1. Virtue Ethics: Prescription for a Well-Lived Life

2. The guiding question of Aristotelian virtue ethics:
NOT “What should I do?”
(or, “what actions are right?”)
BUT “What kind of person should I be?”
(or, “how should I be in order to have a good life?”)

3. Three core concepts:
Excellence or virtue (arête)-- the excellent performance of distinctively human function.
Wisdom, practical or moral (phronesis), to achieve balance between extremes and to choose appropriate priorities.
Flourishing, happiness, or well-being (eudaimonia)-- a life well-lived, a deeply satisfying life intimately connected with successful living (interpreted as the fulfilment of natural potential).

4. We can contrast two approaches to the moral life:
The childhood conception of morality:
Comes from outside (usually parents).
Is negative (“don’t touch that stove burner!”).
Rules and habit
formation are
central.
The adult conception of morality.
Comes from within (self-directed).
Is positive (“I want to be this kind of person.”).
Virtue-centered, often modeled on ideals.

5. Both of these conceptions of morality are appropriate at different times in life.
Adolescence and early adulthood is the time when some people make the transition from the adolescent conception of morality to the adult conception.

6. “Some” people make the transition?
Moral education may initially seek to control unruly desires through rules, the formation of habits, etc.
Ultimately, moral education aims at forming rightly-ordered desires, that is, teaching people to desire what is genuinely good for them.
Sadly, not everybody gets there.

7. Aristotle draws an interesting contrast:
“Evil people, who yield to vice because they do not believe that the virtues are worth striving for,”
“Incontinent people, who are not able to control their desires and act them out instead,”
“Continent people, who have unruly desires but manage to control them.”
“Temperate people, whose desires are naturally—or through habit, second-nature— directed toward that which is good for them.”
Weakness of will (akrasia) occurs when individuals cannot keep their desires
under control.
SOURCES: , and .

8. What are the “practical virtues” that lead to a harmonious, fulfilled life?
Courage
Temperance
Liberality
Magnificence
Magnanimity
Proper ambition
Patience
Truthfulness
Wittiness
Friendliness
Modesty
Righteous indignation
(as Aristotle sees things)

9. Virtue As the Golden Mean
Strength of character (virtue, excellence), Aristotle suggests, involves finding the proper balance between two extremes:
Excess: having too much of something.
Deficiency: having too little of something.
The aim is not mediocrity, but harmony and balance.

10. Examples of the Golden Mean
Attitude toward self:
Servility, self-deprecation
Proper pride, self-respect
Arrogance, conceit, vanity
Attitude toward others’ offenses:
Doormat; ignoring offenses
Anger, forgiveness, understanding
Revenge, grudge, resentment
Attitude toward friends:
Indifference
Loyalty
Obsequiousness
Attitude toward others’ suffering:
Callousness
Compassion
Pity
Attitude toward death and danger:
Cowardice
Courage
Foolhardiness
Attitude toward people in general:
Exploitation
Respect
Deferentiality

11. What Makes a Person Virtuous?
Motivation—acts performed for their own sake, not for presumed consequences
Conscious, deliberate choice
Consistency and habit, via discipline and practice
Temperance, reaching “the Golden Mean”

12. Isn’t virtue ethics just egoism?
No, because humans are social animals, built for living in communities, so our behavior toward others is innately oriented to self AND others’ well-being.
A good life requires a good community.
We strive for virtuous communities because that’s how we want to live, and that’s how human function is best fulfilled.

13. Highlights: A Virtuous Person…
Consistently, and with proper motivation, does what is right; does not do what is wrong.
Learns by observing and imitating, and by discipline and practice.
Practices temperance and moderation.
Has the wisdom to balance between extremes and to choose appropriate priorities.
Has well-ordered desires and lives a fulfilled life in a community of virtuous others.

14. Sources
accessed
STANFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY
Lawrence M. Hinman, Univ. of San Diego, accessed
accessed
accessed
accessed