consider whether a “return of ethics of virtue” is
really a viable option.” (Rachels)

THE VIRTUES

Components of the theory of virtue:

 There should be an explanation of what a virtue is

 There should be a list specifying which character traits are virtues
 There should be an explanation of what these virtues consists in
 There should be an explanation of why these qualities are good ones for a
person to have
 The theory should tell us whether the virtues are the same for all people or
whether they differ from person to person or from culture to culture.

WHAT IS A VIRTUE?

Aristotle: “virtue is trait of character manifested in habitual action. The habitual is

important.” (Rachels)

“The moral virtues are the virtues of persons as such. Taking our cue from Pincoffs,
then, we may define a virtue as a trait of character, manifested in habitual action, that is
good for a person to have. And the moral virtues are the virtues that is good for
everyone to have.” (Rachels)

WHAT ARE THE VIRTUES?

The following is a partial list:

Benevolence Fairness Patience

Civility Friendliness Prudence
Compassion Generosity Reasonableness
Conscientiousness Honesty Self-discipline
Cooperativeness Industriousness Self-reliance
Courage Justice Tactfulness
Courteousness Loyalty Thoughtfulness
Dependability Moderation tolerance

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WHAT DO THESE VIRTUES CONSIST IN?

Each of the virtues has its own distinctive features and raises its own distinctive
problems.

For example:

Courage. “According to Aristotle, virtues are means poised between extremes: A

virtue is “the mean by reference to two vices: the one of excess and the other of
deficiency.” Courage is a mean between the extremes of cowardice and foolhardiness-
it is cowardly to run away from all danger; yet it is foolhardy to risk too much.” (Rachels)

Peter Geach: “Courage is what we all need in the end, and it is constantly needed in
the ordinary course of life; by women who are with child, by all of us because our bodies
are vulnerable, by coalminers and fishermen and steel-workers and lorry drivers.”
(Rachels)

WHY ARE VIRTUES IMPORTANT?

“…Aristotle believed it is possible to give a more general answer to our question;

namely, that the virtues are more important because the virtuous person will fare better
in life…The point is that the virtues are needed to conduct our lives well.” (Rachels)

“…the virtues all have the same general sort of value: They are all qualities needed for
successful human living.” (Rachels)

ARE THE VIRTUES THE SAME FOR EVERYONE?

“…there are some virtues that will be needed by all people in all time. This was
Aristotle‟s view, and he was probably right. Aristotle believed that we all have a great
deal in common, despite our differences.” (Rachels)

“…it may be true that in different societies the virtues are given somewhat different
interpretations, and different sorts of actions are counted as satisfying them; and it may
be true that some people, because they lead particular sorts of circumstances, have
need of some virtues more than others. But it cannot be right to say simply that whether
any particular character trait is a virtue is never anything more than a matter of social
convention. The major virtues are mandated not by social convention but by basic facts
about our common human condition.” (Rachels)

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SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY 9-1

Using your Youtube, you search the video clip entitled: Human Well Being and the
Good Life: Aristotle by Chris Suprenant. Then, you please answer the following
questions below:

 What is the highest good?

 What separates human beings from animals?
 What is the good life?
 What are the two kinds of knowledge? Explain.
 How do we acquire the virtues of courage, temperance, and generosity?
 What is meant by a vicious man, continent man, incontinent man, and virtuous
man?

WHO IS ARISTOTLE?

Aristotle is one the three Socratic philosophers. He was

born in Stagira, Macedonia. He was a tutor to the young
Alexander the Great. He studied in Plato‟s Academy
and he has considered as Plato‟s greatest student.
Though he was a student of Plato, Aristotle has a
different philosophical point of view from his master in
terms of achieving life‟s purpose or the end. For Plato:
the good or purpose of the human person is to be found
in another realm “world of forms”. However, for Aristotle:
it is achievable in this world through the practical
cultivation of virtue (arete). One of his significant
contributions to philosophy is his work published in the
Nichomachean Ethics. Aristotle would refer to this work
as a guide to build and cultivate one‟s character in the
hope of achieving life‟s ultimate goal (telos), which he says is happiness or flourishing
(eudaimonia).

 Morality is not a matter of doing the good but actually doing or practicing the
good habitually
 What we do= what we are
 Self-actualization= understanding what being human aims to and to do the
necessary things to fulfill our function (ergon)
 Ethics is grounded in the formation of one‟s character- a way of being and living
in harmony with the human person‟s proper end
 Ethics as the art of living

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IMPORTANT CONCEPTS

 Eudaimonia
 Arete
 Olympics
 Mean
 Magnanimity

EUDAIMONIA
What is our chief end?
 Aristotle: chief good for human person is happiness (eudaimonia,eudaimon).
 Eudaimonia: eu-good daimon-spirit; activity of the soul in accordance with
virtue
 Happiness: self-sufficient, final, and attainable goal of human life.
 Self-sufficient: to have it makes human life complete.
 Final: desired for itself and not for the sake of something else.
 Attainable: something that one actually does practically.
 Happiness is a lifelong activity: cultivated
 Happiness is the activity of the soul
o Soul: part of the human being that animates the body
o Soul: composed of both rational and irrational elements
ARETE
 Means excellence
 Greeks thought of how a thing fulfills its function (ergon)
 To be virtuous is to exhibit one‟s capacity or purpose in such a way that one‟s
potentiality be actualized in a most excellent way
 Practice and habit in the formation of moral virtue
 Virtue: state or character which makes a person good and capable of fulfilling
his/her end (telos)
 Virtue: state of one‟s character-the result of choice

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 Choice is governed by prudence or practical wisdom (phronesis)

 Phronesis: human person‟s instrument in dealing with moral choices; intellectual
virtue
MEAN
 happiness is an „intermediate‟, or a „golden mean‟ between deficiency and
excess (Ryff & Singer, 2008)
 One example of virtue as a mean between two extremes is courage – as a virtue,
it‟s halfway between recklessness and cowardice (Kings College London, 2012)

“He is happy who lives in accordance with complete virtue and is sufficiently equipped
with external goods, not for some chance period but throughout a complete life.”
(Aristotle, Nichomacean Ethics, Book I, Chapter 10)

OLYMPICS
“At the Olympic Games, it isn't the most beautiful or strongest who are crowned, but
those who compete.” (Aristotle)

MAGNANIMITY
 Latinization of the original Greek used here, which was megalopsuchia, which
means greatness of soul
 Aristotle views magnanimity as "a sort of adornment of the moral virtues; for it
makes them greater, and it does not arise without them."
 He says that "not everybody who claims more than he deserves is vain" and
indeed "most small-souled of all would seem to be the man who claims less than
he deserves when his deserts are great".
 Being vain, or being small-souled, are the two extremes that fail to achieve the
mean of the virtue of magnanimity. The small souled person, according to
Aristotle, "seems to have something bad about him".

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READING ACTIVITY 9-1

Read the material entitled: Moral na Karakter: Etika ni Aristoteles by Albert Lagliva,
Ateneo de Manila University, CHED-GET Material

Discuss the following concepts:

 Telos
 Ergon
 Moral virtue

READING ACTIVITY 9-2

You search Nichomachean Ethics in the internet. Read Book One: The Human Good.
Make a simple research paper (5-pages, double-spaced, font size number 12, Arial) that
discusses the following arguments of Aristotle:
 All human activities aim at some good; some goods subordinate to others
 What is human good? It is generally agreed to be happiness, but there are
various views as to what happiness is.
 The good is pleasure, honor, and wealth
 There is a Form of good
 The good must be something final and sufficient
 On happiness
 On virtues

“…we can only fully actualize our potential as human beings once we understand what
being human essentially aims to and do the necessary things to fulfill our function
(ergon) in the most excellent way possible.” (Pasco, et al. Ethics, p27)

“Aristotle names the chief good for the human person as happiness or eudaimonia. For
him, happiness is the self-sufficient, final, and attainable goal of human life.” (Pasco, et
al. Ethics, p28)

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“…our chief good is not something we merely possess but something that we
continually actualize (in practice)….Eudaimonia is an activity of the soul in accordance
with virtue.” (Pasco, et al. Ethics, p29)

“The Greek word for virtue is arête (excellence). By excellence, the Greeks thought of
how a thing fulfills its function (ergon)..” To be virtuous…is to exhibit one‟s capacity to
fulfill one‟s essence or purpose in such a way that one‟s potentiality as a particular
being may be said to be actualized in the most excellent way.” (Pasco, et al. Ethics)

“Aristotle emphasizes the role of practice and habit in the formation of moral virtue. No
person is born morally virtuous.” (Pasco, et al. Ethics)

“Virtue is a state of one‟s character that is the result of choice. This choice is governed
by prudence or practical wisdom (phronesis). Phronesis is the human person‟s
instrument in dealing with moral choices…Phronesis is the intellectual virtue responsible
for bringing the human person closer to his/her chief good in the realm of morality.
…One‟s capacity for choice and action must be guided by the intellectual virtue of
practical wisdom or phronesis in pursuit of the mean or the mesotes for one to be able
to call himself or herself morally virtuous. …Practical wisdom guides the human person
in choosing the mean between the extremes of excess and deficiency…”(Pasco, et al.
Ethics)

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Task 9-1 (?)

Discern about your experiences where you engaged in the vices mentioned in the table
below. What factors led to your having such dispositions in these experiences?

MY ANSWERS (/) 9-1

I looked at the table of the principal virtues (mean) and vices (excess, deficiencies).

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SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY 1-1

Do a research and find a movie in which Aristotle‟s virtue ethics in exemplified. In a
form of a reflection paper, you explain your reasons and backed it up with evidences
from the various scenes from the movie.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

 Born to an affluent family in Naples, Italy
 Studied with the Benedictines
 Entered the Order of Preachers
 Enrolled at the University of Naples and University
of Paris
 Wrote: Summa Contra Gentiles, Summa
Theologica, De Veritate
 To guide human actions: ethics of natural law

READING ACTIVITY 9-3

Read the material entitled: Batas Natural ni Sto. Tomas de Aquino by Albert Lagliva,
Ateneo de Manila University, CHED-GET. Discuss the following:

 Aquinas‟s 5 proofs of God‟s existence (5 Landas ng pagpapatunay ng pag-iral ng

Diyos): Motion, Efficient Cause, Necessity (Contingency), Perfection, and
Design (Order). Please re-enforce your reading by doing a research in the
internet.
 Eternal Law
 Natural Law
 Conscience

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NATURAL LAW

What is natural or unnatural to you? There is a prevalence of some unexamined notion

of what is “natural” or unnatural”.

We focus on the principles for moral deliberation: law.

Clarification: Not a Divine Command Theory (Plato‟s Euthyphro: Is it good because

commanded by God, or commanded by God because it is good?)

Essence of Law (Summa Theologica, Question 90)

Article 1. Whether law is something pertaining to reason?

… Law is a rule and measure of acts, whereby man is induced to act or is restrained
from acting: for “lex” (law) is derived from “ligare” (to bind), because it binds one to act.
Now the rule and measure of human acts is the reason, which is the first principle of
human acts, as is evident from what has been stated above (1, 1, ad 3); since it belongs
to the reason to direct to the end, which is the first principle in all matters of action,
according to the Philosopher (Phys. ii). Now that which is the principle in any genus, is
the rule and measure of that genus: for instance, unity in the genus of numbers, and the
first movement in the genus of movements. Consequently, it follows that law is
something pertaining to reason.

Article 2. Whether the law is always something directed to the common good?

…Now as reason is a principle of human acts, so in reason itself there is something

which is the principle in respect of all the rest: wherefore to this principle chiefly and
mainly law must needs be referred. …the law must needs regard properly the
relationship to universal happiness.

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Article 3. Whether the reason of any man is competent to make laws?

…A law…regards first and foremost the order to the common good. Now, to order
anything to the common good, belongs either to the whole people, or to someone who
is the vice-regent of the whole people. And therefore the making of a law belongs either
to the whole people or to a public personage who has care of the whole people…

Article 4. Whether promulgation is essential to a law?

…in order that a law obtain the binding force which is proper to a law, it must needs be
applied to the men who have to be ruled by it. Such application is made by its being
notified to them by promulgation. Wherefore, promulgation is necessary for the law to
obtain its force.

“Thus from the four preceding articles, the definition of law may be gathered; and it is
nothing else than an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has
care of the community, and promulgated.”

The Various Kinds of Law (Summa Theologica, Question No. 91)

Article 1. Eternal Law: “…a law is nothing else but a dictate of practical reason
emanating from the ruler who governs a perfect community.” “…since the Divine
Reason‟s conception of things is not subject to time but is eternal, according to
Proverbs 8:23, therefore it is that kind of law must be called eternal.”

Article 2. Natural Law: “…since all things subject to Divine providence are ruled and
measured by eternal law…it is evident that all things partake somewhat of the eternal
law, in so far as, namely, from its being imprinted on them, they derive their respective
inclinations to their proper acts and ends. Now among all others, the rational creature is
subject to Divine providence in a most excellent way, in so as it partakes of a share of
providence, by being provident both for itself and others. Wherefore, it has a share of
Eternal Reason, whereby it has a natural inclination to its proper act and end; and this
participation of the eternal law in the rational creature is called the natural law.” “…the
natural law is nothing else than the rational creature‟s participation of the eternal law.”
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Article 3. Human Law: “that human reason needs to proceed to the more particular
determination of certain matters. These particular determinations, devised by human
reason, are called human laws, provided the other essential conditions of law be
observed…”

Article 4. Divine Law: “…it was necessary for directing human conduct to have a
Divine Law. And this for four reasons. First, because it is by law that man is directed
how to perform his proper acts in view of his last end. And indeed if man were ordained
to no other end than that which is proportionate to his natural faculty, there would be no
need for man to have any further direction of the part of his reason, besides the natural
law and human law which it derived from it. But since man is ordained to an end of
eternal happiness which is inproportionate to man‟s natural faculty…therefore it is
necessary that, besides the natural and the human law, man should be directed to his
end by a law given by God.”

“Thomas Aquinas begins from the standpoint of faith. His perspective presupposes the
existence of a God who is the author (source) and the goal (end) of all reality. This
Creator for Thomas, however, relates in freedom with the human person and so
enables him/her in freedom to recognize through reason, the very principle of
foundations of all things. In accordance with this foundational knowledge, the human
person can choose to act in such a way that is worthy of one‟s very reality. …The
human being then is said to be gifted with the “ability to know the highest good” that
engages him/her in freedom in “choosing to act on the good that he/she ought to do.”
Freedom here is knowing the best goal and being able to reach for it through decisive
reason.” (Pasco, et al. Ethics, p47)

“For Aquinas, God reveals his Goodwill as the Eternal Law reflected in the order of
reality. Relating with the Law as governing all is relating with God himself whose will
emanates to govern all that is….That “animals governed by instincts behave in such
and such a way” is also recognized by the human person as following the dictate of a
law that guides all of creation.” (Pasco, et al. Ethics, p48)

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“Human freedom for St. Thomas, therefore, is an imprint of the divine will in the being of
the human person. This sharing of human reason in the eternal will or divine law is for
him/her the natural law.” (Pasco, et al. Ethics, p48)

“This law impinges on the very freedom of the human being who can know his/her
options and voluntarily will to take action. The rational human person‟s participation,
ability to discern what is good from what is not, is the very presence of the dictate of the
law within him/her, and is also the imprint on him/her of the Creator (Divine will).”
(Pasco, et al. Ethics, p.49)

“Natural law necessarily takes precedence over positive laws. Not all that is legal in
human society reflects the law that dictates on the human person as ethical in
accordance with natural law- what is legal then is not always necessarily moral.”
(Pasco, et al. Ethics, p49)

Conscience and Natural Law

“The ability of man to know is important in his/her acting ethically. …one is inclined to
conclude that “it is the proper functioning of reason in moving the human person
towards an end goal that is fitting of his/her dignity.” One cannot do the right thing if one
does not know what it is. The famous dictate then to follow the conscience absolutely is
tied to an obligation to educate it. …If one acts badly out of ignorance and does not act
to rectify the situation by bothering to learn, that person is to be held accountable
according to the Angelic Doctor.” (Pasco, et al. Ethics, p50)

“While the conscience absolutely binds us in doing the good and avoiding evil,
conscience as reason is also absolutely tasked to be given formation.” (Pasco, et al.
Ethics,p50)

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Kinds of Conscience (Pasco, et al. Ethics)

 Uninformed conscience- lacks education

 Perplexed conscience- one needs guidance in sorting out one’s confusion
 Callous conscience and scrupulous conscience- binary opposites but both are
malformed in being too lax or too strict . Callousness of the conscience results in
the long-time persistence in doing evil that the self is no longer concerned
whether what he/she does is good or bad. Scrupulousness…fails to trust one’s
ability to do good and, hence, overly concerns itself with avoiding what is bad to
the point of seeing wrong where there really is none.

Can we disobey the dictates of our conscience? “St. Thomas insists, “absolutely not!”
Conscience remains to be our proximate norm that bids us to do good and avoid evil.”
(Pasco, et al. Ethics, p51)

Student Activity 9-1

Conduct a research paper (5-page, double spaced, 12 Arial) on the topic: “whether
cheating in the classroom is morally acceptable and in what circumstance.” Guided by
the natural law of St. Thomas, you explain the given topic.

SUMMARY

Virtue is necessary for you and me to live a life that is harmony with one another. After
all, we are all brother and sisters. By virtue, we refer to one‟s character. Aristotle
reminds us that to become a virtuous person, you must make it a habit. All of these are
done in order for a person to attain happiness in life. St. Thomas Aquinas, on the other
hand, reminds us that we are free individuals. Our freedom is the imprint of divine will in
each one of us. Because of this freedom, man through reason is able to discern what is
good and bad. To help us in our discernment, we have our conscience. Our
conscience is the “proximate norm that bids us to good and avoid evil”.

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REFERENCES

Agapay, R (1991). Ethics and the Filipino: A Manual on Morals for Students and
Educators. Mandaluyong City: National Book Store.

Cariňo, J. (2018). Fundamentals of Ethics. Quezon City: C and E Publishing, Inc.

Dy, M. Jr. (2003). Philosophy of Man: Selected Readings 2 nd Edition. Manila:

Goodwill Book Store.

General Education Training (Ethics) Manual for Second Generation. Commission on

Higher Education.

Glenn, P. (1968). Ethics: A Class Manual in Moral Philosophy. London: B. Herder

Book Co.

Kolhberg, L. (1981). Essays on Moral Development. The Philosophy of Moral

Development: Moral Stages and the Idea of Justice, Volume 1. San Francisco,
CA: Harper and Row.

Licuanan, P et al. A Moral Recovery Program: Building a People-Building a Nation. In

Values in Philippine Culture and Education: Philippine Philosophical Studies I,
edited by Manuel B Dy, Jr. 31-48. Washington, DC: The Council for Research
in Values and Philosophy, 1994.

Pasco, M.O., Fulente Suarez, V., and Rodriguez, A.M. (2018). Ethics. Quezon City: C
and E Publishing, Inc.

https://www.iep.utm.edu/moral-ch/

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