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Chapter 7

Virtue Ethics: Be a Good Person

Virtue Ethics

Both consequentialist and nonconsequentialist moral theories are concerned with action and attempt to answer the question “What should I do?”

Virtue ethics is a theory of morality that makes virtue the central concern.

Virtue ethics attempts to answer the question “What should I be?”

Discussion Question: How could a utilitarian (who asks, “What should I do?”) incorporate virtues (that ask, “What should I be?”) into his theory without doing violence to the principle of utility?

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Aristotle’s Ethics – 1

Almost all modern virtue ethicists trace their theoretical roots back to Aristotle. His ethics consists not in following moral rules that stipulate right actions but in striving to be a particular kind of person—a virtuous person whose actions stem naturally from virtuous character.

Discussion Questions: How does Kant's idea of duty differ from Aristotle's conception of virtue? Which do you find more compelling?

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Aristotle’s Ethics – 2

For Aristotle, every living thing has an end toward which it naturally aims, the thing that represents its greatest good.

The greatest good for humans—their true goal—is eudaimonia, which means “happiness” or “flourishing” and refers to the true realization of the good life.

Discussion Question: Does your life have a chief end (a state or point of great value) toward which you strive?

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Eudaimonia

To achieve eudaimonia, human beings must fulfill the function that is natural and distinctive to them: living fully in accordance with reason.

The life of reason entails a life of virtue because the virtues themselves are rational modes of being.

Discussion Question: According to Aristotle, the virtuous life both helps us to achieve happiness and is happiness. What does this mean?

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Virtues

To Aristotle, a virtue is a stable disposition to act and feel according to some ideal or model of existence.

It is a deeply embedded character trait that can affect actions in countless situations.

Aristotle distinguishes between intellectual and moral virtues.

Intellectual Virtues	Moral Virtues
Wisdom	Fairness
Prudence	Benevolence
Rationality	Honesty
	Loyalty
	Conscientiousness
	Courage

Discussion Questions: Can virtues be acquired over time? Must we be born with virtues in order to have them? If they can be acquired, how should this be done? Is a lecture on virtues helpful?

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The Golden Mean – 1

Moral virtues occupy what Aristotle calls the “Golden Mean”—a balance between two behavioral extremes.

For example, a moral virtue such as courage is the midpoint between the extremes of recklessness, on one side, and cowardice, on the other.

Discussion Question: Are all virtues a balance between two behavioral extremes?

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The Golden Mean – 2

For Aristotle, the Golden Mean expresses a fundamental truth: the virtuous—and happy—life is a life of moderation in all things.

Discussion Question: What persons in the past or in the present day seem to live their lives according to Aristotle’s notion of moral virtues?

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Modern Virtue Ethics

Contemporary virtue ethicists agree with Aristotle on these points:

The cultivation of virtues is not only a moral requirement but also a way to ensure human flourishing and a good life.

A fully developed ethics must take into account motives, feelings, intentions, and moral wisdom.

Acting only out of duty is a barren and one-dimensional approach to living a virtuous life.

Discussion Question: Which of these points do you agree or disagree with? Why?

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Evaluating Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics seems to meet the minimum requirements of coherence.

It seems consistent with our considered moral judgments (Criterion 1) and with our moral experiences (Criterion 2).

The main critique of virtue ethics centers on Criterion 3: the usefulness of the theory in moral problem solving.

Discussion Question: What is the fundamental difference between virtue ethics and utilitarianism?

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The Usefulness of Virtue Ethics – 1

According to virtue ethics, when faced with a moral dilemma, we should do what a virtuous person would do.

But how do we determine this?

The right action is the one performed by the virtuous person, and the virtuous person is the one who performs the virtuous action. However, this is circular reasoning.

Discussion Question: Is it possible to coherently combine both virtues and principles of duty in the same moral theory? If so, how?

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The Usefulness of Virtue Ethics – 2

Another problem is the possible conflict of virtues in a particular context.

Loyalty, for example, may conflict with honesty when the fate of a friend is on the line and your testimony will make the difference between life and death.

How do you choose between being loyal and being honest in this case?

Discussion Questions: Does morality require both virtues and principles of duty? Do we always look to moral exemplars or specific virtues to determine what to do? Explain.

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Learning from Virtue Ethics

Regardless of its value as a stand-alone theory of ethics, virtue ethics forces us to acknowledge that virtue and character are large, unavoidable constituents of our moral experience.

Virtue ethics has forced many thinkers to reexamine the place of principles in morality.

Discussion Question: Would a moral theory that ignores either virtues or principles of moral action be an adequate moral theory? Why or why not?

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Credits

This concludes the PowerPoint slide set for Chapter 7

Doing Ethics: Moral Reasoning and Contemporary Issues

Fifth Edition (2019) by Lewis Vaughn.