Virtue Ethics Starter – Anagrams… Front Sheet – Checklist – Huxley quote opposite HWK – reminder and noting down of the golden means as presented by Aristotle LO s To know the definitions of some of the key basic terms including eudaimonia and the golden mean   To understand virtue ethics as agent-centred and opposed to the ethics of dilemma To consider how to answer Keenan’s questions of character with following virtuous examples

Virtue Ethics How does Aristotle’s quote differ from other kinds of normative ethics??? Agent-centred not act-centred…

MacIntyre and Ethics of Dilemma ‘You walk into a shop and see someone stealing…blah blah blah’ What did MacIntyre make of this type of ethics? Why?

MacIntyre and Ethics of Dilemma Natural Law is too legalistic! Divine Command Theory is irrelevant in a secular age! Kantian Ethics leads to Nazi Germany! Utilitarianism lacks intrinsic goods!

Agent-Centred Ethics “We are not concerned to know what good is but how to become good people.” Aristotle – Nichomachean Ethics “The ethical condition is not the condition of having a certain right theory; rather the ethical condition is having a certain right character.” Alasdair MacIntyre

James Keenan – The Virtuous Life Keenan asks:- Who am I? What do I want to become? How do I get where I want to go?

Virtuous Life A modern approach to ‘what do I want to become’ in virtue ethics is mimicking the virtuous life. Using an example of a virtuous agent gives an individual examples of virtues to hold to and examples of these virtues in practice. “Virtues cannot be self-contained.” Robert Adams. In other words, they must be put into practice to be virtuous

Virtuous People In pairs, read the example you are given and try to analyse what virtuous traits these might lead to.

Summary Try to explain some of these ideas to a ten year-old. Consider:- agent-centred, against dilemma ethics, living a virtuous life, following examples Have you underlined/highlighted the following:- Any direct quotes Keywords; agent-centred, dilemma-based ethics, virtuous life Scholars; james keenan, aristotle, macintyre, robert adams