ETHICS L5

• Virtue ethics

  Ethical theory that focuses on the character of the actor rather than the rightness or wrongness of actions
• Virtue ethics

  Primarily concerned with answering the question "What kind of person should I be?" rather than "What am I obliged to do?"
• Virtue ethics claims that we cannot tell whether an act is right or wrong by just looking at or analyzing the act itself; instead, we must focus on the person performing the act.
• For virtue ethicists, being a good moral person is more than doing what is right
• The starting point for virtue ethics is not the question of what acts are right or wrong, but what characters are virtuous or vicious
• Classical virtue ethics traditions

  • Aristotelian ethics (Western)
  • Confucian and Buddhist ethics (Eastern)
• Eudaimonia

  Aristotle's concept of the ultimate good or happiness, which is the end at which all human actions aim
• Virtue

  A state of character that enables the fulfillment of one's nature and function as a human being
• Types of virtues

  • Intellectual virtues
  • Moral virtues
• Intellectual virtues

  Virtues that enable rational thinking, originating mainly from teaching
• Moral virtues

  Virtues that enable the rational handling of desires and emotions, acquired mainly through habit and practice
• Virtues are not implanted in us by nature, but are acquired through habit and practice
• Virtue

  A state of character that has become deeply rooted in one's personality, so that acting virtuously is natural and effortless
• Doctrine of the mean

  Aristotle's principle that virtue is the mean between the extremes of excess and deficiency
• Examples of virtues and their corresponding extremes

  • Courage (mean) - Cowardice (deficiency), Recklessness (excess)
  • Temperance (mean) - Overindulgence (excess), Inhibition (deficiency)
  • Generosity (mean) - Miserliness (deficiency), Extravagance (excess)
• The mean between extremes is relative to the moral agent, not an absolute rule
• Not every action or emotion admits of a mean, as some are inherently base and cannot be done rightly
• Choosing the mean between extremes is the way for reason to control the excesses of emotions and passions, enabling eudaimonia or well-being
• There are actions and emotions whose very names connote baseness, such as shamelessness, envy, adultery, murder
• What makes these emotions and actions bad is not their being excessive nor deficient, but their very nature. They are always wrong and it is not possible to commit or feel them rightly
• It is not possible to commit adultery with the right woman at the right time in the right manner. It would be just as absurd to suppose that there is a mean, an excess, and a deficiency in an unjust, cowardly, or self-indulgent act
• Virtue ethics


  Achieving eudaimonia or well-being is a matter of living one's life in accordance with reason. Choosing the mean between extremes is the way for reason to control the excesses of the emotions and passions
• Extreme types of behavior are motivated by desire or feeling without the benefit of thinking through the consequences of such action
• A life of moderation is not a life of safety or boredom, but a life where reason is in control. Such a life enables one to live fully, that is to live as closely to the ideal of a good life as possible
• Aristotle's virtue ethics fails to lay down a clear basis to determine what we ought to do, and not do
• Aristotle's directive to look for the mean between the extremes of deficiency and excess is not able to provide the needed guidance in distinguishing between right and wrong in every situation, since what is too much and what is too little are not quantities on a single scale
• Saying that an act is virtuous if it is an act done by a virtuous person, and then describing a virtuous person as one who is disposed to do a virtuous act commits the fallacy of circular reasoning
• The notion of humans having just one distinctive function is quite problematic. Theories such as existentialism or postmodernism question the idea that there is such a universal, objective, and pre-conceived nature of a human being
• We cannot derive our moral values from non-moral natural facts. Goodness and values should not be confined to the human capacity to reason
• Knowing what is right does not necessarily translate into performing the right action. Good character facilitates the performance of the act
• Practical wisdom is a capacity that requires a general conception of what is good or bad, the ability to perceive what is required in terms of feeling, choice, and action in a particular situation, the ability to deliberate well, and the ability to act on that deliberation
• Confucianism and Buddhism are generally known as religious traditions, but they are also widely recognized by scholars as philosophical systems that provide views pertaining to morality
• Confucianism and Buddhism are classified under virtue ethics due to their emphasis on the cultivation of character traits deemed necessary to achieve moral excellence
• Confucius was born in the state of Lu, also known as Shantung province (currently called Qufu, located at the south of Beijing). He lived from 551 to 479 BCE
• Despite the difficulties in his life, Confucius still managed to grow as a gentleman, mastering skills expected of boys born in aristocratic families
• Confucius wanted to use his knowledge to improve society. He could have just enjoyed his life as a successful teacher and a scholar but his heart and mind were longing for an opportunity to do something that would stop the social injustices during his time
• Confucianism, as a school of thought founded by Confucius, was originally associated with an ancient Chinese cultural tradition called the Ru tradition
• The Five Classics of Confucianism

  • Book of History (or Documents)
  • Book of Poetry
  • Book of Rites
  • Book of Music
  • Book of Changes
  • Spring and Autumn Annals
• Confucianism existed long before Confucius was born
• Ru


  Learned individuals who had mastered history, poetry, music, astrology, archery, mathematics, and ancient rituals; and had studied the texts of the "six classics"