1. Summary of Virtue Ethics
Why is pleasure important to Virtue Ethics according to Aristotle?
What purpose does practical reason serve according to Aristotle?

2. Summary of Virtue Ethics
Outline the basics of Virtue Ethics on your whiteboards…

3. Summary of Virtue Ethics
P1. Everything has a function (ergon)
IC. Therefore humans must also have a function
P2. Our function is our characteristic activity, determined by our soul (psyche)
P3. We share nutrition/growth with plants (so that cannot be our function). We share perception with animals (so that cannot be our function). But only humans have a rational soul.
P4. Our characteristic activity (function) lies in the rational aspects of our soul.
IC. Therefore the function of a human is to exercise the rational aspects of our soul.
P5. To be a good X requires X fulfilling its function well through the exercise of the appropriate virtue/excellence (arête)
P6. Therefore to be a good human requires exercising those virtues through the rational aspects of the soul.
M.C. Therefore the good life for a human is achieved by exercising those virtues through the rational aspects of the soul.

4. Summary of Virtue Ethics
P1. Everything has a function (ergon)
IC. Therefore humans must also have a function
P2. Our function is our characteristic activity, determined by our soul (psyche)
P3. We share nutrition/growth with plants (so that cannot be our function). We share perception with animals (so that cannot be our function). But only humans have a rational soul.
P4. Our characteristic activity (function) lies in the rational aspects of our soul.
IC. Therefore the function of a human is to exercise the rational aspects of our soul.
P5. To be a good X requires X fulfilling its function well through the exercise of the appropriate virtue/excellence (arête)
P6. Therefore to be a good human requires exercising those virtues through the rational aspects of the soul.
M.C. Therefore the good life for a human is achieved by exercising those virtues through the rational aspects of the soul.
In addition to this we looked closer at how we should apply the virtues, using the doctrine of the mean.
We explained how Virtues can be developed through habit and practice.
We also covered actions can be classed as voluntary, involuntary, mixed and non-voluntary and this classification dictates whether or not someone should be deemed responsible for their actions.
Finally we discussed how pleasure plays an important role in developing the virtues, and how the use of practical reason can guide us to the correct choices but requires moral virtue in order to actually follow those choices.

5. The VE Process Desire to achieve the Good (Eudaimonia).
Deliberate about the ways you can achieve this good.
Choose the correct way to achieve this good.
Voluntarily carry out the action that will allow you to achieve this good.
Practice and habituate the action until it becomes part of your character.
Excel at the particular action and make it one of your virtues. Develop a virtuous disposition.
Having a virtuous disposition means you will act in the right way when that virtue is applied.
Achieve this in all areas of life and your decision making and you will achieve Eudaimonia.

6. Whiteboards!
One thing you find appealing about virtue ethics? Explain why.
One thing that worries you about virtue ethics as a moral theory – explain why.
One thing you’d like to understand more.

7. Problem 1: Lack of Clarity
Write an explanation from a virtue theorist explaining to someone how to work out whether they should give money to charity.
What problems do you encounter?
What has virtue ethics not provided us?
What do the other theories have that VE lacks?

8. Virtue Ethics Vs Moral Rules
One of the features we expect to see in an effective ethical theory is some clear guidance on how to act. Utilitarianism (hedonic calculus) and Kantian ethics (categorical imperative) provide rules or guidelines that can be applied to different situations and explain how we should make judgements, but does Aristotle’s virtue ethics do the same?

9. Virtue Ethics Vs Moral Rules
We might say that his doctrine of the mean provides these guidelines – if we ascribe to the view that it means “Act moderately in any situation”. The problem is, as we’ve already said this is not the view that Aristotle himself took of his theory.

10. Virtue Ethics Vs Moral Rules
Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean provides a complex analysis of virtue. It describes how virtuous acts are in a mean between excessive and deficient response, and that this mean is relative to the situation.
It describes how the mean response is the right response, leading to the most appropriate behaviour, which may even sometimes entail an extreme responses.
So, far from offering clear guidance, the doctrine of the mean suggests that every situation is different and there is no single rule, and for some this is too vague.

11. Applying Virtue Ethics
This means that any discussion about applying Aristotelean ethics becomes a debate about what a virtuous person should do with no clear, definite answer.
Aristotle says explicitly that the ‘mean’ in each case ‘can be determined by a person of practical wisdom’ (and indeed it’s practical wisdom he thinks leads to the “mean” virtues we’ve listed previously) but it’s difficult to see how this helps us. If no-one we know has sufficiently developed their intellectual virtues – how do we decide what to do?
It seems you need to be virtuous – in order to work out what is virtuous!

12. How might a virtue ethicist respond?

13. Are either of these responses adequate? What do you think?
Morals are vague – we need to be aware that sometimes there aren’t easy answers, and a one-size- fits-all rule will always have exceptions.
Practical wisdom provides clarity – we are supposed to carefully think our actions through. If we do this enough we will hopefully develop the characteristics that allow us to be virtuous.
Are either of these responses adequate? What do you think?

14. V-Rules
Rosalind Hursthouse has argued that through the virtues Aristotle has identified, he does offer guidance on how to act after all. Aristotle tells us that we apply practical wisdom in order to act virtuously and to avoid acting viciously (i.e. in excess or deficiently); also, through practical wisdom, Aristotle gives us specific examples of the virtues that we should strive for, and the vices we should avoid. Hursthouse says that, taken together, these virtues and vices do offer rules or principles for action, and she calls these ‘v- rules’. So virtues carry a positive prescription for action (‘do X’), while vices carry a negative prescription (‘don’t do Y’).

15. V-Rules
Given what you know about Aristotles Virtues and Vices, what would you say the V-rules are in the following situations?:
Lying to someone in order to cover up scratching their car.
Refusing to pay money you can easily afford to a charity that could desperately use it.
Not jumping in to a river to save a drowning dog because you’re afraid of water.
Wanting to move up in the company so much that you take credit for other peoples work.

16. Counter-response
V-Rules are all well and good, but aren’t virtues relative to different societies? Which ones do we follow?
Humility & faith
Warrior courage
Proper pride

17. Further Response James Rachels: This is a weak criticism!
“There are some virtues that span across all cultures, and without which a culture cannot thrive.”
Examples?
Love, loyalty, generosity, courage
“These are derived from human nature, as Aristotle says.”

18. 5 minutes – Summary So Far…

19. Criticism 2: Circularity
Copy this onto your whiteboard (you can abbreviate it if you wish).
Aristotle attempts to answer the question ‘what is a virtuous act’ by pointing to virtuous people.
In what way is this circular reasoning?

20. Response Maybe we can use Eudaimonia to avoid the circle?
The virtuous person is one who is flourishing, living the good life.
Does this solve the problem of circularity?

21. Does eudaimonia solve the problem?
Mackie: NO!

22. 2 minutes
Write a sentence to summarise this criticism and then state whether or not you agree with the issue.

23. Does VE have an issue with moral dilemmas?

24. Does VE have an issue with moral dilemmas?
Axe-murderer style dilemmas not a problem
Virtues can be in the extreme!
In this case a deficiency of honesty and an excess of loyalty / justice is appropriate
But what about cases where two or more virtues seem to clash?

25. Criticism 3 – Competing virtues
There are some moral dilemmas where there is more than one virtuous thing we could do.
Both also have negative consequences.
Virtue ethics provides no way to choose what the right thing to do in these situations is.

26. Euthanasia
Virtues of charity and love that may lead us to end someone's life.
Virtues of justice that might prevent us from ever taking a life.

27. Response: Hursthouse:
Moral dilemmas are genuinely difficult – no easy answer
Either course of action has a ‘moral remainder’ – an emotional impact that reminds you of the hard decision you made.
This is significant for the agent, even life changing
A strength of V. E. Is that it acknowledges this.

28. 5 minutes
Summarise this final criticism and explain the response Hursthouse gives. Do you agree with her answer?