Aristotle on three virtues
Michael Lacewing
enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk
Courage
• Courage is the virtue which is the mean
regarding fear (and confidence)
– This is not simply having the right ‘amount’ of fear
– It is right to have some fears of things that harm us,
e.g. we should fear disgrace
– Some fears are irrelevant to courage, e.g. the lack of
fearing the loss of money
• So courage also concerns the kinds of things
that someone doesn’t fear
– Esp. those things that are most fearful and harmful,
including death
Courage
• The courageous person fears things we
all struggle with, but faces them as
one should
– When one should, with the right motive
– The point of being courageous is some
good and worthwhile goal
– With ‘pleasure’ – the action involve pain,
but the end is pleasant
What courage is not
• Facing danger because one is required by
law or the threat of punishment
– Motive here is shame or fear
• Being calm in the face of danger because
–
–
–
–
one is very experienced and knowledgeable
one is strong and succeeded in the past
one is ignorant of the danger
In such cases, lack of courage may show when
something unexpected happens – character is
shown when action is needed spontaneously
What courage is not
• Being driven by passion to do
dangerous things
– Not fully aware of the dangers, and wrong
motive
Self-indulgence
• Vice relating to pleasure – but which?
• Distinction between pleasures of the body and
those of the mind
– Self-indulgence relates to bodily pleasures
– But not from seeing, hearing, smelling things, but just
pleasure of taste and touch – eating, drinking, sex
• These activities are necessary and pleasurable
– Self-indulgence relates to excess and desire for
particular kinds of food, drink, sex
Self-indulgence
• Self-indulgent person is too pained at
missing out pleasures of taste and touch
– And values such pleasures too highly
• Self-indulgence isn’t simply weak will
– The weak-willed person knows their desires and
actions are wrong, and acts against their choice
– The self-indulgent person no longer recognises
what is wrong
Self-control
• Self-control (1): control in the face of
temptation
– This person still has bad desires for pleasure, but
resists them
• Self-control (2): no temptation
– Desires pleasure only as one should; such desires
will be few and not too strong
– This is the virtue of temperance
Justice
• Justice is the disposition to act justly and
desire justice
– Justice the virtue is defined in terms of just acts,
unlike other virtues
– Aristotle’s account of just acts is largely
deontological
• Justice in the wide sense: what is legal
(virtuous)
• Justice in the narrow sense: fairness
Justice as fairness
• The principle that each person receives
their ‘due’.
– Justice is concerned with goods, e.g.
money, safety or suffering, in which we
can obtain some advantage relative to
other people.
– To be unjust is to seek to gain more than
one’s fair share of something good or
avoid one’s fair share of something bad.
Justice as fairness
• Justice in distribution
– Treat equals equally, i.e. reward by merit
• Justice in rectification
– Correct injustice – the focus is not on
(in)equality of individuals but unjust act
committed
– Aim: to remove the unjust ‘gain’ and
compensate the victim
Development
• Unjust state of affairs
– An unjust distribution that has not resulted from an
unjust action, e.g. illness
• Unjust act
– An act which results in injustice; if involuntary, it is
merely unjust
• Acting unjustly
– Voluntarily committing an unjust act; if not by choice,
the person is not bad
• Choosing to act unjustly
– Worst form of unjust act
Unjust treatment
• To be unjustly treated, the unjust
action must be against your wishes
– You cannot be treated unjustly voluntarily
– You cannot treat yourself unjustly