Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics

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Used for class study and reflection purposes only-not for circulation

Aristotle’s virtue ethics can be gleaned from his seminal work titled Nichomachean Ethics.
This book is undoubtedly the first systematic study of ethics in western civilization. In this book,
Aristotle offers principles of conduct that would guide humans in attaining the “good life”.
It is worthwhile to begin our discussion of Aristotle’s virtue ethics by contrasting it with
Plato’s take on ethics. As is well known, Plato, following his master Socrates, believed that the
moral evaluations of daily life presuppose a “good” which is independent of experience,
personality, and circumstances. Aristotle rejected this view. For Aristotle, moral principles are
immanent in our daily activities and can be discovered only through a careful study of them. It is
for this reason that Aristotle begins his ethical inquiry with an empirical study of what it is that
people fundamentally desire.
Aristotle argues that what people fundamentally desire is “happiness” or eudaimonia. And
Aristotle believes that happiness or eudaimonia is the ultimate human good; however, Aristotle
warns that people’s opinions about the concept of happiness considerably vary.
Now, if we recall, the central question in Plato and Socrates’s ethics is “What kind of life
should one live?”. Aristotle followed this line of questioning in his Nichomachean Ethics. As we
can see, just as Plato and Socrates, Aristotle was also concerned about the good life. However,
instead of asking about “how” should one live, Aristotle was more concerned about the nature of
the “good life”. Thus, Aristotle, in effect, asked the question: “What is the nature of happiness?”
or “What does happiness consist in?”.
It must be noted that Aristotle did not just ask about the nature of happiness.
In Nichomachean Ethics, he also raised the question concerning the conditions of its attainment,
which eventually led Aristotle to the discussion of virtue. Aristotle’s virtue ethics, therefore, is
ultimately tied to a full understanding of the nature of happiness as humanity’s ultimate goal as
well as the concept of virtue.
As a virtue theorist, Aristotle’s concern, therefore, is not only about right and wrong, but
with virtues like courage and cowardice, wisdom and ignorance, justice and injustice, weakness
of character and strength of character.
From the above discussion, we can now draw two major principles that will guide us in
understanding Aristotle’s virtue ethics, namely, Eudaimonia and Virtue. Let us now turn our
discussion to these concepts.
Please note that the following discussion will focus on how Aristotle develops a concept
of eudaimonia that appeals to a conception of human nature and the way in which Aristotle
develops an account of virtue that can show the idea that “the life of virtue” is a “life of eudaimonia”.

Eudaimonia and Virtue

As is well known, Socrates understands virtue as the major source of happiness. Plato
continued this tradition and argued that moral virtue is vital to the rational soul of man. Although
Aristotle followed Socrates and Plato’s agenda, his concept of happiness differs from Socrates
and Plato’s because for Aristotle, happiness consists only in virtuous activity. Happiness, which
most of Aristotle’s interpreters call Eudaimonia, is the ultimate end of human life. This happiness
or the ultimate end is genuinely desired for its own sake or without qualification. So, actions which
precede this end are the most valuable and cannot be superseded by any actions driven by
ordinary kinds of ends. Of course, actions which result in honor, wealth and power is definitely
part of man’s inclination to seek for happiness (as pleasure), but unfortunately this could not be
the end which offers true happiness.
 Like Eudaimonia, pleasure is also good. That is why Aristotle does not condemn man for
desiring pleasure because it is a significant part of human flourishing. But for Aristotle, the desire
and actions that lead to pleasure only presuppose limited value since its end is temporary. Hence,
the satisfaction that one gets from these actions cannot be truly called happiness. For Aristotle,
these actions, which only lead humans into the pit of the two opposing vices (either excess or
deficiency), drive them away from the ultimate end. Hence, for Aristotle, only virtuous acts can
lead to true happiness.
Virtue is defined as a behavior showing high moral standards or the general quality of
goodness in a person. An example of this is the virtue of patience or truthfulness. Following
Aristotle, the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd ed. (2006: 678) defines virtue as the opposite of
vice. Vice in this context should not be literally understood within the specific context of social
vices, like drug addiction, excessive cigarette smoking, and gambling. Rather, according to
Aristotle, vices are the two extremes of the spectrum―one is the excess and the other is the
deficiency (Ibid: 680). It is for this reason that Aristotle claims that virtues are the mean or the
middle ground between the excess at the one side and the deficiency at the other. For instance,
if a moral agent maintains patience or good temper (mean) and rejects irascibility (excess) or lack
of spirit (deficiency), then he is said to have possessed virtue. Thus, for Aristotle, virtues
categorically serve as the essential elements of man’s moral behavior. As we can see, the central
concept in Aristotle’s virtue ethics is that virtue or the mean is the key to happiness. The table
below helps us understand the relation between virtue and vices in the Aristotelian sense.
Virtue as Good Habit
The formation of a moral virtue is essential to Aristotelian ethics. This is due to the fact
that a moral agent can only attain happiness by being consistently living a good life or acting
habitually in accordance with the good. Thus, a good habit is instrumental to the development of
virtue because it is considered to be the consistent pattern for doing virtuous actions. Aristotle
(NE II:1, 1003a) writes, “we are adapted by nature to receive these virtues and are made perfect
by habit”.
In this sense, though virtue is already part of our natural inclination, human being still
needs the habit of doing good for him to become virtuous. What we must do then is to constantly
practice doing virtuous acts to develop a habit. For instance, we acquire the virtue of patience by
repeatedly integrating it into our deliberate actions, or by being constantly patient. In similar way,
we can obtain the virtue of courage by maintaining it within the purview of the mean while avoiding
rashness and cowardice. Therefore, our actions can only be morally good and right if there is a
habitual practice of virtues. This is to say that to eventually maintain these moral actions which
lead us to attain authentic happiness, the formation of good habits is a requisite.
The formation of virtue or good habit has two stages: first, the habit of contemplation or
the education of thought for the formation of intellectual virtue and, second, the habit of the actual
practice of moral virtue.
On the one hand, the habit of contemplation is a matter of constantly acquiring knowledge
and using one’s mind in the right way that leads to the habitual exercise of virtue (Aristotle: 2004).
Through the habit of education of thought, the state of character is constituted by the stable
equilibrium of the soul (NE II:1, 1003a). This is to say that the state of character which shapes
moral virtue primarily requires proper mental activity aside from the actual performance of moral
action. In other words, before we can actually practice virtue, we have to think about practicing
virtue all the time.
On the other hand, the habitual actual practice of virtue presupposes that every human
being has brought out the contemplated understanding of virtue into actions. In other words, we
put into practice what the mind thinks. In addition, the putting into practice of this understanding
should be done consistently so that it would lead to the formation of good habit. True enough,
virtue is defined as a behavior showing high moral standards, or a good moral quality, or the
general quality of goodness in a person. But for Aristotle, we should push this further by
developing a habit of doing good all the time.
In summary, we can say that Aristotle’s virtue ethics is built around the premise that
humans should aim to achieve excellent character. In other words, for Aristotle, humans should
become ethical individuals, and Aristotle construes “ethical individuals” as having virtuous
character (“ethikē aretē” in Greek). For Aristotle, an excellent character is the precondition for
attaining happiness or eudaimonia, which, as already mentioned, is the ultimate goal of Aristotle’s
virtue ethics. And by focusing on happiness or eudaimonia, the “shape of life” as a whole becomes
central to his ethical theory. This explains why, as already pointed out above, the key question in
Aristotle’s virtue ethics is “What sort of life human beings should live?”. Thus, in the final analysis,
practical virtues are the characteristics that humans need to develop to attain happiness.
However, these practical virtues must be displayed in action for humans to truly attain happiness.
 1/2

CHED-GET: ETHICS
Department of Philosophy
School of Humanities
Ateneo de Manila University

Topic: Kant and Rights Theorists

Instructor: Michael Ner E. Mariano

Immanuel Kant:
• 1724-1804
• A "German" philosopher from Konigsberg, East Prussia
• Wrote among other things, Critique of Pure Reason (1781), The Fundamental Principles
ofI Foundations of/Groundwork of/ Grounding for the Metaphysics ofMorals (1785),
Critique of Practical Reason (1788), and Critique ofJudgment (1790)

Kant's Project:
• An ethics with an Cl priori foundation
• Genuine morality is based on the moral law, which is valid for all people because it is
completel~rati onal.
• Kant's test~or the rational consistency of a moral principle is the categorical imperative.

Kant's Moral Theory:

• .Only the good will is absolutely good, and not the "gifts of nature" (such as "talents of
the mind" or "qualities of temperament") nor the "gifts of fortune."
• A good will is good, not because of its effects, but is good in itself.
• A good will is good because it is done out of duty.
• Actions that only accord with duty-if done out of inclination .or self-interest-a re merely
"praiseworthy."
• A possible categorization of actions based on Kant:
1) Morally "good"/ "valuable"-if done for"the sake of duty
2) Morally "bad"-ifdone in direct opposition to duty
3) Morally "neutral"-if, though not in direct opposition to duty, is also not for the sake
of duty, but is still not in accordance with duty
4) Praiseworthy- if, though in accordance with duty, is still done for some other reason
than duty itself

Kant's 3 Ethical Propositions : . .

1) An act must be done from duty in order for it to have inner moral worth.
2) An act done from duty derives its moral worth, not from the purpose, which is to be
attained by it, but from the maxim by which it is determined.
-" maxim": the principle [or general rule] of volition, i.e., will, one's power of choice, or
the act of choosing itself .
3) Duty is the necessity of acting from resp~ct for the law.

Kant's Categorical Imperative:

• The supreme principle of the moral law is the "categorical imperative"
• Versus "hypothetical imperatives," which can either be imperatives of skill or
imperatives of prudence
 2/2

• If you want A, then do B. -vs- Do B.

Kant's Formulations oftl1e Categorical Imperative:

1) Act only on that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a
universal law. [Principle of Universality] .
vi) Act as to treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of any other, in every
case as an end in itself, not as means only. [Principle of Humanity as End-in-
ltselt]
3) Act so that your will is what makes universal law. [Principle of Autonomy; vs.
"heteronomy"] .
• Autonomy is from the Greek: autos: "self' + nomos: "law'' [The law comes from
one's self. One's self is the law-maker, the legislator (of moral.law).]
• Heteronomy: heteros: "other, different" + nomos: "law" [The law comes from
outside one's self, i.e., from other people (individuals, institutions, societies,
cultures, etc.).]

- -Kant's Examples to Illustrate the Categorical Imperative:

1) Suicide because of misfortune .
Maxim: Shorten one's life when it's unsatisfactory to end it
➔ Kant: cannot be a universal law
2) Promising to repay debt when one knows one cannot
Maxim: Promise whatever if one is in a difficult situation
➔ Kant: cannot be a universal law
3) Not cultivating one's natural gifts
Maxim: Give in to one's indulgence of pleasure or enjoyment instead of cultivating one's
gifts .
➔ Kant: cannot be a universal law
4) Not helping those in need when one is prosperous
Maxim: One must only think of one's happiness
➔ Kant: cannot be a universal law

"Deontological Ethics":
...,. Scholars classify Kant's theory as "deontological," which means an ethics centered on
"duty'' (Greek: deone, meaning "duty"): Actions are right or wrong in and of themselves,
based on whether they are done in the name of duty or go against duty, regardless of
outcome.
Vs. Consequentialist (e.g., Utilitarianism), in which actions are right or wrong depending
on their consequence or outcome ·

Additional Discussions to Clarify Kant's Theory:.

_o. Stanley Milgram's experiment on obedience to authority:
.., P / Lawrence Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development: Kant's theory occupies the 6'h and
highest stage, the "Universal Ethical Principles orientation"

Rights Theorists:
/ . A "right" is a "justified.claim on others"
/~ There are negative rights and positive rights
A Kant's principle of treating humanity as "end-in-itself' is the source of much of current
thinking on the reality of rights
TAXATION
Dr.M~yDy

Activity: Class DiSQ\IS&lOll

Question- I : What is the distinction between tax evasion and tax avoidance?

Answer:
"Tax evasion is the use of the tax payer of illegal means to avoid or
minimize payment of the tax." e.g. deliberate understatement of revenues or
deliberate overstatement of expenses to lessen the taxes."

"Tax avoidance, on the other hand, is the use of the taxpayer of legally
permissible methods to reduce his tax liability." e.g. proper use of
depreciation methods in claiming deductible expenses to lessen income
taxes. (Co Untian, p. 6)

Question 2:
Why pay taxes?

• ~swers will ultimately point to the state or political society

POLmCAL SOCJETY
Source: Martin G. Plattel, Social Philosophy

Why a Polmcal Society?.::;;

• As an embodied spirit, man is essentially directed to the other in the
personal realm (neighbor) and in the social realm (functional).
• There are certain values & goods which can be attained only
organically. by a group of individuals, such as economic goods,
cultural goods, peace & order
• Because of the compelling way in which these needs impose
themselves upon man, the group has a necessary, unconditional and
dosed character.
• Political organization: formal organization of a community by means
of which community takes cognizance of the common good and
refJects & acts upon possible solutions to these problems.
 nization: c~mmunity
• Dist incti o~ betw een com mun ity & political orga
may have interests othe r than com mon good.
ority: legal power &
• To ~ffect this com mon good, need for auth
en in view of the
phys ical pow er to exac t obedience from citiz
com mon good.

the term 'stat e' in its

• Mac hiav elli, the first political philosopher to use
whic h guides the
spe~~fic sen~e, referr~ng to the government apparatus
political soci ety and 1s at the service of this society.

TAX ATI ON
9), Hec tor S. De Leon
Sou rces : Cres cenc io P.Co Untian, Jr. Tax Dige st (200
ation (2013)
& Hec tor M. De Leo n, Jr., The Law on Income Tax

Gen eral Prin ciple s

Definitions:
tion, generally payable
• "Tax es are the enforced proportional contribu
e by virtue of its
in mon ey, levie d by the law-making body of the Stat
juris dicti on for the
sove reig nty upo n the persons or property within its
Leon, p. 1)
supp ort of the gove rnm ent and all public needs." (de
reign state imposes
• "Tax atio n is the inherent pow er by which the sove
a mea ns of raising
fmancial burd en upon persons and property as
government." (Co
reve nue to defr ay the necessary expenses of the
Untian, p. 1)

Purp ose of Taxation:

needs
• Primary: to raise revenue to satisfy government
ental . operational
• "As ide from financing purely governm
to carry out the
expenditures, taxa tion is also utilized as a tool
ent." (de Leon,
national objectives of social and economic developm
p. 1)

Thus, basis of taxa tion is two-fold:

without means to pay
a. Necessity: gove rnm ent cann ot exist and function
.
its expenditures. the state and its
een
b. Reciprocal duties of protection and support betw
inhabitants
 Two aspects of taxation:
ress
a. Levy: l~gislative ~c! of i1:11posing the tax, exercised by Cong
ised by
b. Collection: adn11n1stratlve act of collecting the tax exerc
Executive branch with: '
1. Bure au of Internal Revenue-national taxes
2. Bure au of Customs-customs duties
3. Local government Units-local taxes and real property taxes
4. Appropriate government agencies-fees & charges

. . . ntial Ouffl.
Esse. L- _y,etJ ..
t'd .' stiCS .
Of a tax: t.!
1. enforced contribution
2. payable in the fonn of money
on ability to
3. laid by some rule of apportionment which is usually based
pay.
4. levied on persons, property, acts, privileges or transactions
subject to
5. levied by the State which has jurisdiction or control over the
be taxed
6. levied by law-making body of the State
7. levied for public purpose

Basic Principles of a Sound tax System

to meet the
1. Fiscal adequacy: "the sources of revenue should be sufficient
demands of public expenditures
rtionate
2. Equality or theoretical justice: ''the tax imposed should be propo
to the taxpa yer's ability to pay
convenient,
3. Administrative feasibility: "tax laws should be capable of
be plain
just, and effective administration." (de Leon, p. 4) ''tax must
efficient
and clear to the taxpayer .and should be capable of
enforcement by government officials." (Co Untian, p. 5)

Question:- Does our income tax system meet these requirements?

Nature of the powe r of taxation
tial to the
1. "The powe r of taxation is inherent in sovereignty being essen
existence of every government."
2. "It is essentially a legislative function."
, p. 3)
3. "It is subject to constitutional and inherent limitations." (de Leon
3 constitutional limitations:
1. Due process clause: taxpayer may not be deprived of life, liberty or
property without due process of law.
2. Equal protection clause: taxpayers shall be treated alike under similar
circumstances and conditions, both in privileges and liabilities
imposed.
3. Uniformity clause: taxable articles or property of the same class shall be
taxed at the same rate. No direct double taxation

• Direct double taxation: "Direct double taxation occurs when the same
public authority imposes two or more taxes on the same property for
the same purpose during the same taxing period." (Co Un!ian, p. 5)

Limitations implied from constitution:

e.g. public purpose and non-delegation of legislative power

Other limitations from the nature of the taxing power:

e.g. territoriality, international comity, exemption of government entities

Classification of taxes:

1. as to subject matter or object:

a. personal, poll, or capitation: fixed amount imposed on individuals
residing within a specified territory. E.g. community tax
b. property, real or personal. E.g. real estate tax
c. excise: tax imposed upon performance of an act, the enjoyment of
privilege, engagement in an occupation. E.g. mcome tax, taxes on
business (value-added tax, professional tax).

2. As to who bears the burden:

a. direct-Tax demanded from the person who is intended to pay it.
b. indirect-tax demanded from one ·person in the expectation and intention
that he shall indemnity himself at the expense of another. E.g. value-
addedtax

3. As to determination of amount:
a. specific-tax of a fixed amount imposed by the head omumber, or by
some standard of weight or measurement. E.g. excise taxes on
cigarettes, distilled spirits, and others.
b. ad valorem-tax of fixed proportion of the amount (e.g. income tax) or
 value of the property (e.g. real estate tax, excise tax on cars & non-
essential goods)
(in Tax Code, 'excise taxes' refer to taxes applicable to specified
articles manufactured in the country for domestic sale or imported
goods) ·

4. As to purpose:
a. General, fiscal, or revenue-tax for the general purposes of government.
E.g. income tax, taxes on business
b. Special or regulatory-tax for a special purpose e.g. tariffs on imported
goods

5. As to authority imposing the tax

a. National
b. local or municipal

6. As to gradation or rate:
a. proportional-tax based on a fixed percentage of the amount -o f the
p;~perty, income or other basis to be taxed. E.g. real estate taxes,
value-added tax
b. Progressive or graduated-tax the rate of which increases as the tax base
· increases. E.g. income tax, ~onor's tax

ffflX)mcTax
Definition:
1. "Income tax is referred to as · tax on all yearly profits arising from
property, professions, trades or offices, or as a tax on a person's
income, emoluments, profits and the like."
2. "Income tax is generally regarded as an excise tax. It is not levied upon
persons, property, funds or profits but upon the right of a persQn to
receive income or profits." (de Leon, p. 8) (meaning, right implies
obligation)
Situs of taxation: place of taxation
1. factors:
a. nature of the tax and the subject matter thereof, a person, property, act,
or activity
b. possible protection and benefit that may accrue both to the state and to
taxpayer
c. domicile or residence
d. citizenship
e. source of income
Doctrine: State's taxing power does not extend beyond its territorial limits

2. Basis
a. the recipient of the income is a citizen or resident of the country
b. the income is derived from sources within the country
"The income tax is founded on the protection afforded by the State to the
recipie nt of the income in his person, in his right to receive the income,
and in in his enjoym ent of it when received .. " (de Leon, p. 8)

Question: Is the presen t income tax system ruST?