1.

Wisdom

Virtue -
2.
-
Excellence in thinking
Self-control
Rational control of our appetites
3. Courage
 Good habit
- Rational control of our spirited
 norms need to be internalized into parts
our character 4. Justice
- Correct ordering of the parts of
the soul
Socrates and Plato  The life of virtue aims at the health of
 Socrates our souls; it doesn’t selfishly pursue
- began ancient Greek ethics by our own pleasure
asking questions  St. Augustine Christianize Plato’s
- to think carefully about ethical concept. We should seek happiness
questions and to search for for the sake of God
beliefs that could be held  Cardinal virtues
consistently after thorough - Augustine accepting Plato’s 4
examination natural virtues
- sentenced to death because  Theological virtues
people think his “questioning” is 1. Faith
corrupting the youth - Believing in God
- it is better to obey God than man 2. Hope
 Plato - Emotionally trusting in God
- Socrates’s star pupil 3. Love
- Ethics is like geometry (idea of a - Unselfishly striving to serve God
perfect circle) - Greatest virtue
- we use our minds to grasp the  Selfishness and hatred
idea of the Good, which is an - Greatest vices
objective pattern of perfection  Plato’s 3 classes of people
- norm of right and wrong is within 1. Ruling Class
us - should guide society
- Plato’s philosophy: lower (body) - strong in thought and reason
must follow higher (soul) 2. Working class
 3 parts of soul - Needs self-control
1. Thought - Strong in appetites and impulses
- Highest part 3. Warrior class
2. Spirited - Needs courage and honor
- Emotions - Strong in spirit
- Help reason to control appetites
3. Appetites
- Impulses and desires
 4 main virtues
Aristotle - excessive desire for money and
possession
 Plato’s star pupil
3. Lust
 Ethics is like biology. - excessive sexual desire that’s
 We examine humans and their out of control
behavior and see the reason they do 4. Wrath
things - vengeful and hateful anger
 3 structural changes of Aristotle: toward one who has wronged
1. 2 sorts of excellence you
2. Justice for Aristotle 5. Gluttony
3. Virtues are golden mean - overindulgence in food
 2 sorts of excellence: 6. Envy
1. Intellectual Virtues - discontent over another’s good
- About thinking fortune
2. Moral Virtues 7. Sloth
- About acting - laziness, an excessive aversion
 Justice to work
- treating others fairly
 Distributive justice
- distribution by merit of things like Virtues and Imas
wealth and honors
 Corrective justice  Relativism
- criminal justice - good is what is socially approved
- deals with punishments in a given culture. Since virtues
are good habits, it follows that
 Virtues are a golden mean of “just
virtues are habits that a given
enough”
culture approves of.
 The golden-mean point depends on
- Aristotle become quiet and
the person and situation
submissive in chief virtues (e.g.
 any amount of injustice or cruelty is a
slavery is not condemned as
vice. But still, virtues are a mean
vice)
between extremes
- There are no objective standards
 Nicomachean Ethics of virtues
- Every action aims at some good;
 Subjectivism
and for this reason, the good has
- virtues are relative not to culture,
rightly been declared to be that
but to the individual.
at which all things aim.
 Emotivism
- Ultimate goal: Happiness
- You have to go with your feelings
 7 deadly sins
when you pick virtues and vices
1. Pride
 Idealism
- inflated, self-centered view of
- practical reason determines
yourself.
which character traits are
2. Greed
correctly called virtues
 - being rational involves things like
being informed, impartial, and
consistent
 Supernaturalism
- character traits are virtues if
God approves of them and
vices if God disapproves
 Intuitionism
- it’s self-evident that certain
things are virtues and certain
things are vices. We need to
appeal to our moral intuitions
 Prescriptivism
- moral judgments are
prescriptions (or imperatives),
not truth claims
- logical structure gives us a way
to reason about moral issues, by
appealing to consistency and the
golden rule
 Utilitarianism
- we ought to do whatever has the
best total consequences
- Virtues are simply character
traits that tend to promote good
consequences
- The supreme virtue of
benevolence is the character
trait to do the individual action
that we think has the best total
consequences
 Rule-Utilitarianism
- virtue, besides being useful, is
of value for its own sake
- benevolence is misleading in a
world where people would treat
each other unjustly and
dishonestly. Thus, would bring
moral chaos
- Taking honesty and justice
seriously should be the virtue
encouraged
 Ross Approach
(Nonconsequentialist)
- Virtues can be derived from the 7
prima fascie duties
- Virtues should not be too rigid
nor too lose
 Kant Approach
- highest and most sublime virtue
is good will, which means
being motivated to do
something just because it’s
right
Virtue and GR
 Logically consistent
- refrain from believing
inconsistent things
- believe something what logic
follows
 Ends-means consistency
- Keep our ends and means in
harmony
 Conscientious
- keep our actions, resolutions,
and desires in harmony with our
moral beliefs
 Impartial
- make similar evaluations about
similar actions, regardless of the
individuals involved.
 GR Theorem
- Treat others only as you consent
to being treated in the same
situation.
 Moral Rationality
- We’re rational in our moral
judgments to the extent that
we’re consistent, informed,
 imaginative, and a few more
things
 Partial Wisdom
- We’re wise about how to live to
the extent that we’re consistent,
informed, imaginative, and a few
more things.
Virtue and Duty
 Ethics of duty
- that “ought” is primary, virtue
is derivative, and we could
without loss dispense with
talking about virtue.
 Ethics of virtue
- that “virtue” is primary, duty is
derivative, and we could without
loss dispense with talking about
duty