By the end of today‟s lesson

you will have:

 Examined the strengths and weaknesses
of virtue ethics
 Recapped an overview of the theory
 What are Virtues?

 A virtue is a positive character trait.

 Modern-day virtue ethicist Alastair
Macintyre points out that different
virtues have been prized by different
societies, and at different points in
history.
 Virtue Ethics is therefore a morally
relativist, non-cognitivist theory.
 Origins
 The ancient Greeks
recognised virtue as a
central element of
ethical thinking.
 Virtue is particularly
important in the
writings of Aristotle.
 The emphasis that the
theory puts on the
whole person is typical
of the ancient Greeks.
 A Different Kind of Theory
 Not the same as Utilitarianism or
Kantianism i.e. Not so much a guide for
moral decision-making, more a
description of the moral life.
 Utilitarianism and Kantianism ask “How
should I act?” – Virtue Theory asks
“How should I live my life?”, and “What
kind of person should I be?”
 It is interested in the whole person, not
just their actions.
 We are Judged by our
Character
 The theory suggests that we are
judged by our character, not specific
actions.
 An individual who has developed good
character traits (virtues) is judged to
be a morally good person.
 An individual who has developed bad
character traits (vices) is judged as a
morally bad person.
 Most of us have a mixture or virtues
and vices.
 Aristotle and the
Doctrine of the Mean
 Aristotle believed that the
moral man was the man of
virtue.
 He did not see virtue as the
opposite of vice.
 Virtue is the mean between
two extremes – a middle way.
 For example, courage is the Yet in some cases the
doctrine of the Golden mean
mean between cowardice and can not be applied. Aristotle
foolish bravado. dealt with this problem by
 Finding this middle way is the observing that what is evil is
key to leading a moral life. obviously evil, which relies on
our intuition to make the
distinction.
 How do we become Virtuous?
 We become virtuous by doing virtuous acts
 We become patient by doing patient acts
 We become brave through acts of bravery
 As with learning an instrument, we get better
with practice
 The virtuous life is a happy life – we will enjoy
acting virtuously
 Becoming virtuous is a developmental process, it
requires moral education
 The end purpose of man, claims Aristotle, is
rational thought and his highest good is to be
found in intellectual virtue
 Virtues in Homer‟s Greece

 Physical Strength
 Courage

 Cunning

 Friendship
 Virtues in Athens

 Courage
 Friendship

 Justice

 Temperance (self-control)

 Wisdom
 Christian Virtues
 St Ambrose (340-397) defined the following
Greek virtues as the four cardinal virtues:
 Courage
 Justice
 Temperance
 Wisdom
 He took the following three from St. Paul and
these became known as the three theological
virtues:
 Faith
 Hope
 Love (charity – Greek: caritas)
 Victorian Virtues

 Temperance
 Modesty

 Piety

 Obedience

 Conformity
 Virtues Today

 Tolerance

 Individuality

 Generosity

 Patience

 Loyalty
 Further Scholars
 Elizabeth Anscombe – 20th century
revival of Virtue Ethics – a society
without God would be anachronistic in a
society which craves rules. We should
instead focus on human flourishing
 Richard Taylor – Rejects a system of
morals based on Divine commands
 Phillipa Foot – Although virtues can not
guarantee happiness, they can go some
way to achieving it
 Advantages of Virtue Ethics

 Emphasis on pleasure and emotion –

it is good that we should enjoy
acting virtuously
 Moral education – being moral is a
developmental process
 Consideration of life as a whole –
“One swallow does not make a
spring” (Aristotle)
 Advantages of Virtue Ethics
 Virtue ethics avoids having to use a
formula (e.g. GHP) to work out what we
ought to do and focuses on the kind of
person we ought to be.
 It understand the need to distinguish
good people from legalists (i.e. Just
because one obeys the laws and follows
rules does not make one a good person)
Advantages of Virtue Ethics
It encourages us to be more
virtuous so that we will not need
an ethical theory to make our
decisions for us. It stresses
character- after all someone
who helps the poor out of
compassion does seem morally
superior to someone who does it
out of duty!
 Disadvantages of Virtue
Ethics
 Offers no solution to specific moral dilemmas
 Not everyone has the equal opportunity to
develop morally – do we judge them the same?
 Many non-virtuous people live happy lives, many
virtuous people are miserable
 Cultural relativism – whose virtues are best?
 We recognise that some non-virtuous people are
useful in our society; life would be dull without
them
 Disadvantages of Virtue
Ethics
 Virtue ethics seems to praise some
virtues that we might see as immoral
e.g. Soldiers fighting unjust wars may
be courageous but that does not make
them morally good.
 Louden points out that it is difficult to
decide who is virtuous on the outside
may not necessarily have good motives
and versa.
 Disadvantages of Virtue
Ethics
 Virtue ethics does not seem to have
room for basic concepts such as rights
and obligations, so as a theory of ethics
it seems inadequate in dealing with big
issues- it does not always have a view
about what makes an act right or wrong.
 How do we decide which virtues are to
be cultivated the most? Why should we
prefer certain ideals to others?
 Disadvantages of Virtue
Ethics
 Aristotle‟s Golden mean does not
easily to apply to all virtues. Is it
possible to take compassion to an
extreme, where it becomes a vice?
Even where there is a mean how do
we identify where it lies?
 Disadvantages of Virtue
Ethics
 Aristotle gave no guidance in situations
where Virtues conflict and where we
need rules to guide our actions. Because
the emphasis of the approach is on
being rather than doing, it can also be
seen as a selfish theory, placing greater
emphasis on personal development than
on the effect our actions have on
others.
 Disadvantages of Virtue
Ethics
 Aristotle was writing in the context of
the 4th century BC Greek city state, in
which inequalities between nobleman and
slaves were the norm. Alasdair
MacIntyre observes „the whole of
human life reaches its highest point in
the activity of a speculative philosopher
with a reasonable income‟
 Disadvantages of Virtue
Ethics
 Aristotle‟s virtues are masculine,
frequently associated with the
battlefield, such as bravery and honour.
Therefore his approach can be seen as
chauvinistic giving little credit to
feminine virtues such as humility and
empathy.
 In his defence Aristotle's static society
was very different to our own in which