virtue ethics says we shouldn't focus on following guidelines
we should aim to become better people and develop positive character traits called virtues
as we develop these virtues we will make better choices
virtue ethics aims to help people achieve their potential as human beings rather than focusing on the rightness/wrongness of their actions.
the ultimate end of ends and the greatest good is called eudaimonia
eudaimonia encompasses three ways of understanding happiness
-as a life of enjoyment of pleasure
-a free member of society
-as a philosopher
eudaimonia must be deserved happiness
the function argument
relation between goodness and function
function in greek is ergon meaning work or accomplishment, eg a good knife is one that works well and fulfils its purpose
aristotle defines the hierarchy of souls
plants - vegetative - nutrition and growth
animals - sensitive - nutrition and growth, movement, sense perception, low level thought
humans - rational - nutrition and growth, movement, sense perception and reason
a good life means we have to exercise reason well
eudaimonia is happiness or flourishing
Aristotle believed that everything has a purpose – the good for a knife is to cut, and a good knife is one that cuts well.
In the same way, Eudaimonia is the ‘good’ for a person.
‘Eudaimonia’ is the end goal or purpose behind everything we do as people, and is desired for its own sake – it is an end in itself.
aristotle also argued friendship was the key to eudaimonia
living alongside good people inspires our behaviour
vices eventually disappear
virtue ethics is agent centred. its about the person performing the actions, not the action performed
the moral development of the person counts more than the act
virtue ethics can appear selfish, but the theory has the intention of achieving eudaimonia and so personal achievement impacts upon society
there are two types of virtues:
intellectual, which are developed by training yourself and being educated
moral, which are developed by practice and habit
the four cardinal virtues are justice, courage, temperance and prudence
justice - treating people equally and fairly
courage - confronting fears etc
temperance - moderation
prudence - practical wisdom
the two vices are deficience and excessiveness
vice of deficiency
lack of virtue
vice of excess
too much of a virtue
the virtue exists at the point between the two vices - this is called the doctrine of the mean
vice of deficiency - cowardice
mean - courage
vice of excess - rashness
in summation, virtue ethics consists of...
the doctrine of the mean
relevant virtues and vices
good and bad habit forming behaviour
virtuous role models
problems for the mean
how can the true mid point be definitive
intuition?
how do we deal with traditions?
problems for role models
how do we decide which parts of their life is virtuous? eg hitler
strengths of virtue ethics
avoids use of formula
different but good ways of acting virtuously
distinguishes between good people and those who just follow rules
weaknesses of virtue ethics
eudaimonia is too idyllic
some things dont have a mean eg rape
no concrete answers
immoral actions are praised
philippa foot
modern virtue ethicists include philippa foot, rosaline hursthouse, alasdair mcintyre and michael slote
philippa foot
virtues are only virtuous as long as they are correctly used to bring a good outcome
rosalind hursthouse
though it may not explain exactly how a person would or should act, but it does explain how a virtuous person would think about the moral dilemma
alasdair mcintyre
ancient virtues are not necessarily relevant to the modern world
michael slote
agent-based – which means that the moral rightness of acts is based on the virtuousmotives or characters of the agent. This contrasts with Aristotle who was agent-focused – which means that the inner life of the agent is the focus.