Describe Aristotle's view of virtue ethics.

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AAdmin Forum Emperor! Posts: 4238 (1/5/06 1:19 pm) Reply	Describe Aristotle's view of virtue ethics. Describe Aristotle's view of virtue ethics. Provide examples. In Aristotle's written work (called 'Nicomachean Ethics') Aristotle wrote a masterpiece when it comes to analysis of human morality and the end (purpose/final destination) of human life. The work is a masterpiece that is still used today. His basic idea is that the great(est) thinker or Aristotle shows us that he believes that absolute moral standards do not exist and that analysis of ethics have to be be based on understanding of human psychology while taking into account daily life and human nature. The highest good for Aristotle could not have been defined without understanding what it means to be virtuous. Basic idea is that all human actions strive towards some goal and such goal is good. All actions were leading not towards any good but towards a highest good. Such good is the one that is wanted and desired for itself only. Thus, such highest good is self-sustaining and all that is needed to fulfill someone. For Aristotle the highest good is happiness ('eudaemonia') and he stated that all men seek it as final destination although they might disagree on the manner or the kind of life it make take to achieve it. They also disagree on even the meaning of happiness but they all, nevertheless, seek it as the final thing in their search. For Aristotle happiness could not be found only in pleasure, fame or honor since neither one of those are self-sustaining but dependent on other influences. For him happiness would have to be tied to functions specific of only man. To find this out Aristotle analyzed the three functions of a soul and focused on one that is specific to only a man or human beings. This eliminated nutritive or vegetative soul (shared with animals and plants) and it also eliminated perceptive or sensitive soul (shared with animals). The only one left was the rational (responsible for thinking and reasoning) soul which is to be found in humans only. For Aristotle, therefore, a human function would mean doing that what makes us human and to be good at the very thing that makes us unique. Therefore we are talking of the ability of humans to reason and, more importantly, for using this ability rather then just being aware of it. For Aristotle there are two ways a soul can engage in and one is reasoning (divided between practical and theoretical reasoning) and the other is following reasoning. For him a man who does this would be happiest since he would be fulfilling his own purpose or nature as it can be found within the rational soul. He even goes a step further and states that a thinker is not only happy but closest to the divine. He believed that people can be categorized in four categories according to their ability to use reason. First category is composed of virtuous or those who have no moral dilemma about what is right and enjoy doing what is right. Second category is composed of those who are continent or those who are virtuous most of the time but, first, have a moral dilemma within them to overcome. Third category is composed of those who are incontinent or those who are not virtuous most of the time even though they also start of with having a moral dilemma. Fourth category is composed of those who are vicious or those who do not put much value in virtue and who do not therefore try being virtuous. Virtue ethics relate to ethical systems that primarily focus on what kind of person a man should try to become. One of the aims therefore of virtue ethics is offering what kind of characteristics a person with virtue would have. Ultimate aim of virtue ethics is what Greeks referred to as 'eudaimonia' which roughly translates as 'success' or 'flourishing'. The general idea in virtue ethics is that all humans gravitate towards leading a good, happy and satisfying life. He also believed that every ethical virtue is a mean or in between two extremes (extremes such as excess, having too much, and deficiency or lacking). For him virtue can only be a 'mean' (or a medium as in moderation) of a given situation. This would also mean that it is impossible to make absolute set of rules or a formula that could be used to resolve every practical problem. On the other hand Aristotle was not a moral relativist and believed that some (meaning more extreme) emotions (such as hate, envy or spite) and some (again meaning more extreme) actions (such as murder or theft) are never justified. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle grouped the virtues in two groups and those are as moral virtue and as intellectual virtue. For Aristotle there are two kinds of intellectual virtues (intellectual virtue is the result of learning), one is what in Greek is called 'sophia' which means 'wisdom' (term which in this case it relates to theoretical wisdom) and another Greek term called 'phronesis' which means ' prudence' (term which in this case it relates to practical wisdom). The moral virtues (which exist as the result of habit and practice) according to Aristotle included courage, truthfulness, justice and moderation. He argued that everyone of those moral virtues was in effect a mean or medium between two surrounding vices or extremes. For Aristotle for a person to be happy such person would have to find himself within the mean. An example of such mean is the virtue of bravery. Bravery is a a mean that is situated between two extremes or vices such as being a coward on one side and behaving in a reckless manner on the other. Being a coward really means feeling too much fear or more then the given situation at hand would reasonably demand. On the other hand, behaving in a reckless manner would be exact opposite of the first extreme or vice. In this case it is that a given person is feeling the amount of fear that is too small then the given situation at hand would reasonably demand. Therefore each one is clearly an extreme or vice. _________ Less Balkanian Dogmatic Paranoia. More Rational Ancient Hellenic Wisdom. Reminder 1: Purpose of Illyria Forums Reminder 2: Rules of the Forums Important 1: Announcements! Important 2: 4 ALL Mods! Yahac's Proposal!

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