Aristotle's Virtue Ethics

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Purpose

Within Nicomachean Ethics - the first ethical book written from a secular perspective - Aristotle suggested that all things hold a final purpose. Thus, something can be considered good under the condition that said purpose is fulfilled. To illustrate this, he used the example of a knife being good if it is sharp and able to cut well. 

"Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good, and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim."

The supreme good refers to that superior to all subordinate goods, which act as a means to an end. The supreme good is thence intrinsically good - and not merely deemed as such in light of its consequences (for example, as money might be). It can be defined as eudaimonia, roughly translated into English as 'human flourishing'. 

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Eudaimonia

Eudaimonia refers to the highest, supreme good. It is something practical and human, and is that at which all humans aim. It benefits the whole of the community, in light of Aristotle's suggestion:

"While it is desirable to secure something in the case of an individual, to do so in the case of a people or a state is something finer and more sublime."

Notably, it is also self sufficient and attainable.

We achieve it through achieving the golden mean of each of the moral virtues; as well as fulfilling the primary and secondary intellectual virtues. The virtuous individual will be aware of how to act virtuously because, being of such a nature, it will come naturally to them; through habit.

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The Rational/Irrational Soul

Aristotle divided the soul into two fundamental sections: the rational element and the irrational element. 

THE RATIONAL ELEMENT OF THE SOUL

  • Disctinctly human.
  • Provides us with the ability to contemplate truths which are timeless, and make scientific pursuits.
  • Superior to the irrational soul.

THE IRRATIONAL ELEMENT OF THE SOUL

  • Shared with animals; but still rational in the sense that humans hold the distinct ability to control their emotions.
  • It is from the 
  • From the vegetative faculty of the irrational element of the soul that instincts and needs are derived; they are animalistic. 
  • The apetive/desirative faculty of the soul controls emotions and desires. We control them by achieving the golden mean of the moral virtues.
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The Moral Virtues

Aristotle set out twelve moral values. Within each instance, the doctrine of the mean stands between the vice of deficiency and the device of excess. The golden mean of each moral value is relative to the particular situation in hand, and the individual - and it was believed by Aristotle that the virtuous individual would hold the ability to determine this, teleologically.

The doctrine of the mean thence is not a strict mathematical mean. This is logical, in the same way that simply because no apples is insufficient and 100 apples is an excess, that does not mean to suggest that 50 apples is the right quantity for consumption. 

For example:

Vice of Deficiency   Golden Mean      Vice of Excess

No ambition                 Right Ambition       Excessive ambition

Callousness                   Just Resentment    Spitefulness

Cowardice                     Courage                    Rashness

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The Moral Virtues

Aristotle set out twelve moral values. Within each instance, the doctrine of the mean stands between the vice of deficiency and the device of excess. The golden mean of each moral value is relative to the particular situation in hand, and the individual - and it was believed by Aristotle that the virtuous individual would hold the ability to determine this, teleologically.

The doctrine of the mean thence is not a strict mathematical mean. This is logical, in the same way that simply because no apples is insufficient and 100 apples is an excess, that does not mean to suggest that 50 apples is the right quantity for consumption. 

For example:

Vice of Deficiency   Golden Mean      Vice of Excess

No ambition             Right Ambition       Excessive ambition

Callousness             Just Resentment      Spitefulness

Cowardice               Courage                      Rashness

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Intellectual Virtues

Primary Virtues

  • Art or Technical Skill - The ability to construct things.
  • Scientific Knowledge
  • Intelligence - Enabling the individual to do anything with their mind.
  • Wisdom - A combination of all other virtues; achieved with age and experience.
  • Practical Wisdom - Considering all viewpoints in making decisions.

Secondary Virtues

  • Justice - Corrective or distributive; bringing aboout what is right and fair.
  • Cleverness - An element of justice.
  • Understanding - Comprehending all considerable aspects surrounding a matter.
  • Resourcefulness/Good Deliberation - A form of practical wisdom.

Demonstrated when the rational element of the soul has been mastered.

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