“All men by nature desire knowledge.” Aristotle

“At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.” Aristotle

“Education is the best provision for old age.” Aristotle

“Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and choice, 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. Aristotle

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Aristotle

“Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.” Aristotle

“Happiness depends upon ourselves.” Aristotle

“Man is a political and social animal.” Aristotle

 A soldier in Iraq sees his mate fall in battle. He could: 1.Leave him 1.Go chasing after him without any regard for his own safety 1.Organise a plan using other members of his team to rescue the fallen soldier. ACTIONEXCESS/DEFICIENCYVICE/VIRTUE Which act rests on which end of the scale? What is another example?

 Virtue ethics has a different focus  It is concerned with personality not actions  It is non-normative and does not create laws.  It may be teleological but it is concerned with the end of life not the end of an action.  Virtue theory requires a sense of the end goal of human life.  This way we can tell what is the right thing to do.  But human nature is very diverse, we cannot be sure what this is.  This view of human nature may be unrealistic.

 Make sure you are familiar with the words deontological and teleological and the differences between them. Teleological theories decide the rightness or wrongness of actions by looking at their consequences.  Deontological theories are concerned with the motive of an action.  The AQA specification asks whether virtue ethics theory is really different from these others.  Think about what difference that one word – ‘really’ – means.

 Which is better – to be humble, or confident and assertive?  If you are going out clubbing is it more virtuous to be demure or brash and sexy?  Try to think of some virtues which clash? How do we decide which are good and which are not virtues at all?

 Virtue ethics has a different focus  It is concerned with personality not actions  It is non-normative and does not create laws.  It may be teleological but it is concerned with the end of life not the end of an action.  Virtue theory requires a sense of the end goal of human life.  This way we can tell what is the right thing to do.  But human nature is very diverse, we cannot be sure what this is.  This view of human nature may be unrealistic.