ETHICS FINAL LECTURE

PROF. RONEL RIO ALIGAM

VIRTUE ETHICS - ARISTOTLE

PROF. RONEL RIO ALIGAM

Objectives
⚫ Understand Aristotle’s Ethics Which Is Contemporary In Application.
⚫ Improve Our Lives, And Care For Its Principal Concern Which Is The Nature Of
The Human Being.
⚫ Understand Aristotle’s Idea That Essence Or Essential Nature Of Beings,
Including Humans, Lay Not Their Cause Or Beginning, But At Their End.
⚫ Work Into Reaching Their Full Potential As A Human Being Of Virtue.
⚫ Recognize What True Happiness (Eudaimonia) Really Is.
⚫ Understand Aristotle’s Goal Of Teaching People About “What They Really
Should Be” That Is, The Character Or The Sort Of Person They Should
Struggle To Become .
Aristotle Virtue Ethics
• It is a moral philosophy that teaches that an action is right if it is an action that a
virtuous person would perform in the same situation.
•Virtue Ethics outs emphasis on developing good habits of character and
avoiding bad character traits or vices.
• Basically, the virtues are the freely chosen character traits that people praise in
others. People praise them because (1) they are difficult to develop; (2) they are
corrective of natural deficiencies (3) they are beneficial both to self and society.
THREE GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS OF
ARISTOTLES ETHICS
1. His ethical system may be termed “self-realization.” In his philosophy, when
someone acts in line with his nature or end (telos) and thus realizes his full
potentials, he does moral and will be happy.

2. Aristotle’s view is also a type known as eudaimonistic. As such, it focuses on

happiness (eudaimonia), or the good for man, and how to obtain it.

3. Finally, his moral philosophy is aretaic, or virtue-based. Whereas act-oriented

ethics is focused mainly on what we should do, a virtue ethics is interested
basically in what we should be, that is, the character or the sort of person we
should struggle to become.
Highlights of the Teachings of
Aristotle
ARISTOTLE’S TELOS
It is an end or purpose. He believes that the
essence or essential nature of beings,
including humans, lay not at their cause (or
beginning) but at their end (‘telos).
HAPPINESS AND VIRTUES
Aristotle believes that ultimate human goal is
self-realization. This entails achieving one’s
natural purpose by functioning or living
consistently with human nature.
VIRTUE AS HABIT
Aristotle’s idea of happiness should also be
understood in the sense of human flourishing.
This flourishing is attained by the habitual
practice of moral and intellectual excellences,
or ‘virtues’.
VIRTUE ETHICS - AQUINAS

PROF. RONEL RIO ALIGAM

Objectives
⚫ To inculcate the value of ethically evaluating actions before doing it.
⚫ To understand the stand of Thomas Aquinas in comparison to the stand of
Aristotle.
⚫ To learn that human actions are based not only of their conformity to the
natural law but also of their specific features.
Aquinas Virtue Ethics
• In Ethics, Aquinas depends so heavily on Aristotle. Like the Greek philosopher,
Aquinas believes that all actions are directed towards ends and that happiness is
the final end. Aquinas thinks that happiness consists in activities in accordance
with virtue. But like Augustine, Aquinas declares that ultimate happiness is not
attainable in this life, for happiness is the present life remains imperfect. True
happiness then, is to be found only in the souls of the blessed in heaven or in
beatitude with God.
Four primary types of law
according to Aquinas
1. ETERNAL LAW
refers to the rational plan of God by which all
creation is ordered. As God is the supreme
ruler of everything, the rational pattern or form
of the universe that exists in His mind is the
law that directs everything in the universe to
its appointed end.
2. NATURAL LAW
The aspect of the eternal law which is
accessible to human reason
3. HUMAN LAW
The human law’s precise, positive rules of
behavior are supposed to spell out what the
natural law prescribes
4. DIVINE LAW
It is a law of revelation, disclosed through
sacred text or Scriptures and the Church
which is also directed toward man’s eternal
end.
Aquinas mentions at least two kinds
of infused virtues
1. Moral virtues have as their object not God
Himself, but activities that are less virtuous
and inferior to the final end. To this kind
belong the four basic virtues-(prudence,
fortitude, temperance, and justice)
2. Theological virtues are concerned directly
with God. They provide us with true
knowledge and desire of God and of His will.
JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS: PROMOTING
THE COMMON GOOD

PROF. RONEL RIO ALIGAM

Objectives
⚫ Understand rawl’s principled reconciliation of liberty and equality that is meant
to apply to the basic structure of a well-ordered society.
⚫ Awaken awareness that the theory of justice and fairness describes a society
of free citizens holding equal basic rights and cooperating within an egalitarian
economic system.
⚫ Evaluate the moral context of social and political institutions.
⚫ Understand that basic liberties could be limited, but only for the sake of liberty.
⚫ Understand that society could not avoid inequalities among its people and that
in real world inequalities result from things such as a person’s inherited
characteristics, social class, personal motivation and even “luck”.
⚫ Learn what distributive justice is and how it is applied in a democratic country
like the philippines.
RAWLS’ JUSTICE AS FAIRNESS
• Rawls (1921-2002) was considered the most
important political philosopher of the 20 th century.
He maintains that slavery is wrong under all
situations, regardless of any utility calculations, for
it does not respect the fundamental rights and
liberties of all persons. Slavery is wrong because it
is unproductive or inefficient, but because it is
unjust, for it does not consider individual rights
inviolable.
RAWLS’ FIRST PRINCIPLE
• The Liberty Principle—concerns political institutions
“ Each person has the same and indefeasible (permanent)
claim to a fully adequate scheme of equal basic liberties,
which scheme is compatible with the same scheme of
liberties for all.”
RAWLS SECOND PRINCIPLE
Consisted of ‘fair equality of opportunity’ and
the Difference Principle’- concerns social and
economic institutions.
THE FOLLOWING ARE THE COMMON
TYPES OF DISTRIBUTIVE NORMS
EQUITY
Members’ outcomes should be based upon
their inputs
EQUALITY
Regardless of their inputs, all group members
should be given an equal share of the
reward/costs.
POWER
Those with more authority, status, or control
over the group should receive more than
those in lower level positions.
NEED
Those in greatest needs should be provided
with resources needed to meet those needs.
These individuals should be given more
resources than those who already possess
them, regardless of their input.
RESPONSIBILITY
Group members who have the most should
share their resources with those who have
less.
 Various socio- economic political theories
have differentiated, but somewhat related, view of
distributive justice
EGALITARIAN
Egalitarian is a set of closely related socio-
economic-political theories that without
exemption promote the proposition that all
society members ought to have exactly equal
amount of resources.
CAPITALIST. LEISSEZ-FAIRE
Capitalist distributive justice is when
people, businesses, and corporations
perform based on their individual self-
interest for their own benefit
SOCIALIST
State socialist distributive justice is a system
where the government or a central authority
controls the production of goods and services
Thank You!