Virtue Ethics of Aristotle

• Virtuous person


  Someone who can diffuse a tense situation, deliver tough news gracefully, is confident without being arrogant, brave but not reckless, generous but never extravagant
• Aristotle believed that virtuous people, while rare, do exist
• Virtue theory


  • Doesn't spend a lot of time telling you what to do
  • It's about character rather than rules or principles
• Eudaimonia


  A life well lived, human flourishing
• Virtue theory reflects the ancient assumption that humans have a fixed nature - an essence - and that the way we flourish is by adhering to that nature
• Proper functioning


  Everything has a function, and a thing is good to the extent that it fulfills its function, and bad to the extent that it doesn't
• Aristotle argued that nature has built into us the desire to be virtuous, in the same way that acorns are built with the drive to become oak trees
• Virtue


  Doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, in the right amount, toward the right people
• Golden Mean


  The midpoint between two extremes (vices of excess and deficiency)
• Courage


  1. Assess the situation

  2. Know your own abilities

  3. Take the right action
• Virtue is a skill, a way of living, that can only be learned through experience
• Moral exemplars


  People who already possess virtue, and can be emulated
• Choosing to live a eudaimonistic life means that you're never done improving, you're never to a point where you can just coast