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Ethics - aristotle's ethics
This document provides an overview of Aristotle's views on ethics and virtue. It discusses that for Aristotle, happiness is the highest good that is pursued for its own sake. Living well and flourishing requires developing moral virtues like courage, generosity, and honesty through consistent habits of acting virtuously. Virtues are excellences that involve moderation between deficiencies and excesses of emotions and actions. Practical wisdom is needed to determine the virtuous mean in different situations. An act is right if a virtuous person would tend to do it, where virtue involves acting for the right reason at the right time in the right way.
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Ethics - aristotle's ethics
- 1. ARISTOTLE’S ETHICSBy: John PaulEspino De La Salle University – Dasmarinas Facebook.com/Johnpaul.dss
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- 4. ARISTOTLE: GOODS • Instrumentalgoods: desired for the sake of something else • Intrinsic goods: desired for their own sake
- 5. HAPPINESS • One thingis always desired for its own sake, never for the sake of something else: happiness
- 6. HAPPINESS • One thingis always desired for its own sake, never for the sake of something else: happiness • Happiness (eudaimonia) = living well = flourishing
- 7. HAPPINESS • One thingis always desired for its own sake, never for the sake of something else: happiness • Happiness (eudaimonia) = living well = flourishing • What does that require? Prosperity and luck, yes, but more
- 8. LIVING WELL • Whatis it to live well?
- 9. LIVING WELL • Whatis it to live well? • Analogies: – A good knife cuts well – A good eye sees well – A good teacher teaches well
- 10. LIVING WELL • Whatis it to live well? • Analogies: – A good knife cuts well – A good eye sees well – A good teacher teaches well • A good person _____s well
- 11. FUNCTION • A thing’sfunction stems from what is special about it: what distinguishes it from other things – Knives cut: sharpness —> cutting – Eyes see: ability to see —> seeing – Teachers teach: ability to teach —> teaching
- 12. OUR FUNCTION • Whatis the function of a human being?
- 13. OUR FUNCTION • Whatis the function of a human being? • What is special about people?
- 14. OUR FUNCTION • Whatis the function of a human being? • What is special about people? • We act according to rational plans
- 15. VIRTUE • Our functionis rational activity • A good person succeeds at rational activity • Virtue = excellence • A virtuous person excels at rational activity
- 16. TWO KINDS OFVIRTUE • Virtue = rational activity • Excellence in rationality: intellectual virtue • Excellence in activity: moral virtue
- 17. BECOMING VIRTUOUS • Intellectualvirtue can be taught • Moral virtue can’t be • It requires developing habits • We become good by doing good things
- 18. RIGHT AND WRONG •An act is right if it is something a virtuous person would tend to do
- 19. CIRCULAR? • Moderns: Avirtuous person is one who tends to do the right thing.
- 20. CIRCULAR? • Moderns: Avirtuous person is one who tends to do the right thing. • Aristotle: That’s not enough. A virtuous person tends to do the right thing as virtuous people do them. • A good person consistently does the right thing at the right time, in the right way, and for the right reason. • Virtuous people do the right thing for the right reason: because it’s the right thing to do.
- 21. VIRTUE AS AMEAN • Virtues are means between extremes • Virtues constrain desires • But we may constrain too little or too much
- 22. VIRTUES AND VICES DriveToo little Just right Too much Fear cowardly courageous rash Pleasure self-indulgent self-controlled insensitive Material goods stingy generous extravagant Self-esteem vain high-minded small-minded Anger short-tempered gentle apathetic Sociability obsequious friendly grouchy Boasting boastful truthful self- deprecating Humor clownish witty boring Drive for honor ambitious ? unambitious Spending grudging magnificent vulgar
- 23. VIRTUE AS AMEAN • We must give in to desire in the right circumstances, in the right way, for the right reason, etc. • Practical wisdom—the ability to draw the right distinctions and tell right from wrong— allows us to find the mean • There’s no rule for doing this • You must learn to see what is right
- 24. CAN ONE BETOO MORAL? • It’s possible to be “too generous” (extravagant), “too courageous” (rash), “too witty” (clownish), etc. • Is it possible to be too moral?
- 25. Too narrow? (False negatives) Too broad? (False positives) ARISTOTLE’S THEORY •Right Virtuous people would tend to do it