Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Ethics: Theory and Practice Jacques P. Thiroux Keith W. Krasemann

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter Four Virtue Ethics

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Definition of Terms Virtue is moral excellence, righteousness, responsibility, or other exemplary qualities considered meritorious The emphasis is on the good or virtuous character of human beings themselves, rather than on their acts, consequences, feelings, or rules

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics Nichomachean Ethics are based on these tenets: – Reality and life are teleological in that they aim toward some end or purpose – The end of human life is happiness, and reason is the basic activity of all humans; therefore, the aim of human beings is to reason well so as to achieve a complete life

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics Tenets (cont’d): – Begin with the moral judgments of reasonable and virtuous human beings and then formulate general principles – Human beings have a capacity for goodness

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics Tenets (cont’d): – What is virtue and how does it relate to vice? Virtue is a mean, relative to use, between the excess and deficiency In shame, modesty is the mean between an excess of bashfulness and a defect of shamelessness

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Confucian Moral Self-Cultivation The Chinese term de, “virtue,” is the inherent power or tendency to affect others in a positive, dramatic, and powerful way for good In a Confucian world, one’s identity is at all times tied to the group and one’s relationships within the social order

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The Five Confucian Cardinal Relationships All Confucian virtues are carried out within the five cardinal relationships governed by reciprocity – Ruler and subject – Father and son – Husband and wife – Elder brother and younger brother – Friend and friend

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Confucian Harmony Ren, which means “human heartedness,” “benevolence,” “goodness,” or “humaneness,” is the chief Confucian virtue It highlights and enhances the natural relationships between the individual and the community – “one being with others”

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Confucian Harmony Li, “ritual propriety,” is the Confucian virtue that must be cultivated if one is to be a full participant in the community Li makes it possible for an individual to exhibit appropriate conduct in specific situations

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Idealist and Realist Conceptions of Confucianism Mengzi, or “Mencuius” – Held that human beings have a natural disposition toward goodness, and virtue is cultivated, metaphorically, as the watering of “sprouts”

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Idealist and Realist Conceptions of Confucianism Xunzi – Taught that humans are not naturally disposed toward goodness, but human nature is evil and must be overcome in the manner one straightens crooked wood or sharpens metal on a grinder

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Confucian Role Ethics Xiao, “family reverence” or “family feeling,” is the root of consummate conduct Confucian “role ethics” is a new type of ethical theory – Along with, but distinct from, traditional consequentialist, nonconsequentialist, and virtue ethics theories

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Confucian Role Ethics There is no equivalent ethical theory in the Western tradition, and this, Confucian role ethics must be understood on its own terms Confucian role ethics, in practice, produces a robust ethic of responsibility to particular persons in a matrix of role relationships to others

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Contemporary Analysis of Virtue Ethics Contemporary theories of virtue ethics are primarily a reaction against moral theories that attempt to fit our moral experience into a prior system of rules or preestablished ideals, specifically, consequentialism and Kantianism

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Alasdair MacIntyre’s Analysis of Virtue Ethics Alasdair MacIntyre provides a contemporary analysis of virtue ethics – The virtues are dispositions both to act and to feel in particular ways, and one must create virtuous feelings within oneself, not merely act virtuously

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Alasdair MacIntyre’s Analysis of Virtue Ethics – One must then decided what the practically wise and virtuous human being would do in any situation and then do the virtuous act that such a person would do

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Advantages of Virtue Ethics It strives to create the good human being, not merely good acts or rules It attempts to unify reason and emotion It emphasizes moderation, a quality prized by many ethicists

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Disadvantages or Problems Do human beings have an end or purpose? If so what is it, and how can we prove any of this? Are morals naturally implanted, or are they learned through experience?

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Disadvantages or Problems What is virtue, and what constitutes the virtues? – There seems to be a wide variety of opinions on this, so how can we decided what virtue really is and which virtues are really virtues?

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Disadvantages or Problems Who is the ideal virtuous human being, and how are we to determine or prove this? – Wouldn’t we all come up with different people who are the models of our individual ideas about virtue? – We could all agree on some kind of composite ethical person, but it would be difficult

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Vice and Virtue Vices are undesirable characteristics that become imbedded in an individual’s life through the indulgence of degrading appetites, lack of self-discipline and education, and the habitual practice of immoral conduct – For example, cowardice, jealousy, envy, greed, gluttony, and spite

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Vice and Virtue The vicious person is ruled not be reason but by impulse and lives a life tormented by inner tension and chaos Virtues are “human excellence” and consist of those traits of character that should be fostered in human beings: – Honesty, loyalty, courage, wisdom, moderation, civility, compassion, tolerance, and reverence

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. St. Augustine’s Vice St. Augustine fashioned an anatomy of evil by listing a number of vices and their manifestations Examples: – Pride imitates loftiness of mind – What does ambition seek except honor and glory – Sloth… seeks rest…

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Franklin’s Thirteen Virtues Benjamin Franklin presents a method for mastering the virtues He selects thirteen virtues and to each annexes a precept that is both action guiding and expressive of the extent of the meaning assigned to the virtue Example: – Temperance  Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation