VIRTUE ETHICS Imagine a person who: • Always does the right thing in the right way at the right time. • Is confident but not arrogant. • Is courageous and stand up for what is right. • Embodies honesty and integrity. • Is generous but not extravagant. VIRTUOUS Virtue Ethics • The ethical framework that is concerned with understanding the good as a matter of developing the virtuous character of a person. • It is distinct in the sense that it does not provide moral agent specific rules or principles to guide his actions. Aristotle (384 – 322 BCE) Aristotle was born in macedonia and studied philosophy under plato in Athens. He was the brightest among Plato's students in the former's school, the Academy. He later founded his own school, Lyceum, where he became a very productive intellectual. He was also known to be the tutor of Alexander the Grest who tried to conquer the world. Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is his major work in moral philosophy. Telos and Eudaimonia • Aristotle claims that every act a person does is directed toward a particular purpose, aim, end or what the Greek called telos. Two Major Kinds of Ends 1. Instrumental end - acts that are done as a means for other ends. 2. Intrinsic end - acts that are done for their own sake. Instrumental Ends One does an act not only to achieve a particular end but also believes such end can be utilized for a higher goal or activity, which then can be used to achieve an even higher end and so on. In other words, the different ends that one pursues form a hierarchy of teloi (plural form of telos). Example: Question: Why did you come to class today? Answer: Coming to class will help me pass the course. Question: Why do you want to pass the course? Answer: I want to graduate. Question: Why do you want to graduate? Answer: So that I can have an opportunity to work at something I enjoy and make a living. • Intrinsic Ends • When we discover what humans aim at, not as carpenter, doctor, or generals, but as humans, we will then arrive at action for its own sake, and for which all other activity is only a means, and this, says Aristotle, must be the "Good of Man." General Criteria for One to be Recognize as the Intrinsic End of Man 1. It must be final. 2. It must be self-sufficient. • The highest purpose and the ultimate end of man is happiness, or for the Greeks, Eudaimonia. • Happiness seems to be the final end of a person since no other superior end is still being desired for. • Happiness for Aristotle is the only self-sufficient aim that one can aspire for. No amount of wealth or power can be more fulfilling than having achieved the condition of happiness. • Happiness, it turn out, is another word or name for good, for like good, happiness is the fulfillment of our distinctive function; or as Aristotle says, "Happiness… is a working of the soul in the way of excellence or virtue." How shall the word "good" be understood? • Aristotle tied the word "good" to the special function of a thing. A hammer is good if it does what hammers are expected to do. A carpenter is good if he or she fulfills his or her function as a builder. This would be true of all crafts and professions. • Aristotle distinguishes between one’s craft or profession and one’s activity as a person. To be a good doctor, for example, did not mean the same thing as being a good person. • To discover the good at which a person should aim, Aristotle said we must discover the distinctive function of human nature. The good person, according to Aristotle, is the person who is fulfilling his or her function as a person. The Function of Man • What makes human beings different from the rest of beings is his function or activity of reason. This is what defines him. A person's action to be considered as truly human must be an act that is always in accordance with reason. • According to Aristotle, how one functions enables him to achieve his ultimate purpose. If he performs his functions well, then he can arrive at happiness. • What distinguishes a good person from other human beings is his rational activity that is performed well or excellently. A good individual therefore stands closer to meeting the conditions of happiness because her actions are of higher purpose. • "Madaing magimg tao, mahirap magpakatao" Virtue As Excellence • Achieving the highest purpose of a human person concerns the ability to function according to reason and to perform an activity well or excellently. This excellent way of doing things is called virtue or arete by the Greeks. • According to Aristotle, virtue is something that one strives for in time. One does not become an excellent person overnight. Being virtuous cannot be accomplished by a single act. • Aristotle says that excellence is an activity of the human soul and therefore, one needs to understand the very structure of a person's soul which must be directed by her rational activity in an excellent way. • The soul is the form of the body. As such the soul refers to the total person. • Accordingly, Aristotle said that the soul has two parts: 1. Irrationalcomposed of two subparts, the vegetative(concerned with basic needs that keep us alive and is effectively our survival instincts.) and the appetitive(the desiring faculty of man) soul. 2. Rational – divided into two aspects, moral (concerns the act of doing) and intellectual (concerns the act of knowing). • The irrational element is not in the realm where virtue is exercised because it cannot be dictated by reason. • The act of desiring is an impulse that naturally runs counter to reason and most of the time refuses to go along with reason. Thus, this aspect belongs to the irrational part of the soul. However, unlike the vegetative aspect, the desiring faculty of man can be subjected to reason. • The moral and intellectual aspect are basically where the function of reason is exercised. • One rational aspect where a person can attain excellence is in the intellectual faculty of the soul. As stated by Aristotle, this excellence is attained by being thought or by learning. Two ways by which one can attain intellectual excellence: 1. Philosophic wisdom – deals with attaining knowledge about the fundamental principles and truths that govern the universe. It helps one understand in general the meaning of life. 2. Practical wisdom – an excellence in knowing the right conduct in carrying out a particular act. • In carrying out a morally virtuous life, one needs the intellectual guide of practical wisdom in steering the self toward the right choices and actions. • Having the practical wisdom does not make someone already morally virtuous. Knowing the good that needs to be done is different from doing the good that one needs to accomplish. • Moral virtue is acquired through habit, a moral person for Aristotle is someone who habitually determines the good and does the right actions. • It is in this constant act of choosing and doing the good that a person can form his character. Character then becomes the identification mark of the person. Moral Virtue and Mesotes • According to Aristotle, since the passions are capable of a wide range of action, all the way from too little to too much, a person must discover the proper meaning of excess and defect and thereby discover the appropriate mean or middle (mesotes). • The mesotes is not the same for every person, nor is there a mean for every act. Each mean is relative to each person because as the circumstances will vary. Therefore, the task of being moral involves seriously looking into and understanding a situation and assessing properly every detail relevant to the determination of the mean. What exactly moral virtue is? Aristotle says: "A state of choice, lying in a mean, that this being determined by a that principle by which the would determine it." character concerned with is, the mean relative to us, rational principle, and by man of practical wisdom STRENGTHS OF VIRTUE ETHICS 1. Character Traits - Virtue Ethics deals with a person’s virtues and how he or she uses them in making the lives of other people better. If a person has virtues, he or she can act morally and will be able to treat others with respect, compassion and love. These virtues prompt a person to do good things to others because these are innate in him or her, as opposed to the theory of Kant where people are forced to do good deeds out of duty. 2. Better People - Virtues such as generosity, honesty, compassion, friendliness, assertiveness and the like are already present in people and should be practiced in everyday living. The theory of Virtue Ethics makes it possible for people to be better individuals and members of society who are willing to help other people, thinking of others first over personal interest. With these virtues, people become better persons. 3. Broad and Holistic - Having no particular criteria, Virtue Ethics encompasses different virtues which are important live in harmony with other people. It also does not attempt to worsen the complexity of things by categorizing what are moral acts or not nut instead had developed throughout the years. Also, as compared to other ethical theories which can be a threat to morality and are confusing, Virtue Ethics is a holistic approach that it considers the totality of a person, including the skills, character traits and emotions. 4. Preservation of Goodness - According to Tacitus, people can be easily corrupted with power and luxury which can impede liberty. Having said this, Virtue Ethics serves as a shield against polluting the minds of individuals and making them bad people. Instead, this approach makes it possible for an individual to preserve and make better the life he or she already has and enjoy it rather than dream of a life with luxury and power. 5. Agent-centered - Another powerful attribute of Virtue Ethics is its centeredness or focus on the character of the moral agent and not concerned on consequence and duty or obligation. This also makes it flexible since it allows an individual to decide depending on his or her moral values and not just by simply following the law. 6. Sense of Community - Virtue Ethics motivates an individual to have high regard to personal relationships and encourage or motivates a person to be sensitive of others and take care of other people. WEAKNESSES OF VIRTUE ETHICS 1. Without Focus - Critics of virtue ethics say that this theory lacks focus when it comes to determining the types of actions that are morally acceptable and permitted from the ones that should be avoided. Instead, it concentrates more on the qualities an individual must enhance or improve in order to become a good person. Virtue theorists can consider murder as an immoral act which makes it unsuitable to be used as a moral act when it comes to legislation, say in court. It is also considered to be not action-guiding. 2. Nature of Virtues - Another weakness attributed to virtue ethics is the difficulty in determining the nature if virtues. This is due to the difference in opinions and perspectives of people who are inherently different from each other and came from diverse cultures and societies. These aspects lead to differences on what is morally right or wrong for people. Thus, it is hard to identify these virtues. 3. Self-centeredness - According to opponents of virtue ethics, it deals with a person’s own character when it is supposed to be how the actions of an individual affect other people. Other theory of ethics expects a person to think or regard other people instead of personal gain and interest. 4. Misguidance - Those who are not in favor of virtue ethics find this theory to be misguiding when it comes to educating or motivating people. This is because it leads people to rely on luck when it comes to attaining moral maturity. Also, this can result to people asking why others are luckier to have achieved moral maturity while there will be those who are not lucky enough even if this is not brought about by their own doings. 5. Limited - Since Virtue Ethics concentrate on only a limited number of virtues, it is not able to help the population but only an individual. This is one of the weaknesses seen by opponents, saying that this theory is not concentrating on the bigger picture.
