Virtue Ethics

VIRTUE ETHICS
Virtue ethics is the ethical framework that is

concerned with understanding the good as a
matter of developing the virtuous character of
a person.
OUTLINE:
Historical Background
1.
2. A. Telos: Eudaimonia

B. Ergon: reason
C. Structure of the Soul: irrational and
rational faculties
3. A. Intellectual and Moral Virtue
B. Definition of Moral Virtue
C. Mesotes
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Aristotle: 384-322 BCE
▪ Student of Plato in the Academia, Athens
▪ Gave emphasis on reason as the highest faculty of a person
(same with Socrates and Plato)
▪ Founded his own school, Lyceum because of his
intellectual differences with Plato
Works of Aristotle:
1. Theoretical Sciences (Metaphysics, Physics, De Caelo
(astronomy), De Generatione et Corruptione (biology), De
Anima (psychology)
2. Practical Sciences (Nicomachean Ethics, Eudemian Ethics,
Politics)
3. Productive or Poetical Sciences (Rhetoric, Poetics)
4. Logic (Organon)
Nicomachean Ethics:
* Aristotle departs from the Platonic theory that the real is outside
the realm of the sensory experience and is in the world of forms.
▪ Aristotle: real as matter and form
▪ The good does not exist independent of the person’s experience
in the world
Telos: What is the ultimate purpose of a
person?
There is a purpose in every action of a person which is
perceived as something good.
 There is a hierarchy of purpose
 Criteria for the ultimate telos
a. Final
b. b. Self-sufficient
c. c. Attainable
Eudaimonia: highest purpose and highest
good
Eudaimonia: happiness
Not an emotion which is temporary
Not nirvana (state of liberation from samsara) nor
stoicism (rejection of emotion)
“Activity of the soul in accordance with virtue”
 Achieved by fulfilling a person’s ergon (function)
Ergon: What is the function of a person?
Function is what distinguishes or characterizes the
thing from other beings (ex. umbrella used as
protection from heat and rain) ▪
 Function of a person which sets her apart from the
rest: activity of reason ▪
To be a person is to act in accordance to reason
 To be a good person is to perform her rational activity
well.
In a good or excellent way: arête
(virtue, birtud, kagalingan, maayo)
Arete: Virtue
“But we must add “in a complete life”. For one
swallow does not make a summer…Also a happy man
needs the external goods as well; for it is impossible,
or not easy, to do noble acts without the proper
equipment…as good birth, goodly children, beauty…”
(Bk. I, 1098a19) ▪
 Virtue cannot be accomplished by a single act ▪
Conditions in order to be happy
Psyche: soul of a person
1. Irrational:
a. vegetative: growth, nutrition
b. appetitive: desire ▪ Not dictated by reason ▪ Desire: does
not arise from the rational faculty of the soul but is subject
to reason
2. Rational :
a. Moral (acting)
b. Intellectual (knowing) i. Practical wisdom (phronesis) ii.
Philosophic wisdom (sophia) ▪ Dictated by reason ▪ Aspect
of the soul where virtue, that is, where human excellence
can be attained: moral and intellectual virtue
Intellectual Virtue
Act of knowing ▪
 Intellectual virtue is seen in wisdom ▪
Acquired through teaching, learning ▪
Phronesis: excellence of knowing what to do ▪
* Phronesis: necessary for moral virtue
Moral Virtue
Determining the good and doing the right actions ▪
Moral virtue ▪ Acquired through habit ▪ Formation of
one’s character: habitually willing and doing the good
(mabuting paguugali)
Acting out the right feelings/passions? ▪ Most feelings/
passions are neutral. Neither good nor bad (ex. being
angry) ▪ Moral virtue is the excellent management of
one’s feelings and passions ▪ Ex. Being angry with the
right person, time, reason, manner, circumstance ▪
Right measurement: mesotes (mean)
“Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with a
choice, lying in a mean, i.e., the mean relative to us,
this being determined by a rational principle, and by
that principle by which the man of practical wisdom
would determine it.” (Bk II, 1106b36-1107a2)
Mesotes
Hence it is hard work to be virtuous, since in each case
it is hard work to find what is the mean (mesotes) …So
also getting angry, or giving and spending money, is
easy and anyone can do it; but doing it to the right
person, in the right amount, at the right time, for the
right end, and in the right way is no longer easy, nor
can everyone do it. Hence, (doing these things) well is
rare, praiseworthy, and fine. (Bk. II, 1109a24)
Phronimos
a virtuous person does not even have to control oneself
because one’s resolution has been so habituated to
always rightly act; self-possessed

Virtue Ethics

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Virtue Ethics

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Virtue Ethics

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

VIRTUE ETHICS

Virtue ethics is the ethical framework that is

2. A. Telos: Eudaimonia

You might also like