VIRTUE
Aristotle
ETHICS
CHARACT
PERSONAL
ER
&
traits
ITY
CHARACTER &
PERSONALITY
Personality or character is an approach or a way of reckoning the
different situations that one faces in his/her life—a way of navigating
one’s way towards his/her flourishing as a human person.
CHARACTER &
PERSONALITY
Character is not merely a theoretical construct but a product of action
in the world—a constant doing or way of being that is made apparent
by the possession and actualization of particular virtues and vices.
In one’s journey towards self-realization and self-flourishing, there is
an implied necessity to understand what he/she is actually aiming for
in his/her life. In aiming for a goal, the person must also first
understand what he/she actually is and is potentially capable of.
ARISTOTL
E
ARISTOTL
E
Greek Philosopher who
wrote Nicomachean
Ethics
ARISTOTL
E
Same with Plato on
saying reason (logos)
makes humans different
from other beings.
ARISTOTL
E
We become what we
are by what we do and
not merely by what we
know.
ARISTOTL
E
His ethics is grounded
in the formation of one’s
character.
EUDAIMON
IA
EUDAIMON
Chief end
IA
EUDAIMON
Chief end
IA
“HAPPINESS”
EUDAIMON
Chief end
IA
“HAPPINESS”
Self-sufficient, final, & attainable
EUDAIMON
“HAPPINESS”
IA
Happiness above all seems to be of this
character, for we always choose it on
account of itself and never on account of
something else. Yet honor, pleasure,
intellect, and every virtue we choose on their
own account...but we choose them also for
the sake of happiness, because we suppose
that, through them, we will be happy.
EUDAIMON
“HAPPINESS”
IA
As the proper end of man, it is not some
kind of inactive state but is actually
something that one does.
“Eudaimonia is an activity of the soul in
accordance with virtue.” (Nicomachean
Ethics, 13)
THE SOUL
THE SOUL
Part of the human being that animates the
body composed of the rational and irrational
elements.
RATIONAL
SPECULATIVE (responsible for knowledge)
PRACTICAL (responsible for choice & action)
IRRATIONAL
VEGETATIVE (nutrition and growth; involuntary)
APPETITIVE (passions)
A person’s raw biological and psychological
desires blind him/her from the implications of
what he/she does to the fulfillment of his/her
end.