1. Ben Hole, Winter 2016 Office hours after class.

2.  Admin stuff? / Where we are and what we’re doing  Finish EN.1  Start EN.2 Week, DateRequired Reading 1, 1/5Syllabus for Phil 340 1, 1/7Apology (all) 2, 1/12Meno (70-86); Phaedo (all) 2, 1/14Republic Book 1 (all); Book 2 (357-376) 3, 1/19Republic Book 2 (357-376); Book 4 (all) 3, 1/21Republic Book 4 (all); Book 8 (all) 4, 1/26Nicomachean Ethics Book 1 4, 1/28Nicomachean Ethics Book 1-2 5, 2/2Nicomachean Ethics Book 2-3; Book 6.13 5, 2/5Nicomachean Ethics Book 3-4 6, 2/9Nicomachean Ethics Book 4 6, 2/11Anscombe, “Modern Moral Philosophy,” Nussbaum, “Non-Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach” 7, 2/16Euthydemus (278-281); Irwin on the Stoics (PDF) 7, 2/18Stoics (Primary texts excerpts in PDF form) 8, 2/23Hursthouse, OVE Chapter 9; Annas, “Virtue Ethics: Which kind of naturalism?” 8, 2/25Driver, “Virtue Theory”; Hursthouse, “Are the Virtues the Proper Starting Place for Morality?" 9 & 10In-Class Paper Conference

4.  Eudaimonia ↓  Phronesis ↓  The Moral Virtues Intellectual vs. Moral Virtues

5. 1.The good as the aim of action. a.Every science (techne) and choice (proairesis) aims at some good. b.The ends of master sciences are preferable to the ends of subordinate ones. 2.Politics as the master science of the good. a.Politics is the most sovereign and comprehensive master science. b.Politics subsumes subordinate sciences such as strategy, oratory, and household sciences. c.So the end of politics is the good for humans. d.Securing this good for the entire polis is nobler and more divine than securing it for just one person. 3.The limitations of ethics and politics. a.Ethics and politics are imprecise. b.So we should be well-schooled and mature before we study ethics/politics. 4.Eudaimonia is the good. a.Ethics and politics aim at this good. b.Eudaimonia is what people mean by “living well” and “doing well.” c.To be a good student of ethics and politics, one must have a good upbringing. 5.Differing views of eudaimonia. a.Three kinds of lives: i.the pleasurable life ii.the political life iii.the contemplative life (to be discussed later) b.The pleasurable life is vulgar – not properly human. c.Grounding the political life in honor is insufficient. The value of honor depends on who honors you. Some seek honor from unworthy people who confer honor on the wrong grounds. It is better to seek honor from worthy people who confer honor on the grounds of virtue. 6.Criticisms Plato’s view. a.What is the form of a series of numbers? b.Good has multiple meanings and is used in different ways. It cannot be something universal, common to everyone. c.What is the meaning of “things-as-such” (“good-as-such”)? The Third Man Argument: if good is good because it participates in the form of good, then there needs to be some other account of good to explain why both good and the form of good are good. d.Distinction between what is intrinsically good and what is good because it is conducive to what is intrinsically good.

6. 1.The good as the aim of action. a.Every science (techne) and choice (proairesis) aims at some good. b.The ends of master sciences are preferable to the ends of subordinate ones. 2.Politics as the master science of the good. a.Politics is the most sovereign and comprehensive master science. b.Politics subsumes subordinate sciences such as strategy, oratory, and household sciences. c.So the end of politics is the good for humans. d.Securing this good for the entire polis is nobler and more divine than securing it for just one person. 3.The limitations of ethics and politics. a.Ethics and politics are imprecise. b.So we should be well-schooled and mature before we study ethics/politics.  Teleology  4 Causes  Eudaimonia is the telos for humans  Teche; politics is the architectonic techne

7. 3.The limitations of ethics and politics. a.Ethics and politics are imprecise. b.So we should be well-schooled and mature before we study ethics/politics. 4.Eudaimonia is the good. a.Ethics and politics aim at this good. b.Eudaimonia is what people mean by “living well” and “doing well.” c. To be a good student of ethics and politics, one must have a good upbringing. 5.Differing views of eudaimonia. a.Three kinds of lives: i.the pleasurable life ii.the political life iii.the contemplative life (to be discussed later) b.The pleasurable life is vulgar – not properly human. c.Grounding the political life in honor is insufficient. The value of honor depends on who honors you. Some seek honor from unworthy people who confer honor on the wrong grounds. It is better to seek honor from worthy people who confer honor on the grounds of virtue.  Aristotle’s methodology:  dialectical and demonstrative  Surveying endoxa  Best lives

8.  EN.1096a30-1096b5 Form Sensible Object1 Sensible Object 2 Sensible Object3 Plato’s Theory of the Forms Whenever we can apply a single term to more than one object, there is a corresponding Form to that object. (Ph.100c; Rep.596a)

9. Eudaimonia is final (not aimed at some other end) and self-sufficient (one only need live a eudaimon life). The Function Argument 1.For anything that has a function or activity, its good or excellence (virtue) depends on that function. (If human beings have a function then the good of human beings will depend on that function.) 2.The function of anything is something peculiar to that thing. 3.Only humans engage in the kind of rational activity they engage in. 4.The function of man is activity of soul in accordance with reason, or not apart from reason. 5.The good of man, or happiness, is then rational activity in accordance with virtue.

10. “Aristotle is attempting to move from purely descriptive and non- evaluative claims about what the human function is to explicitly normative conclusions about what is good for men and about how men ought to live very roughly, the worry that Aristotle attempt s to move from an 'is' to an 'ought'” (Whiting, 35)

11. Whiting on the Function Argument “commentators have often viewed [Aristotle’s] argument as consisting in two moves– first, the move from (a) what it is to be a man (or the function of man) to (b) what it means to be a good man; and second the move from (b) … to (c) what is good for man” (Whiting, 34) 1. Object to the move from (a) to (b). This move assumes that men, like body parts or tools, have “instrumental functions or virtues which presuppose their being good or useful for some further ends or purpose” (34) – but the assumption is false. 2. Object to the move from (a) to (b) and (b) to (c) “on the grounds that peculiarity is no recommendation… nor does it follow that it is good for men to exercise [a peculiar] capacity” (34). 3. Object to the move from (b) to (c) “on the ground that even if a good man is one who exercises these capacities, it does not follow that it is good for any individual man to exercise these capacities” (35).

12.  EN.1.7  EN.10.6-8 Howard Curzer: “Criteria for Happiness in Nicomachean Ethics 1.7 and X.6-8”

13. 8.Popular views about eudaimonia confirm this. a.Three kinds of goods. i.external goods ii.goods of the soul iii.goods of the body b.Eudaimonia is an activity of the soul, which confirms many popular views. c.This involves practical and theoretical wisdom (phronesis and sophia), which confirms many popular views. d.This also involves acting in accordance with particular virtues, which also confirms many popular views. e.This kind of activity is pleasurable. f.External goods (e.g. friends, wealth, noble birth, beauty, etc.) may be necessary for some virtues. 9.How eudaimonia is acquired? a.Is it acquired through learning and discipline or through chance? b.Some goods are acquired through chance and these seem to be necessary but not sufficient. c.Eudaimonia requires complete virtue and a complete lifetime. 10.Can a man be called happy during his lifetime? a.E.g., Solon told Croesus that he cannot determine whether Croesus is happy until the end of his life. (Croesus had a great life, which was then destroyed by the Persian War.) b.Our lives may influence the lives of our descendants. c.We are always vulnerable to bad luck. d.But the eudaimon person will always be happy in the sense that he lives his life in accordance with virtue. Living virtuously will shine through bad luck. 11.Do the fortunes of the living affect the dead? a.Only in a very weak sense, if at all. 12.The praise accorded to eudaimonia. a.We praise virtuous people because they are virtuous. b.So too, being a eudaimon is praiseworthy. 13.The psychological foundations of the virtues. a.The virtue in question is of the human soul, not body. b.In order to aim at the good, the student of politics must therefore have knowledge of the soul. c.The soul consists in two parts: rational and irrational. d.The irrational part is twofold: i.One part is vegetative in nature, such as when we sleep. ii.Another part seems to partake in reason: reasons and appetites. e.Distinction between intellectual and moral virtues.

14. Structure of Aristotle’s Virtue Ethical Theory Review outline Start doctrine of the mean

15.  “How should I live?” instead of “What should I do?”  Eudaimonia ↓  Phronesis ↓  The Moral Virtues Intellectual vs. Moral Virtues

16. There are many moral rules of thumb, but strict obedience to rules is bound to lead us into error. Morality is an imprecise discipline. Context sensitivity.

17. VirtueSphere of Life Virtues of feelings Courage Fear/confidence Temperance (Bodily) pleasure Virtues of external goods Generosity Money Magnificence Magnanimity Honor Proper Pride Virtues concerned with social life Mildness Anger Truthfulness Truth-telling Wit Pleasure amusements Friendliness Pleasure in daily life

18. Chapters 1. How a Virtue of Character is Acquired 2. Habituation 3. The Importance of Pleasure and Pain 4. Virtuous Actions versus Virtuous Character 5. Virtue of Character: Its Genus 6. Virtue of Character Its Differentia 7. The Particular Virtues of Character 8. Relations between Mean and Extreme States 9. How Can We Reach the Mean?  EN.2.1.1103a15ff  EN.2.3.1104b13ff  EN.2.6 (all)

19. Define virtue A. State that decides B. Consisting in a mean C. Relative to us D. By reference to reason to which a prudent person would define it

20. Virtues are complex character traits, or sets of dispositions, that involve a person's perceptions, thoughts, motives, and behavior. A. State that decides B. Consisting in a mean C. Relative to us D. By reference to reason to which a prudent person would define it

21. A virtue is a state of character, a steady disposition to act, think, and feel in particular ways. Virtues direct us to choose the “mean” between extremes, avoiding both excess and defect. A. State that decides B. Consisting in a mean C. Relative to us D. By reference to reason to which a prudent person would define it

22. There are two conflicting interpretations of the doctrine: 1. The mean is metaphorical, or a heuristic device for finding the right way to feel and act. 2. The mean is an actual amount of something. Most of the literature concerns the strength of the latter, quantitative account. 1. Hursthouse argues that this view is false, and that interpreting the doctrine quantitatively attributes a false view to Aristotle. 2. Curzer responds to Hursthouse by arguing that Aristotle commits himself to a quantitative account, and that such an account is plausible.

23. Week, DateRequired Reading 1, 1/5Syllabus for Phil 340 1, 1/7Apology (all) 2, 1/12Meno (70-86); Phaedo (all) 2, 1/14Republic Book 1 (all); Book 2 (357-376) 3, 1/19Republic Book 2 (357-376); Book 4 (all) 3, 1/21Republic Book 4 (all); Book 8 (all) 4, 1/26Nicomachean Ethics Book 1 4, 1/28Nicomachean Ethics Book 1-2 5, 2/2Nicomachean Ethics Book 2-3; Book 6.13 5, 2/5Nicomachean Ethics Book 3-4 6, 2/9Nicomachean Ethics Book 4 6, 2/11Anscombe, “Modern Moral Philosophy,” Nussbaum, “Non-Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach” 7, 2/16Euthydemus (278-281); Irwin on the Stoics (PDF) 7, 2/18Stoics (Primary texts excerpts in PDF form) 8, 2/23Hursthouse, OVE Chapter 9; Annas, “Virtue Ethics: Which kind of naturalism?” 8, 2/25Driver, “Virtue Theory”; Hursthouse, “Are the Virtues the Proper Starting Place for Morality?" 9 & 10In-Class Paper Conference Skip 3.1-5 Tuesday (2/2): doctrine of the mean, 3.6-12, 6.13