MacIntyre and Anscombe: Two
Modern Virtue Ethicists
Learning objective
• To know and understand the modern
development of virtue ethics by Alasdair
Macintyre
Key words
Internal
External
Good will
Key question
What is a virtue?
OVERview
• Modern ethical study has lost
its way.
• It is too concerned with
normative rules or the reality
of those normative rules.
(meta ethics)
• This has not helped fill the
moral vacuum of society.
• Anscombe believed that
Virtue ethics was the only
solution to the moral vacuum
in society.
• Macintyre believed the same
thing.
• the best way to fill the moral
vacuum is to chart our moral
virtues.
• Throughout history they have
been important because they
help ordinary people be moral.
• Virtues must be based on
good will.
• There are internal and
external goods.
• The virtues help us overcome
the effects of the three groups
of people.
The 20th
century revival
• Since the enlightenment ethics has been dominated
by normative theories.
• These theories give a moral answer to a problem
based on different circumstances.
• Virtue ethics before the 20th century had died out.
• however it was noticed that there was a distinct gap
in the moral mindset that normative ethics was not
filling.
• A fresh approach was needed.
anscombe
• Elizabeth Anscombe initiated
the modern revival of virtue
theory.
• She was critical of moral
theories which allowed any
moral act of any kind if it
brought about some good
end.
• She argued that
consequentialist thinking has
come to dominate much of
modern philosophy.
anscombe
• “The concepts of obligation, and duty
– moral ‘ought’, ought to be
jettisoned.”
• These are part of ethics which no
longer has a basis as many are based
around the idea of a creator God which
we have got rid of.
• She said the idea of ethics defined as
some legalistic principles
(rules)
needs
Ethics is too
concerned
with this act and that
to be changed.
act being immoral.
anscombe
• This was just as true for utilitarian
ideas of the greatest good for the
greatest number as it was for
Kant’s deontological categorical
imperative.
• Anscombe proposed a different
way of studying ethics.
• We should think about the idea of
a virtue and human flourishing,
referring back to Plato and
Aristotle.
• Further development was
necessary in understanding what
we mean by virtue.
History is important
• In 1981, Alasdair Macintyre (right)
wrote a book called ‘After Virtue’ in
which he argued that we should give
serious consideration to Aristotle’s
theory.
• In his book, he traced the history of
virtue ethics and tried to establish a
system of virtue ethics for the modern
age.
• His basic complaint was that modern
ethics put too much emphasis on
reason and not enough stress on
people, their characters and the
contexts of their lives.
Homeric virtues
• Macintyre noticed that as societies developed 2,500
years ago, so different virtues developed too.
• In the age of Homer a poet who told the story of (the
Iliad and the Odyssey), the following virtues were
paramount;
– Physical strength
– Courage
– Cunning
– Friendship
• These are known as the HOMERIC VIRTUES
Athenian virtues
• Eventually, As cities (the polis) developed, life slowly became
more civilized.
• Aristotle developed his theory of virtues for the city of
Athens and his virtues became known as the Athenian
Virtues. They were (briefly) as follows:
– Courage
– Friendship
– Justice: retributive (getting what you deserve) and distributive
(making sure that the goods of society are fairly distributed)
– Temperance
– Wisdom
• The emphasis on strength and cunning, needed in time of
war, was gone.
• Macintyre argued that the Athenian virtues of Aristotle
were the most complete.
The problem
• For Macintyre, the problems with ethics
began during the Enlightenment, a
period of time during the 17th and 18th
Centuries when Science became more
important for discovering truth.
• It was thought that a single, rational
cause for morality could be discovered
and thinkers such as Hume and Kant
attempted to do this.
The virtues
• Macintyre realised that whilst the theorists in
universities were trying to work morality out,
society still needed virtuous people in everyday
life
• people who run jumble sales to raise money for
the local hospital for example.
• Macintyre argued that despite the theories of
people like Kant and Hume, the virtues have lived
on.
• What’s more, society depends for its very
existence, upon people who exhibit the virtues.
What was his theory then?
• Macintyre argued that living a
virtuous life depended upon
1. getting into the habit of being moral
2. and of striving towards being
virtuous
• He argued that this can give life an
overall purpose and meaning.
• The virtues for Macintyre, are any
human quality which helps us to
achieve the ‘goods’ in life.
HABIT
INTENTION
Courage: courage is very important as it
helps us to face up to challenges that may
come our way.
His virtues
Wisdom: this is not
knowledge: it is the
ability to know how to
act in the right way in
particular situations.
Justice: this is a very important
virtue. Justice is fairness and it is the
art of giving someone what they
deserve or merit. To be unjust is to
be unfair.
Industriousness: hard work.
Patience
Hope: being
optimistic.
Temperance: this prevents us
from acting rashly; losing our
temper for example.
GOOD WILL
• Underneath the virtues must be
the good will of the person.
• To be virtuous, one must desire to
do virtuous things, rather than do
them involuntarily.
• An act is not virtuous if it is not
intended.
Is this
similar to
Aristotle?
Internal and external goods
• Macintyre also used the idea of internal
and external goods, a version of which is
seen in Natural Law.
• An internal good is specific to the activity
itself; for example, giving money to charity
results in helping others and developing a
sense of satisfaction.
• It is an necessary part of what it means to
do this action.
• example?
Internal and external goods
• An external good, is a good that is not specific to
the act.
• It is something good or moral that comes out of
doing the activity or action.
• It is called ‘external’ because it comes out of
doing the activity
• For example, when giving to charity, your
example may inspire others to do the same.
• Other examples?
vice
• Macintyre also warned that being virtuous does
not prevent you from being open to vices.
1. He gives the example of a great violinist who
could be vicious,
2. or a chess player who could be mean spirited.
• The vices would prevent these people from
achieving maximum virtue.
THE MOST IMPORTANT VIRTUES
• Macintyre suggests that the three most important virtues are:
– justice
– courage
– honesty
• We can only achieve moral excellence through practising these
three.
• They are core virtues that help to prevent organisations and
institutions from becoming morally corrupt.
• It is largely through institutions that traditions, cultures and
morality spread: if these institutions are corrupt, then vices become
widespread.
Three people in society
• Alisdair MacIntyre said that in today's society we find
ourselves in a ‘moral vacuum’.
• The arguments between consequentialist and deontologists
has left society confused and devoid of virtue.
• He believes ‘concepts of truth and rationality have become,
as it were free floating’
• He believes that it is desires not morals that are driving our
choices.
• MacIntyre says that three archetypal characters now strut
our moral stage. These are the bureaucratic manager, the
rich aesthete, and the Therapist.
Our society
Three types of people:
THE THERAPIST
the Therapist is necessary to balance the
failed aspirations and thwarted hopes that
the BM and RA would inevitably cause!!
The rise in the beauty business in Britain
and the number of cosmetics, bath
products, and 'spiritual' treatments, which
claim to have therapeutic value.
The society we have created teaches us to
value others less and ourselves
more. Therefore, we need Therapists to
conceal the emptiness and meaninglessness
of life from us. TV chat show and game
show host are examples.
THE RICH AESTHETE
This man, woman or couple, live for the more
exciting and exotic pleasures of life.
We see their images, glamorous, thin (women) aging
(men - but with the obligatory trophy wife 30 years
younger), in expensive homes or in exotic holiday
destinations, plastered and all over 'Hello' magazine Posh and Becks
Macintyre is talking about the 'image as icon'. It's
their image in the eye of society that embodies the
Rich Aesthete.
THE BUREAUCRATIC MANAGER
the sort of person to be to get a job in business
This person is efficient at using resources and
people to achieve his/her own aims and objectives.
People and resources are all dispensable to the
Bureaucratic Manager.
The effect
• The bureaucratic manager is driven by profit, he has no regard for
his employees and his colleagues and will forsake anyone to ensure
hi the shareholders have sufficient profits. He may be a loving
father but at work he be leaves his morals at home.
• MacIntyre condemns this as he believes like Aristotle that a holistic
attitude to life is essential in order to achieve ultimate happiness or
‘eudaimonia’.
• The Rich Aesthete could be compared to the Beckham’s or J-Lo.
They are driven by hedonistic pleasures. They are always looking for
the next new product or fashion and this is all they are concerned
with.
• The Therapist is much like Graham Norton. He broadcasts regularly
ensuring that the nation is anaesthetised to morality.
Activities
1. Compile a list of virtues suitable for the 21st
century. Use the table on p27 and the
paragraphs above to help you.
2. Decide on the ‘vice of deficiency’ and ‘vice of
excess’ for each of your virtues.
3. In one paragraph for each, describe what you
think a complete virtuous life and a
completely virtuous society would look like.
Activities
1. Not long ago it was reported that a policeman had
transformed his town, reducing antisocial
behaviour by half. He set up a night school to
teach children about medieval notions of respect
and chivalry. More than a hundred children took
the course which the policeman said instilled a
sense of personal pride, of mannerly and
compassionate behaviour and a respect for others.
2. Devise a course of a ‘virtue club’. What would the
course do?
Review
• Modern ethical study has lost
its way.
• It is too concerned with
normative rules or the reality
of those normative rules.
(metaethics)
• This has not helped fill the
moral vacuum of society.
• Anscombe believed that
Virtue ethics was the only
solution to the moral vacuum
in society.
• Macintyre believed the same
thing.
• the best way to fill the moral
vacuum is to chart our moral
virtues.
• Throughout history they have
been important because they
help ordinary people be moral.
• Virtues must be based on
good will.
• There are internal and
external goods.
• The virtues help us overcome
the effects of the three groups
of people.
Examples of Virtue Ethics
• Bruderhof and
Amish
communities
– Anti-worldly
– Pacifist
– Family
– Story
What makes one group virtuous and not
another?
• Inner-City Gangs
– Common values
– Models
– “Virtuous”
actions
– Codes of honour
• Ku Klux Klan?
– Focused
– Live tradition
– Stories and
Models
– Common
enemy
– “The family is the
strength of our
nation.”
• The Christian Church?
• The Taliban?
• The Scouting Movement?
• Your school?
• Your friends?
Are the virtues the same for everyone?
• People are very different.
• But we face the same basic problems and
have the same basic needs.
• Everyone needs courage as danger can always
arise.
• Some people are less well off, so we will need
generosity.
• Everyone needs friends so we need loyalty.