Ethics - Virtue Ethics

Aristotle - Teleological claim - Nicomachean Ethics

Virtues - a character trait - which is to be valued

There is a large variety of ends at which we can aim, each activity has its end - some ends are subordinate to others.

The Final end is happiness - Eudaimonia - happiness equals pleasure

Function - work - something is good, if it fulfills its function 

There is a relation between goodness and function - Humans need to find there's and human goodness will follow when they start fulfilling that function.

Virtues are defined by the natural characteristics of the Soul - for Aristotle the Soul refers to the blueprint of the body.

To Aristotle, Function depends on the nature of the soul, so everything fulfills their function by doing the work that is characteristic of them.

Moral Virtue - life is not to be evaluated over a short period of time, but to be assessed over someone's complete life.

• There are 2 aspects of the human soul: Rational and Non- rational (emotions)
• The Non-rational Soul - has more virtues - Courage, Patience, Modesty 
• The Rational Soul has Intellectual Virtues - Theoretical (Maths & Science) - Practical (Judgement)
• Intellectual Virtues are those which contribute most to the good life using reason.

Moral Virtues are formed by habit - helped by the rational soul, virtue and wisdom - we develop traits - e.g. moderate from restraining from pleasure and Courageous, for not being frightened.

We are neither good nor evil, but have the capacity to be so 'by training'. From a young age children acquire good and bad habits, usually from parents / guardians. We don't become virtuous by learning rules, but by imitating virtuous people.

To be a virtuous person - they must know what they are doing in any situation and not act through ignorance - they must also choose to act virtuously.

Peter Vardy - The Fruit Cake Analogy- You need to use all 4 parts of the soul to succeed

Choice - Rational deliberation about what to do - we choose for a specific reason.

The Mean (average), which is relative to each individual e.g A physical trainer 

The mean lies between 2 extremes: Excess and Deficiency 

Aristotle - Your emotions and actions can either be extreme by being excessive or deficient or they can lie in the middle e.g. anger

To be virtuous, you should always be and feel in the middle ground.

• Courage - an activity in the area of fear and confidence - e.g. the threat of death in battle
• Deficiency - Cowardice        Excess - Foolhardiness

• Temperance - an activity in the field of pleasure and pain
• Deficiency - insensibility (lack of awareness or concern)     Excess - self-indulgence 
• A self controlled person trains to enjoy moderate natural appetites.

• Justice - benefit the self - it is an altruistic virtue - The good of others as an end
• Justice has no mean, it is simply an extreme - The law and justice unite all virtues.
• Justice is concerned with fairness in 2 ways: Distributional sense and a Rectifying sense 
• Distributional - making sure all goods are distributed so everyone receives proportional merit
• Rectifying - restoring distribution of gain and loss - e.g. theft or stock goes missing

• Friendship - Altruistic virtue
• Includes everyone, close to the person, even family
• Friendship based on gooodness is the perfect friendship to have
• Love of self and love of a friend is rational - acting for the good of a friend is a rational extention of acting for the good of the self.

Being virtuous involves your will - so you cannot be virtuous by accident - it has to be voluntary and consistent.

A proper intention is necessary in order to carry out a virtuous action.

Intention however, does not include - desire, wish or opinions - a proper intention must involve deliberation and a choice made based on reason. 

However we desire to act, we can only do so by having a proper intention.

Holistic - the whole personality is considered 

Human centred - strength of moral character above following rules regardless

Allows for moral judgements - avoids trying to guess the future

It doesn't make the claim that there is a perfect solution for every moral problem

Has a teleological focus of eudaimonia (happinees) - so is good for all of society

Virtues and virtuous people are developed over a complete lifetime - so you don't have to worry about mental capability or thinking - it is based on your actions and decisions.

Virtue Ethics is flexible with regard to situations and people.

It sees human emotion as important 

• Ignores Cultural relativism - different societies will have different virtues -
• If everyone has a different set of virtues - whose virtues should be the role model?
• The argument isn't circular - You keep asking questions and go back
• Aristotle is recommending virtues of his own time and social class.

• Aristotle's Function Argument accurate - human beings as a whole must have a specific function, but is claim true?
• e.g. Abortion - the child hasn't even lived, what was their purpose, to die.

Virtue ethics is anthropocentric - Human centred - but doesn't focus on animals - so if Animals are ignored then so is the environment - This argument contributes to undermining animals.

It is difficult to apply virtue ethics to moral dilemmas - as virtues are practised over your whole lifetime - many moral issues require immediate answers and radical ways of thinking - how can you act virtuously if you have to wait to the end of life to answer?