Phi202

Phi202 Virtue Ethics

Consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics, natural law theories

Aristotle is the paradigm virtue ethicist. Virtue ethics are neglected for some time in Anglo-American moral philosophy, in favour of theories like utilitarianism. Partly because the latter tend to give more clear-cut advice as to what to do in particular situations, or at least they attempt to give a clear-cut criteria of rightness (even if not a decision procedure).

Virtue ethics of the Aristotelian doesn't even attempt to give a criterion of rightness.

Recall, virtue ethics takes the virtue of persons as the fundamental moral notion, in terms of which the rightness of actions is to be understood. The fundamental question is what sort of person should I be?

What are moral virtues? Virtues in general, or not, are positive character traits. They are personal excellences of a certain sort. The Greek word for excellence is arete.
So virtue ethics theories are sometimes known as aretoic theories.

What is an excellence? An excellence is defined in terms of a telos or propose or end. A knife has a certain purpose or telos, to cut. Correspondingly, the excellence of a knife are those qualities that make it fit for its end/purpose. E.g. being sharp, well-balanced etc.

These excellences are virtues of a sort (though obviously not moral virtues). (We sometimes still use the term 'virtue' for such excellences in ordinary language: e.g. 'the chief virtue of this mystery novel is that it is very suspenseful.' we have a characteristic that helps the novel achieve the end of entertaining the reader.) Whether we call characteristic is a virtue shall depend on what we see as the purpose of the thing.

Is the prettiness of this rock a virtue? Depending on whether the rock is intended as an ornament or a hammer.

-How to narrow down excellences to the subclass of moral virtues?

-Part of it (though not hte whole story) is that moral virtues are dispositions to act. In this respect they are like the virtues that go into making our skilled in a particurlar way. A carpenter has a set of dispositions that make her skilled. Similarly, says Artistole, a temperate man or a just woman will have dispositions that make him or her possess the virtue of temperance or justice. Because they are able to skills, virtue can be developed by practive. The just man develops the virtuous disposition by performing just acts. Not self mandatory. One can perform just acts without being disposed to do an act before it becomes second nature.

Another part of the story, this time disinguishing moral virtues from skills more generally is that moral virtues are dispositions of the will, as opposed to dispositions of the body (physical virtues) or of the intellect (intellectual virtues) a moral virtue consists in them characteristics that underlies a disposition to indent/will in a certain way.

-E.G courage temperance and justice are all obviously dispositions of the will. 'Tendencies to intend' What about practical wisdom ? usually thought of as a moral virtue?

The wisdom to know what the right thing to do is.

Is'nt this an intellectual virtue? Yes, but not purely; it isn't just another way of knowing what the right thing to do would be (cleverness) but being disposed to intend it.