Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were early Greek philosophers who influenced the development of virtue ethics. They argued that morality and happiness come from cultivating good character traits. Thomas Aquinas later revived and integrated virtue ethics with Christianity in the medieval era. He emphasized virtues like prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice. Aristotle defined a virtuous person as someone who consistently acts with wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.

1. E
ETHIC
S
LESSON II

2. • Socrates (470 – 399 BC), Plato (427 – 348 BC) and
Aristotle (384 – 322 BC) are Greek Philosophers in the
ancient period who deeply affected Western Philosophy.
• The contemporary theory in ETHICS called VIRTUE
ETHICS is said to have started with these three great
philosophers.
• In the medieval era, the Italian philosopher and
theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) revived,
enhanced and ‘Christianized” the Greek Virtue Ethics.

3. VIRTUE ETHICS (Defined)
• Is a moral philosophy that teaches that an action is right if it is an
action that a virtuous person would perform in the same situations.
• According to a theory, a virtuous person is someone who act
virtuously, and people act virtuously if they possess and live the
virtues.
• A VIRTUE is a moral characteristic that an individual needs to live
well.
• VIRTUE ETHICS outs emphasis on developing good habits of
character and avoiding bad character traits or vices.

4. Basically, the virtues are the freely
character traits that people praise in others.
They are
difficult to
develop
They are
corrective of
natural
deficiencies
They are
beneficial both
to self and
society

5. VIRTUE ETHICS defined a moral person as someone
who develops the virtues and unfailingly displays
them overtime.
The Ancient Greeks list
for “Cardinal Virtues”
Wisdom
Courage
Moderation
Justice

6. SOCRATES Moral Philosophy
• SOCRATES was a moral philosopher. He was not
interested in mathematics or science but was
concerned with the quality of his soul and that of
others.
• Socrates' philosophy examines how we should
live.

7. SOCRATES Moral Philosophy
• Socrates states no one chooses evil; no one
chooses to act in ignorance. We seek the good,
but fail to achieve it by ignorance or lack of
knowledge as to how to obtain what is good. He
believes no one would intentionally harm
themselves.

8. PLATO Moral Philosophy
• Plato is one of the world's best known and most
widely read and studied philosophers.
• He was the student of Socrates and the teacher of
Aristotle, and he wrote in the middle of the fourth
century B.C.E. in ancient Greece.

9. PLATO Moral Philosophy
• Plato himself believed that we make moral
progress through the faculty of reason.
• Like most other ancient philosophers, Plato
maintains a virtue-based eudaemonistic
conception of ethics.

10. PLATO Moral Philosophy
• That is to say, happiness or well-being (eudaimonia) is
the highest aim of moral thought and conduct, and the
virtues (aretê: ‘excellence’) are the dispositions/skills
needed to attain it.
• Eudaemonist theories (Greek eudaimonia,
“happiness”), which hold that ethics consists in some
function or activity appropriate to man as a human
being, tend to emphasize the cultivation of virtue or
excellence in the agent as the end of all action.

11. ARISTOTLE’s Ethics
• Aristotle was one of the greatest philosophers
who ever lived and the first genuine scientist in
history.
• He made pioneering contributions to all fields of
philosophy and science, he invented the field of
formal logic, and he identified the various scientific
disciplines and explored their relationships to each
other.

12. ARISTOTLE’s Ethics
• Aristotle's ethics, or study of character, is built
around the premise that people should achieve an
excellent character (a virtuous character, "ethikē
aretē" in Greek) as a pre-condition for attaining
happiness or well-being (eudaimonia).

13. Three (3) general descriptions, which are
interrelated can be used to depict Aristotle’s
Ethics.
His ethical system may
be termed “self-
realization”
Aristotle’s view is also
of a type known as
eudaemonistic.
His moral philosophy
is aretaic or virtue
based

14. THOMAS AQUINAS Ethics
• THOMAS AQUINAS (1225 – 1274) is an Italian
philosopher and theologian who ranks among
the most important thinkers of the medieval time
period.
• Also called the Angelic Doctor and the Prince of
Scholastics.

15. THOMAS AQUINAS Ethics
• THOMAS AQUINAS (1225 – 1274) is an Italian
philosopher and theologian who ranks among
the most important thinkers of the medieval time
period.
• Also called the Angelic Doctor and the Prince of
Scholastics.

16. THOMAS AQUINAS Ethics
• According to Aquinas, all human actions are
governed by a general principle or precept that is
foundational to and necessary for all practical
reasoning: good is to be done and evil is to be
avoided.
• This principle is not something we can ignore or
defy.

17. THOMAS AQUINAS Ethics
• Aquinas's ethical theory involves both principles –
rules about how to act – and virtues – personality
traits which are taken to be good or moral to have.

18. For
Aquinas,
there are
four (4)
primary
types of law:
Eternal Law
(refers to the
rational plan
of God by
which all
creation is
ordered)
Natural Law
(aspect of the
eternal law
which is
accessible to
human
reason)
Human Law
(refers to the
positive law)
Divine Law
(serves to
complement
the other
types of law)

19. MORAL VIRTUES
– have as their
object not God
Himself, but
activities that are
less virtuous and
inferior to the final
end.
Prudence Temperance
Fortitude Justice
Aquinas mentions
two (2) kinds of
infused virtues:

20. THEOLOGICAL
VIRTUES – directly
connected with God.
They provide us
with true knowledge
and desire of God
and His Will.
Faith
Hope
Love