Virtue Ethics

History Ancient Ethics Christian Ethics (adopted Aristotelean Ethics) Plato Aristotle (325 BC) Christian Ethics (adopted Aristotelean Ethics) 20th Century – Revival of Virtue ethics (Elizabeth Anscombe – 1958) Criticized laws conception of morals that deals with giving duties and obligations – rules which are applicable to any moral situations Relies on rigid principles and moral rules Rules/rigidness meaningless in modern society

What should I do? What rules should I follow? Fundamental Concepts What should I do? What rules should I follow? Utilitarianism – right/wrong Deontology – duty/obligation/prohibition What should I be? Virtue Ethics – character, virtue, excellence, flourishing

Telos Telos – Greek for purpose, end, goal, aspiration, the good (similar to an intrinsic good) What is the telos of a chopstick? To get food into your mouth – with precision. Can also ask about any other living thing? plant places roots in ground  its good, end is to get water, it is a good for it to get water Can also ask about an organ? What purpose does a heart have? A hand?

Do human beings have a function? What is the telos of a good taxi driver? To get you from one place to the next What is the telos of a mother? Father Aristotle argues by analogy: We allow that professions have functions (coblers, blacksmiths etc) and also that parts of the human body have a function (eyes, heart, ears etc) So if human beings are like these things, we should assume that human beings also have a function

HUMAN TELOS not PLEASURE Whatever the human good is, it should capture what is distinctive about human beings But pleasure is shared with other animals Therefore, pleasure is not the human good (it is “too brutish”)

Honor is not happiness Honor is dependent on what others think of us. It is thus too superficial. People pursue honors to reassure themselves that they are good— so honor is not pursued for its own sake. Wealth also is not happiness for the same reason—we pursue wealth for the sake of something else

Happiness is pursued for its own sake, not just for the sake of something else Human Telos: Eudamonia Happiness, Flourishing, Achieving Potential How is Eudamonia achieved? By exercising what is essential to humans; humans are rational animals Exercising human reason is

What is our function? The function of a human being should be something particular to human beings. It cannot be just life, because all other living things have that. It cannot be sensation, because that is shared by animals It must be reason, because the ability to reason distinguishes human beings from other things.

From rationality to Virtue One can perform their rational function well, or not so so well. To perform something well is to be virtuous Therefore, Happiness is an activity of the soul in accord with the soul’s proper excellence or virtue.

Two kinds of virtue Intellectual virtue: the virtue of knowledge or understanding Practical virtue: the virtue of action and feeling. Intellectual virtue is had by the philosopher, who lives a life of contemplation

Virtue – a stable disposition to act and feel according to some ideal or model of excellence So, you can’t give to charity once or twice and be a charitable character – it has to be a disposition of yours Aristotle emphasizes habit and doing things repetitively to become a better character Virtues are learnt / acquired by doing (though our natural temperaments may aid us or not)

Priority Even though virtue is not fundamental to morality (e.g. Utilitarianism), it can still be defined in terms of the fundamental concepts i.e. pleasure and pain; so a virtuous person is one who acts in accordance with rules that maximize pleasure over pain Similar for Kantian Ethics In this view, we determine what a person ought morally to do in a particular situation by considering what a person of good character would do in that situation. An act is morally right to the extent that it is the result of the agent's good character and morally wrong to the extent that it is the result of

Golden mean Virtue (Aristotle) is the balance between two behavoral extremenes of the same kind Virtue is moderation – never excess, never a dearth of

Virtues Sphere of action or feeling Excess (vice) Mean (virtue)   Sphere of action or feeling Excess (vice) Mean (virtue) Deficiency (vice) Fear and confidence Rashness Courage Cowardice Pleasure and pain Licentiousness Temperance Insensibility Getting and spending (minor) Prodigality Liberality Illiberality Getting and spending (major)A Vulgarity Magnificence Pettiness Honor and dishonor (major) Vanity Magnanimity Pusillanimity Honor and dishonor (minor) Ambition Proper ambition Unambitiousness Anger Irascibility Patience Lack of spirit Self-expression Boastfulness Truthfulness Understatement Conversation Buffoonery Wittiness Boorishness Social conduct Obsequiousness or flattery Friendliness Cantankerousness Shame Shyness Modesty Shamelessness Indignation Envy Righteous indignation Malicious enjoyment

Recall: Kant making a false promise – contrary to Categorical Imperative – so there is a duty – a rule which tells us – we should not act that way Virtue Ethics Ethics is simpler – we know that a false promise arises out of a dishonest character (or even if it is a slip i.e. atypical for an honest character – it encourage a dishonest character trait)

How do we nurture virtues? Utilitarians/Deontologists – intellectual ethics – study ethics to determine what moral duties really are Virtue Ethics – there is nothing to study – there is just the training of a skill – training your moral character/ moral virtue to be what they should be No intellectual exercises needed Find a nurturing environment – i.e. where you are surrounded by moral individuals Test your character out – by putting yourself in situations where your character is tested Find a moral exemplar – and imitate and have them train your what you should do

Virtues benevolence fairness reasonableness civility friendliness self-confidence compassion generosity self-control conscientiousness honesty self-discipline Cooperativeness industriousness self-reliance courage justice tactfulness courteousness loyalty thoughtfulness dependability moderation tolerance

Applying Virtue Ethics Virtues in general are done for the right reasons, with right motives, in the right manner, at the right time Example: courageous if one "endures and fears the right things, for the right reason, for the right motive, in the right manner, and at the right time"(70) Any one can get angry — that is easy — or give or spend money; but to do this to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right motive, and in the right way, that is not for every one, nor is it easy. (II.1109a27)

Courage According to Aristotle, courage is a virtue that is the mean between the excess of foolhardiness and the excess of cowardice - both of which are vices. How can one fail to be courageous? Endure or fear the wrong things – e.g. endure or fear spiders the wrong manner – e.g. soldier rushes into circumstances where survival is highly improbable The wrong time – e.g. fearing failure at a sports event prior to the event The wrong reason/motive – e.g. enduring fear on the battlefield for a horrible cause

Kindness Kindness is “a matter of having generous feelings towards others,” and includes not wanting others to suffer, and acting from a concern for other people. Fail to be kind: Wrong objects – kind towards a charlatan (e.g. telemarketers) i.e. to someone who is not suffering Wrong time – kind to someone before they suffer Wrong reasons/motive - being kind to someone to gain advantage (e.g. an employee gives a gift to their boss to gain favor)

Objection What happens when virtue conflict? Example Suppose that you friend has become entangled with the law. He is a fugitive and you know his whereabouts. The police come knocking at your door. What would a virtuous person do? A loyal friend would misdirect the police, but a good civilian would tell the truth. The problem is that virtue ethics is not specific enough; it doesn’t recommend a specific course of action in cases of virtue conflict Utilitarianism and Kantian ethics both have specific recommendations to make

Objection 2 Does Virtue Ethics Conflict with moral psychology? Several recent studies point to the fact that our disposition to act (i.e. virtues) are not as stable as we might think – and that external forces are better explanations for both our good and bad behavior

Princeton Theological Seminary Experiment Subjects in this experiment were students at Princeton Theological Seminary. As each subject arrived, he was informed that he was to give a talk that would be recorded in another building. Along the way to the place for the talk, the subject encountered a 'victim' slumped in a doorway. The question was under what conditions would a subject stop to help the victim. Half of the subjects were assigned to talk on the Good Samaritan Parable; the others were assigned a different topic. Some of the subjects were told they were late and should hurry; some were told they had just enough time to get to the recording room; and some were told they would arrive early. Judging by their responses to a questionnaire, they had different religious and moral orientations. The only one of these variables that made a difference was how much of a hurry the subjects were in. 63 per cent of subjects that were in no hurry stopped to help, 45 per cent of those in a moderate hurry stopped, 10 per cent of those that were in a great hurry stopped. It made no difference whether the students were assigned to talk on the Good Samaritan Parable, nor did it matter what their religious outlook was.

Millgram Experiment A LAB experiment at YALE University A self selecting sample (answered advertisements) 20 - 50 year old men They were paid $4 for one hour

The Procedure The participant was paired with a colleague of Milgram (the stooge) Thought they were taking part in an experiment on Memory / Learning Electric Shock machine slight/severe/danger: severe shock Volts ranged between 15 - 450 volts

The Procedure The participant (teacher) given a mild electric shock Then stooge wired up to the electric shock machine in next room The experiment began

The TASK Learner had to memorise these Teacher read series of word pairs e.g. blue sky, green grass, red balloon Learner had to memorise these Teacher then reads out one word e.g. Green ….. Learner to respond with the ‘pair match’

If a mistake was made Teacher told to give electric shock to learner Rising by 15 volts each mistake from 15 volts to 450 volts

What happened? The participants shook, trembled, and sweated They were pressed to continue “You must go on” “The experiment is important” “Please continue|” The learner shouted and yelled He could be heard through the wall He remained silent after 300 volts