VIRTUE AS EXCELLENCE

Virtue
● excellent way of doing things
● aerte by the Greeks

Virtue is something that one strives for in time. One does not become an excellent person
overnight; this means that being virtuous can not be accomplished by a single act.

Excellence
● activity of the human soul and therefore, one needs to understand the very structure of a
person’s soul which must be directed by her rational activity in an excellent way

Two parts of the human soul:

1. Irrational element – consists of the vegetative and appetitive aspects
2. Rational faculty – man exercises excellence in him

Irrational Element:
● vegetative aspect – gives nutrition and provides the activity of physical growth in person.
Follows the natural processes involved in the physical activities and growth of a person.
● appetitive aspect – desiring faculty of man. Can be subjected to reason.

Two aspects of the rational faculty:

1. Moral – concerns the act of doing
2. Intellectual – concerns the act of knowing

One rational aspect where a person can attain excellence is in the intellectual faculty of the soul
through teaching.

Two ways by which one can attain intellectual excellence:

1. Philosophical
2. Practical

Philosophical wisdom
● deals with attaining knowledge about the fundamental principles an truths that govern the
universe

Practical wisdom
● excellence in knowing the right conduct in carrying out a particular act

Although the condition of being excellent can be attained by a person through the intellectual
aspect of the soul, this situation does not make her into a morally good individual.
It is necessary for humans to attain the intellectual virtue of practical wisdom in order to
accomplish a morally virtuous act.

Socrates Aristotle

moral goodness is already within the realm of
intellectual excellence. Knowing the good
implies the ability to perform morally virtuous
acts.
having intellectual excellence does not
necessarily mean that one already has the
capacity of doing the good. Knowing the good
that needs to be done is different from doing
the good that one needs to accomplish.

A moral person habitually chooses the good and consistently does good deeds. It is in this
constant act of choosing and doing the good that a person is able to form her character.

It is through one’s character that others know a person. Character then becomes the identification
mark of the person.