Aristotelian Virtue Ethics Introduction

Aristotle (384–322 BC) was a scholar in disciplines such as ethics, metaphysics,

biology and botany, among others. It is fitting, therefore, that his moral
philosophy is based around assessing the broad characters of human beings
rather than assessing singular acts in isolation. Indeed, this is what separates
Aristotelian Virtue Ethics from both Utilitarianism and Kantian Ethics.

Aristotle’s Ethical Theory

According to Aristotle’s ethical theory, virtues result from human actions for the
perception of the moral character of a person emanates from various activities.
Human actions and activities aimed at attaining excellence, which is a virtue in
every aspect of life. According to Aristotle, every art and pursuit aims at attaining
good, which is a virtue that all human beings cherish3. Synchronized actions focus
on achieving one objective or more objectives as ends of excellence.

The Goal of Ethics

Aristotle applied the same patient, careful, descriptive approach to his

examination of moral philosophy.

Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics is a broad term for theories that emphasize the role of character and
virtue in moral philosophy rather than either doing one’s duty or acting in order
to bring about good consequences. A virtue ethicist is likely to give you this kind
of moral advice: “Act as a virtuous person would act in your situation.”

The Nature of Virtue

Ethics is not merely a theoretical study for Aristotle. Unlike any intellectual
capacity, virtues of character are dispositions to act in certain ways in response to
similar situations, the habits of behaving in a certain way. Thus, good conduct
arises from habits that in turn can only be acquired by repeated action and
correction, making ethics an intensely practical discipline.

Voluntary Action
Because ethics is a practical rather than a theoretical science, Aristotle also gave
careful consideration to the aspects of human nature involved in acting and
accepting moral responsibility

Deliberate Choice

Although the virtues are habits of acting or dispositions to act in certain ways,
Aristotle maintained that these habits are acquired by engaging in proper conduct
on specific occasions and that doing so requires thinking about what one does in a
specific way.

Weakness of the Will

But doing the right thing is not always so simple, even though few people
deliberately choose to develop vicious habits. Aristotle sharply disagreed with
Socrates’s belief that knowing what is right always results in doing it.

Friendship

In a particularly influential section of the Ethics, Aristotle considered the role of

human relationships in general and friendship in particular as a vital element in
the good life.

Achieving Happiness

Aristotle rounded off his discussion of ethical living with a more detailed
description of the achievement of true happiness. Pleasure is not a good in itself,
he argued, since it is by its nature incomplete. But worthwhile activities are often
associated with their own distinctive pleasures. Hence, we are rightly guided in
life by our natural preference for engaging in pleasant activities rather than in
unpleasant ones.

Main Points of Aristotle's Ethical Philosophy

1. The highest good and the end toward which all human activity is directed is
happiness, which can be defined as continuous contemplation of eternal and
universal truth.

2. One attains happiness by a virtuous life and the development of reason and the
faculty of theoretical wisdom. For this one requires sufficient external goods to
ensure health, leisure, and the opportunity for virtuous action.

3. Moral virtue is a relative mean between extremes of excess and deficiency, and
in general the moral life is one of moderation in all things except virtue. No
human appetite or desire is bad if it is controlled by reason according to a moral
principle. Moral virtue is acquired by a combination of knowledge, habituation,
and self-discipline.

4. Virtuous acts require conscious choice and moral purpose or motivation. Man
has personal moral responsibility for his actions.

5. Moral virtue cannot be achieved abstractly — it requires moral action in a

social environment. Ethics and politics are closely related, for politics is the
science of creating a society in which men can live the good life and develop their
full potential.

The Function Argument

Aristotle was a teleologist, a term related to, but not to be confused with, the
label “teleological” as applied to normative ethical theories such as Utilitarianism.
Aristotle was a teleologist because he believed that every object has what he
referred to as a final cause. The Greek term telos refers to what we might call a
purpose, goal, end or true final function of an object. Indeed, those of you
studying Aristotle in units related to the Philosophy of Religion may recognize the
link between Aristotle’s general teleological worldview and his study of ethics.
Function Argument

1.All objects have a telos.

2. An object is good when it properly secures its telos.

3. The telos of a human being is to reason.

4. The good for a human being is, therefore, acting in accordance with reason.

Aristotelian Goodness

On the basis of the previous argument, the good life for a human being is
achieved when we act in accordance with our telos. However, rather than leaving
the concept of goodness as general and abstract we can say more specifically
what the good for a human involves. Eudaimonia and Virtue

The quotation provided at the end of section three was the first direct reference
to virtue in the explanatory sections of this chapter. According to Aristotle, virtues
are character dispositionsor personality traits..

Act-Centered Moral Theories

 Utilitarianism and Kantian Ethics are two different examples of act-centered

moral theories due to their focus on actions when it comes to making moral
assessments and judgments. Act-centered moral theories may be
teleological or deontological, absolutist or relativist, but they share a
common worldview in that particular actions are bearers of moral value
either being right or wrong.

Agent-Centered Moral Theories

 Aristotelian Virtue Ethics is an agent-centered theory in virtue of a primary

focus on people and their characters rather than singular actions. For
Aristotle, morality has more to do with the question “how should I be?”
rather than “what should I do?” If we answer the first question then, as we
see later in this chapter, the second question may begin to take care of
itself.