1. Lecture 26: Virtue

2. Utilitarianism & Kantianism
Virtue Ethics
Investigates the moral value of actions
Attempt to derive rules to distinguish between moral and immoral actions
Provide guides for how an agent should conform their actions
Investigates the character or person of an agent
Attempts to discover what makes a person good
Focuses on which character traits are good
Ethics

3. Plato’s Problem: The Immoralists

4. In Plato’s Republic Socrates asks, what is justice
In Plato’s Republic Socrates asks, what is justice? Why should I be moral?
Thrasymachus responds:
“Justice is the advantage of the stronger”
Justice/injustice is defined by rules and laws created and enforced by the strongest in society to suit themselves
This is a version of legal positivism
Three things to note:
Thrasymachus provides a rule, not examples.
This rule has extremely wide application but, if correct, each society will have very different notions of justice and injustice
Socrates rejects this answer because the powerful sometimes don’t always recognize what is in their best interests.
Immorality

5. Immorality Thrasymachus modifies his hypothesis:
Being immoral “is to one’s profit and advantage”
Claims that being immoral is better for an individual than being moral
His claim is that immoral people get more money, riches, rewards etc.
For example:
If I want a nice car
A: I could do the right thing. I have to work hard, save lots of money, refrain from buying any other frivolous items, be good at my job etc. Or
B: I could do the wrong thing. Go out and steal one, or steal someone’s credit, borrow money I don’t plan to pay back etc.
Thrasymachus argues that B is the best option
Immorality

6. Glaucon and Adeimantus defend a modified version of Thrasymachus’ argument:
(A) Glaucon: justice is a compromise between:
I. The best: To do wrong and not get punished
II. The worst: To be wronged and to not be able to get revenge
Laws are created to try and avoid both extremes
(B) Adeimantus: People praise morality for its rewards
But
Those who are moral get the same rewards as those who only appear to be moral
Therefore; appearing moral is just as good (if not better) than being moral
Immorality

7. Immorality The Ring of Gyges
The ring of Gyges allows its wearer to become invisible.
The ring’s wearer is free to do whatever they want without the normal consequences.
What would you do if you had the ring of Gyges?
Are there any acts in our list that you would commit with the ring but you wouldn’t ordinarily?
In Glaucon’s story the ring’s wearer seduces the queen, kills the king, and takes over the kingdom.
Glaucon uses this story to show that we are only good because we want to avoid the consequences of our immoral actions.
The story shows that anyone in the same situation would do the same.
Immorality

8. Immorality Why should I be moral?
Immoralists: Being immoral is better than being moral, but appearing moral is better than appearing to be immoral:
If I am immoral I am likely to be punished
But, appearing moral is the same as being moral
Being immoral is better than being moral
Therefore one should try to be immoral and avoid the consequences by pretending to be moral
Immorality

9. Immorality Socrates’ Problem:
Thrasymachus et al. argue that something is good or bad depending entirely on its consequences (Teleological)
But Socrates claims that morality ought to be good in itself and in its consequences (Deontological & Teleological)
Socrates‘ challenge is to prove that:
Being moral is better than being immoral
Actually being moral is better than only appearing to be moral
Even if immoral people appear happy, they are in fact miserable.
Immorality

10. Plato’s Virtues

11. Plato’s Virtue Theory According to Plato:
A good or moral person is someone who possesses Justice in their soul
The soul is divided into three parts:
Reason
Spirit
Appetite
Justice occurs when the three parts of the soul are in harmony, guided by reason
“Virtue then, it seems, would be a kind of health and beauty and fine fitness of the soul”
Injustice occurs when confusion reigns in the soul
“Vice is a disease and ugliness and weakness”
Plato’s Virtue Theory

12. Plato The Soul Rational
Opposed to Appetite And Responsible for Leading the Soul. The Head.
Virtue: Wisdom
Spirited
Courageous and Spirited Part of The Soul. The Heart.
Virtue: Courage
Appetitive
Animalistic Component Including Lusts, Irrational Desires, Greed. The.. “Below the Midriff”
Virtue: Moderation
Plato

13. Plato Justice in the soul
Reason
Spirit
Appetite
Appetite
Spirit
Reason
Justice is a harmony between the three components of the soul
Injustice occurs when confusion or disharmony prevails in the soul
Plato

14. Glaucon: the question is the same as asking why should I be healthy?
Plato’s response to the immoralists:
Why should I act morally?
Glaucon: the question is the same as asking why should I be healthy?
Being just is better than being unjust in the same way that being healthy is better than being unhealthy (good in itself and for its consequences)
In response to the ring of Gyges: The owner of the ring of Gyges is making himself unhealthy if he continues to commit moral acts according to Plato
It is better to be poor and have justice, than the king of a country without it.
Virtue is its own reward.
Plato

15. Aristotle’s ethics

16. Aristotle Outline Lived 384 – 322 B.C.
Greek philosopher who was taught by Plato and taught Alexander the great
Endorsed a theory of Virtue ethics similar to Plato’s
Studied politics, poetry, physics, astronomy, biology, and philosophy.
Among the most influential philosophers in the world
Aristotle

17. Aristotle Aristotle maintains the following:
All things aim towards some good
For Humans, this good is happiness/well-being (Eudamonia)
Happiness is complete and self-sufficient
Some other goods include:
Object Telos
Pen Writing
Knife To cut food
Harp To play music
Harpist To play music well
Aristotle

18. Reason
The goodness of a human lies in fulfilling her proper function
Q: What is the proper function of a human?
A: It depends on what makes humans unique
Q: What makes humans unique?
A: It is not perception, eating, reproducing, (animals and plants do these too)
The proper functionality of a human lies in her rationality (reason)
According to Aristotle rationality has two parts:
It obeys ‘the rules of reason’
It possesses and conceives of rational rules
Aristotle

19. Aristotle The good life (Eudamonia)
“The proper function of man, then, consists in an activity of the soul in conformity with a rational principle or, at least, not without it”
“In speaking of the proper function of a given individual we mean that it is the same in kind as the function of an individual who sets high standards for himself”
“The good of man is an activity of the soul in conformity with excellence or virtue”
The good life is one in which the individual uses their function of rationality in accordance with the virtues
Aristotle

20. Virtues
Virtues are character traits that we reveal through our actions
There are two types of virtue:
Intellectual virtues
Ethical virtues
Ethical virtues are means between extremes
For example, courage is the mean between cowardice (a deficiency) and foolhardiness (an excess)
The virtues only provide a means of distinguishing between moral and immoral people; not actions
For example, one can be courageous even if an action is not courageous
Aristotle

21. Aristotle Aristotle’s Virtues Intellectual virtue (excellence)
Formed through being taught
Moral Virtues
Formed by and manifested through habits
Courage
Temperance
Honesty
Humility
We are born with the capacity to learn the virtues but they are learnt from experience
Aristotle

22. Aristotle The Virtuous Individual The immoral Individual Possesses:
Courage
Temperance
Honesty
Humility
Possesses:
Cowardice or recklessness
Gluttony
Dishonesty or naivety
Arrogance or self- loathing
Aristotle

23. Are the following moral or immoral according to Aristotle’s Virtue theory?
Murder
Lying
Stealing
Cheating in exams
Invading foreign nations
Slavery
Oppressing women
According to Aristotle we cannot measure the moral value of individual actions but only the person
Aristotle

24. Are the following moral or immoral according to Aristotle’s Virtue theory?
Adolf Hitler
Superman
Stealing
Mother Theresa
George Bush
Bernie Madoff
Jack Kevorkian (Dr. Death)
According to Aristotle we need to see
Whether such individual’s are aiming toward human excellence
What virtues or vices an individual possesses
Aristotle

25. Discussion

26. Why might virtue theory be a more suitable alternative to act-based moral theories?
Why might they be an unsuitable alternative?
Can we ever adequately judge whether an individual has reached Eudamonia or not?
Is happiness, reason and virtue the main function and telos of humans? Who might agree/disagree with this claim?
Why might virtue theory be incomplete?
Discussion