Return to Virtue: Introductory Podcast

Aristotle: To him, ethics was the implication of living the good life – what does it mean to live the life
fully as human being – what does it mean to realize your full potential as human – answer is ethics

Millennial have genuine interest in living full life/making a difference but do not understand what that
might mean -return to virtue is central to this idea and provides framework to living full life

Aristotle is consistent with people of faith and also with seculars – he gives consistent framework that
why certain behavior lead to happiness and others don’t

Implications of Framework

What does it mean to be human being? Acc to Aristotle, Humans are animals and what distinguishes us
from others is that we have free will and ability of abstract conceptualization. So to fully flourish, these 2
aspects of human nature must be nourished and emphasized. So use free will to do good for me and
leading life that must be thoughtful and making good choices. Finding the right balance between
extremes and have presence of mind. So live life in which you develop these habits, then Aristotle would
say that you are on path of being full fledge human being.

Love: discerning to do good for the other for the sake of other – might be sacrificial act as its for good of
other – choose rationally to do good for you – and that is when we are really flourishing as animals – be
more thoughtful of your decisions and their implications – you are already impacting so many people
directly and indirectly who come in contact with you so this form of self giving love can be practiced
everyday right away

Need to build sustainable habits/practice regularly the right behavior in order to deliver and act certain
way. Reproducing that experience would need attention to it on day to day basis – you might have the
desire to do well but need discipline to actually do it when situation arises

Current society emphasizes that happiness hinges on material things and marketeers job is to create
that pull so you need to consciously make decisions to be attentive in your journey. Be deliberate about
how you spend your time and have purpose.

Virtue: having well developed and stable capacity for making decisions that cause you to flourish
Things are causes – events are not causes – If it throw stone to break the window, the event/process of
me throwing the stone is not the ‘cause’, it is the rock itself which is the ‘cause’. Cause and Effect are
happening simultaneously

Imagination vs Intellect – can bring image to mind when say triangle and understand also what it
means.. but cant imagine 10000 sided polygon but have the ability to grasp abstract concept (intellect) –
intellect used imagination and sensation as inputs

Humans can do induction, other animals can only do deduction (how to go though maze) but cant figure
out why professor on ground

Intellect is to find out what is good for you and will is to actualize that goodl

Passions are animal level desires that are triggered, don’t make choice to be angry but environment
influences it – passions neither good nor bad, we only need to moderate them

Passions need to be in harmony with intellect will support human flourishing, otherwise would get
enslaved by them

Rational human means we have ability to think about situation, deliberate on it and make choice, act on
it – that’s human act- and if it causes us to flourish then it’s a good act. What are those good acts?
Aristotle will answer that
Class 1

Only way you are gonna be ethical if you are motivated to be ethical

Sustainable ethics – if you do somethings all the time – legal bar is low bar and sometime legal things
can be unethical – or you may know you would just not get caught – so no motivation then do ethical
thing and illegal as well

We have duty to do right thing – but its not easy

We are interested in being happy – Aristotle says so- we are all heading towards happiness eventually

Happiness = human flourishing

How do we flourish and realize our full potential as human beings?what does it mean to flourish as
human being? Especially in the business context?

Desire to do good and make difference is more common in millennials and GenZ – more desire

Framework

What is good? It’s a metphysicall idea - Goodnss is convertible with existence – anything that exists that
is good

Nature of human being – particular kind of being - whats distinctive? Social creatures and cognitive
abilities

Good – becoming the best kind of thing that we can

Happiness – leading a life that is deeply satisfying and fulfilling

I am matter in form of human being, in particular ahmad nazir

Substance is a whole, powers of which are greater than, sum of potetnitla of parts

Cognitive capacitites come with the whole and being whole have something essential about it

Substance has irreducible features – might have inessential features like height color etc – but
distinctive things (Essential features) make us human

Inessential features (Accidental or inessential form) – very from person to person

Actualization of potential is in form

How do substances change through time? Form and matter makes me what I am now – efficient cause
can change me to something new – final cause is things that have potential to be changed –

Rock has potential to break window – window has potential to be broken – event of window breaking,
substance changes, matter change and that is actualization of potential to change to different substance
If thing continues to be same substance, just changed little, e.g. day older – this unity over time is
synchronouse unity i.e. you can change and still be yourself

Living things – they have power to change itself – now the form is your soul – unique about living things
is that it self actualizes -they can actualize their own potential is unique about living things

What is it that makes us human?

Hierarchy of living things - Vegetables, animals, rational animals (have cognitive abilities and
imagination)

Typically, animal driven by instincts (recognize patterns, memory, imagine, would move towards
pleasure)

We are only species that are rational animals that we know of right now: abstract conceptualization
(speculative intellect), understand counterfactuals, can self-reflect

Practical intellect – plan to implement your decision

Will comes in next to actually do something – need will to do something

Virtue = do good things consistently with ease

Our ability to do human acts makes us unique

Somebody who would exercise this capacity to do good makes as virtuous

Human act = deliberate/conscious thought – not ignorant – then choose freely whats good for you – and
ethical act is human act that is causing you to flourish as human being

Virtue = robust capacity to act ethically (exercising human power)

Virtue is implication of wanting to be happy

Vice = thinking that you are doing good when youre actually doing bad – there failing as human being-
mistaking bad for good

Character = portfolio of virtue and vices

Ethics is about living flourishing human life

Moral virtue = good wrt to sensible goods – passions

Love – Aristotle calls it friendship – it is a deliberate act and its way of helping them realize their full
potential as human beings – so you can love your enemies as well and help them flourish as human
being -love is referred to as servents heart – it is the highest virtue because you need to love yourself
first (need to know whats good for me and have virtue that I am flourishing) before I start worrying
about others – then transcend horizontally to spread love to your colleagues family etc – but need to hit
peak of self love first
Virtue builds over time – if you are struggling to do good, its self restraint but means that you have not
built virtue yet – though its not vice as you still did good despite temptation – over time you can develop
this habit

Mean = use intellect to to make good decisions given the circumstances – eg. Call poilice instead of
fighting is okay

Room 5

determine a just resolution of the controversy and to formulate a one- or two-sentence policy for
future such situations

implicit bias training

email of misunderstanding –

The Science of Flourishing

Strengths are built with practice and persistence
Many routes to each virtue – these are called strengths – strnegths define good character
Vertical trascednece – connection with god
Horizontal trasncendance – connection with other people
6 qualities/virtues Aristotle expects in a happy person
If one of our top strengths is signature strength, you’d feel sense of ownership/excitement etc
about it
We feel joy incompletion of virtuous acts
Admonition : using signature strength in everyday life

Central virtues for leadership

1. Greatness of soul (strive to great ends)

2. Servant’s heart (service to others)
 Class 2

social power – good education/partners/jobs etc

virtuous leaders are professionally excellent – all virtues are inter related – you become fully
integrated person, it means you are the same person at home/with friends/at work – its when
in difficult situation/demanding work at office, that’s where you can build virtue quickly
because you are being challenged all the time – and then may be you can bring those
strengthened virtues elsewhere from office
vicious person is disintegrating themselves – you become slave to your passions

mentor = find someone who is courageous and have servants heart (trying to help people
around me – what can I do to help person on their path – this is what servant heart means)

greatness of soul – have vision that’s going to push for human good on grand scale – because
it’s a virtue, you need to be well calibrated – by having realistic view of whats possible

justics is so important for business leader – weigh cost vs benefits for every decision – viture
ethics gives more refined approach i.e. we should do good and avoid evil by acting human
based on intention – some decisions have bad affects as well but its permissible if bad effect is
indirect and no other permissible act would avoid those bad effects.
If bad effect was indirect (fire people to save company), its not a bad thing to do assuming
there are no other alternatives

Freedom to lead = not being prisoner to your fear/sensitive desires/anger – not restricted by
emotional whims – you need to know how angry you need to be in certain situations – Aristotle
says
Justice is as important as love
Module 8:
Can the organization be virtuous? But need to understand first whats a flourishing firm?