Virtue Ethics

Author: John Waters Socratic Ideas Limited ©

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Virtue Ethics

A Concise Historical Overview

Aristotle ( 384-322 BCE ) David Hume

(1711-1776 CE)

Elizabeth Anscombe

( 1919 - ) Philippa Foot (1922-2002 CE ) Alasdair MacIntyre

(1938 -

CE ) Carol Gilligan

(1953-

CE )

Virtue Ethics Rejects Ethics of Dilemma Approach

Deontological Consequentialism

Natural Law Kant

Divine Command

Too Legalistic Nazi Germany Secular Age

Egoism

Social Contract Conformity

Utilitarian

Lacks Intrinsic goods

Agent Centred (Not Act Centred)

The “ethics of dilemma” approach to morality forgets an essential part of ethics -

THE PERSON’S CHARACTER

and how personal moral growth is encouraged.

We are not concerned to know what goodness is but how to become good people, since otherwise our enquiry would be useless.

(Aristotle)

Nicomachean Ethics

, II 1103b 27-9 The ethical condition is not the condition of having a certain right theory; rather the ethical condition is having a certain character.

Professor Alasdair MacIntyre

After Virtue

Developing Character Asking the Right Questions

• Who am I?

• What do I want to become? • How can I get there?

( James Keenan ,

Dialogue

15)

How To Achieve Eudaimonia

Aristotle

(Human Flourishing)

defined `

GOOD

’ as something that fulfils its ends purpose The

telos

(end purpose) of humanity is to be rational The

ergon

(function) of reason in practice is virtue

“The good for human beings is an activity of the soul in accordance with arete (virtue).”

(

Ethics

p. 76)

THINK! THINK! THINK! THINK! THINK! THINK!

• The last side is really very important!

• Students are usually good at drawing out the point that the to be distinctive end purpose of human beings is rational …(though do avoid lapsing into writing about natural law!) • However, what is frequently missed is the significance of

ergon

– putting reason into practise . This is where virtue ethics comes into its own. Through the practise ( habituation ) of arete ( excellence soul ) reason , leading to becomes an eudaimonia activity of the – human flourishing.

Intellectual and Moral Virtues

•

Intellectual Virtues

• Intellectual virtues are virtues of the mind .

•

Moral Virtues

• Not innate, rather they are acquired through repetition • Such as the ability to understand, reason and and practise , like learning a music instrument.

make sound judgement • Intellectual virtues may be • It is through the practice and the doing that one becomes taught , like logic and mathematics by teachers. a type of person.

• Over a period of time become second nature.

virtues

Aristotle’s Four Cardinal Virtues

•

Justice

•

Prudence

•

Temperance

•

Fortitude

(Determination in the face of adversity)

M E A N G O L D E N

“Virtue is concerned with emotions and actions, and here excess is error and deficiency a fault, whereas the mean is successful and commendable.

Excess Deficiency

Virtue then is a state of deliberate moral purpose consisting in a mean that is relative to ourselves, the mean being determined by reason, or as a prudent man would determine it.”

Ethics

Doctrine of the Golden Mean

Excess Mean Deficiency Rash Profligate Over-indulge Being Rude Courage Generosity Temperance Honesty Cowardice Tight!

Unimpressionable Lying

Quality vocabulary and specific examples to illustrate your answers are always helpful.

• In an examination it is helpful to express your ideas in a succinct and focused manner.

• Offer an example of the Golden Mean , courage is always very clear to illustrate, and state how it avoids excess , rashness, and deficiency , cowardice • Finally, be alert to the way in which reason , phronesis , is the executive (in charge), deciding which emotions balanced appetite to put into practise – so producing through a eudaimonia: human flourishing.

The Golden Mean and Eudaimonia

• Golden Mean does not entail a denial of emotions .

• Rather what is at issue is

how

, and to

what extent

,

reason

permits the expression of

emotions

.

• Aristotle developed Plato’s tripartheid teaching of the soul by attributing virtues to each feature.

Reason = Phronesis (Wisdom) Emotions = Courage Appetite = Temperance (Self–control)

Eudaimonia

(human flourishing) is when there is balance within the soul .

Reason is the executive , deciding when to act upon emotions through a balanced appetite .

P H R O N E S I S

Phronesis is practical wisdom , acquired through experience and past judgements.

People are able to understand their human nature and recognise tensions between emotions and reason .

Phronesis is therefore the exercising of a mature will which enables a person to act with wisdom and discernment .

Golden Mean Individual in Harmony

Phronesis – Emotions - Appetite

“It is easy to become angry, anyone can do that; but to be angry with the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, in the right way, with the right aim; that is not easy.”

(Ethics)

H A B I T U A T I O N

• Habits form our character • Habits are a skill which are acquired through practise , like learning a musical instrument.

• Takes a holistic approach (Character viewed over a period of time) • “One swallow does not make a spring so a short time does not make for a fortunate or happy man.” (

Nicomachean Ethics

)

U A T I O N H

•

A B I T

• “We acquire virtues by first doing virtuous acts.

We acquire a skill by

practising

the activities involved in the skill. For example, we become

builders by building

and we learn to play the

harp by playing the harp

.

In the same way, we become

just by doing just acts

, temperate by doing temperate acts &

doing acts of courage

.” (

Ethics

)

courageous by

“ For just as one swallow or one day does not make a spring, so one day or a short time does not make for a fortunate or happy man.” (

Nicomachean Ethics

)

Benefits of Virtue Ethics

Virtue Ethics

“An ethics of aspiration rather than an ethic of duty”

(Richard Taylor) Virtue ethics focuses on the GROWTH of the moral agent.

Deontological ethics e.g. Divine Command or Kantian ethics, deny the human spirit / emotions

“We may even go so far as to state that the man who does not enjoy performing noble actions is not a good man at all. Nobody would call a man just who does not enjoy acting justly, nor generous who does not enjoy generous actions.”

Aristotle

(Ethics)

Since Freud Psychology has considered emotions to be important for human development .

`Life is not complete if emotions are not cultivated.’ ( Martha Nussbaum )

It is always a good idea to quote scholars; even better to make lateral connections by comparing them to other thinkers.

• Martha Nussbaum draws attention to a major strength of Virtue ethics over Kant’s Categorical Imperative.

• For Kant reason is all important for following the Good Will , whilst desires and inclinations lead the individual astray.

• Virtue ethics does pay attention to one’s emotions and let’s reason cultivate the whole person , which includes their emotions .

Virtue Ethics cultivates emotions through Aristotles’ model of

Phronesis – Emotions - Appetite

Reason = Phronesis (Wisdom) Emotions = Courage Appetite = Temperance (Self–control)

Eudaimonia

( human flourshing ) Balance within the soul .

• Reason is the executive • Deciding

when

to act upon emotions • Through a balanced appetite .

RECONCILES REASON AND EMOTION

Overcomes

Akrasia (Weakness of will)

“Unless reason takes the reins of government into its own hands, the feelings and inclinations play the master over the man.” ( Kant ) Recognises perennial tension between REASON and EMOTIONS Overcomes akrasia as phronesis is the executive and channels emotions by adopting the Golden Mean “Reason is and ought to be the slave of the passions.” ( David Hume )

AKRASIA

Reason and Emotion

• For Aristotle the antidote for

akrasia, weakness of will

, is found by human beings following their rational choice over their irrational desires .

• Phronesis entails interpreting a moral dilemma from a holistic individual’s approach which recognizes an emotions and inclinations .

• By following the authority as the Golden Mean reason executive has ultimate but acknowledges the importance of emotions and integral to the human condition.

feelings which are

Virtue Ethics

COMPATIBLE WITH HUMAN LIVING

Life is constantly in a state of flux and change Recognises the paradox of human living AGENT CENTRED NOT ACT CENTRED FLEXIBILE AND CONSISTENT The consistency of character

Promotes Individual Autonomy

Virtue ethics avoids the rigidity deontological ethical theories.

of legalistic , e.g.

Natural law Church’s and the Roman Catholic condemnation of artificial contraception e.g.

Paul VI’s encyclical

Humanae Vitae

, 1968.

Rather with Virtue Ethics individuals may use their the reason , and show Golden Mean.

e.g.

phronesis prudence in adopting – the use of artificial contraception to avoid unwanted children, STDs and the oppression of women.

Paul VI

John Hick

“Virtues are better hard won than ready made.”

(John Hick) Virtue Ethics takes seriously problems which individuals face on life’s journey .

Philippa Foot argues that virtue ethics may correct deviant behaviour .

Philippa Foot e.g. Vaclav Havel – courageously stood up against the Communist regime who invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968 , even though this meant being imprisoned .

Vaclav Havel

Counter-cultural / an antidote to Western Capitalist Meritocracy

Individuals pressured by: (1) Materialism “

Where is the wisdom? Lost in knowledge.

(2) Technology

Where is the knowledge? Lost in information."

(3) Egoism

(Where is the

May result in the loss of

information? Lost in

self-understanding .

data.)

T.S. Eliot,

The Rock

What does it benefit a person to gain the whole world and yet loose their soul (Jesus, Mark 8:36)

Virtue Ethics benefits the individual and society

Individual Eudaimonia (Human Flourishing) Golden Mean Adam Smith ,

The Wealth of Nations

Virtuous conduct is beneficial for self and others e.g

. Equitable , progressive taxation e.g. Citizenship on the school curriculum

Problems with Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics collapses into moral relativism

Virtues lack universal application.

Richard Rorty denies there is one, single agreed understanding of human nature.

Emperor Constantine Rorty claims that virtues are one’s culture and relative upbringing .

to Pacifist Bertrand e.g. the military uphold virtues such as Russell bravery and courage whilst those who advocate pacifism admire different virtues patience and compassion .

Virtue is Vice and Vice is Virtue

Beyond Good and Evil

(Nietzsche)

Virtue is Vice

Christian virtues of humility and obedience are detrimental to the human spirit, individuality and the evolutionary need for self assertion.

Vice is Virtue

The vice of pride, condemned by St Paul, is to be regarded as a virtue; for without pride humanity will remain subservient and fail to fulfil their potential.

The Virtue of Selfishness

Ayn Rand Adopting the Aristotelian methodology Ayn Rand thought “the achievement of his OWN happiness is man’s highest moral purpose.” Moral duty is to the self , irrespective of benefit or harm incured on others.

Virtue ethics lacks objective criteria for establishing virtues.

Virtues: Gender Specific

Freud claimed that “For women what is ethically moral is different from what it is in men….women show less sense of justice than men, that they are less ready to submit to the greater exigencies of life, that they are more often influenced in their judgements by feelings of affection or hostility.” Carol Gilligan argues that there are male and female virtues •

Male Virtues

Rules of Contract • Justice / Fairness • Determination

Female Virtues

•Responsibility in Relationships •Caring / Loyal •Compassionate

Catherine Greeno challenged Carol Gilligan, arguing

Gender virtues are due to stereotypical gender roles

Male Roles Female Roles World of work

• Emphasis on contractual agreements • Ideas of rights and justice • Universally applied • Formal assessment people’s worth. of

Home-makers

• Women reared children • Became house-wives • Focus on personal relationships and care Changing roles of the late 20 th century, e.g. female executives / house husbands, has seen women adopting “male roles / virtues” and men adopting virtues based upon personal relationships and care.

Are Virtues Dependent On Culture Or Are Virtues Universal?

Universal to Human Nature

V I R T

Relative to the Person’s Culture

U E S

Perhaps the Scottish philosopher David Hume can provide an answer ….

Hume’s distinction between two types of virtues (1) Artificial and (2) Natural.

Artificial virtues Natural virtues

• When the individual conforms to social convention , relative to the individual’s circumstances .

• A greater appeal to uniformity , as natural virtues are universal • Hume ridiculed the monastic shared by all human virtues of celibacy, fasting, penance, beings.

self-denial, humility, silence, solitude for being horrible as “they stupefy the understanding and harden the heart, and sour the temper.” •Artificial virtues rejected by Hume .

• Virtues such as friendship, kindness, patience, mercy and fairness .

• Commended by Hume .

Human Beings Are Weak & Unable To Behave Virtuously When Placed Under Pressure

• Human beings are unable to exercise their freedom ( Liberty of spontaneity , not liberty of indifference ) • Even people who habitually follow virtue ethics when faced with pressurised moral dilemmas seem to be manipulated by authoritarian structures. • E.g. ` Stanley Milgram electric shock experiment’ .

Professor Philip Zimbardo : tyrannous dictatorships, such as Stalin , rule as the majority of civilians placidly “stand by” as opposed to standing up and protesting against unethical regimes.

Zimbardo Stalin

Virtue Ethics is dull and boring!

“Aristotle’s doctrine, in focusing upon the middle way, is therefore too middle-aged, middlebrow and middle-class, suggesting a rather limited individual prone to pomposity, who, in shunning the extremes of passion, love, anguish and like states, cannot know the value of them as source of insight and creativity.” ( A.C. Grayling ,

What is Good?

p.30)

Virtue Ethics Justifies Evil Acts

Suicide bombers kill & maim innocent civilians. Disregard for innocent human life. Yet do suicide bombers show courage and bravery ; claiming to correct injustice ?

Who

is to decide what is worthy or otherwise?

Danger of Western Imperialism ?

H O W E V E R

Philippa Foot argued that actions performed in an unworthy cause cannot be called virtuous

The Courage to Act

Mother

Bonhoeffer Truman Tutu Mandela Gosden

Teresa

Worthy or Unworthy Cause?

• Attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler ?

• Dropping the Nuclear bomb on Hiroshima?

• Protect the rights of the unborn child?

• Opposing Apartheid through non violence?

• Opposing Apartheid through violence?

• Use the eggs of aborted foetuses to help infertile couples conceive & eradicate genetic abnormalities?

Wrong to follow Role Models

(Kant and Jean-Paul Sartre)

• Role models are ` fatal to morality’ • Role Models – Hypothetical Imperative (following someone else, peer pressure) • Autonomous individuals should use reason and as an individual make their own decision.

• Should not be led by others. • Inauthentic , ` bad faith’ • People are free, autonomous agents and so should welcome the challenge of deciding the good for its own sake.

Jean-Paul Sartre

Virtue Ethics Denies the Grace of God

• Erasmus : Virtue Ethics denies the need for the assistance of God.

• Calvin : Virtue Ethics leads to arrogant and proud people basking in their own glories .

• Virtue Ethics challenges • The appropriate attitude Christian doctrine of to adopt is one of Original Sin praising God as the • Fallen human nature is dependent on God’s grace creator of the world and author of morality. for salvation .

Case Studies Application of Virtue Ethics to Moral Issues

Morally Should Students Pay University Tuition Fees?

• In January 2004 the Labour government experienced an unprecedented reforms on the Back-bench revolt over its funding of University education .

planned • Tony Blair’s Government proposed that students should pay up to £3,000 per year for their University tuition fees. (Though measures were in place to support those students whose parents are on lower incomes.) • Unhappy at the proposals numerous Labour M.P.s

rebelled. Eventually the government won the vote by just 5 votes , in spite of its 160 seat majority in Parliament.

• Explain the views of a Virtue ethicist.

Morally Should Students Pay University Tuition Fees?

Some further points to consider… • Many consider education to be an intrinsic human right and students should not be deterred by the cost of tuition fees.

• Labour claim that to repay a student loan would cost just £8.75 per week . Graduates should accept contributing to their education as they earn significantly more than non graduates.

• The Russell Group (University Vice-Chancellors) drew attention to the current annual £10 billion short-fall in university funding. Funding is required from somewhere.

Williams • If U.K. students are not required to pay tuition fees then Universities may offer their places to who are charged approximately J.S. Mill overseas students £13,000 per year .

2003 War Against Iraq Morally Justifiable?

George Bush and Tony Blair were prepared to sanction war against Iraq as there was a

George Bush

real and current danger from weapons of mass destruction

Saddam Hussain

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams , did not support military action as the war did

Tony Blair

not satisfy the Just War criteria .

What might Virtue ethics suggest?

Rowan Williams

Pius XII

War Against Iraq – Morally Justifiable?

Some further points to consider… George Bush declared that Iraq was in breach of the United Nations Resolutions . (But so too are other countries, though they lack the oil of Iraq.) Saddam Hussein was a tyrant who imprisoned and tortured those who opposed him. He used bio-chemical warfare against the Kurdish people.

• As yet no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq.

• The United Nations Security Council , who many consider to be the legitimate authority, did not support the resolution to go to go war.

Is it possible to win the peace in Iraq or has it turned the country into a terrorists’ playground?

J.S. Mill

Socrates Says Links

Aristotle

(384-322 BC)

Nicomachean Ethics

“ We are not concerned to know what goodness is but how to become good people, since otherwise our enquiry would be useless.”

Nicomachean Ethics

, II 1103b 27-9 “The good for human beings is an activity of the soul in accordance with arete (virtue).” ( Aristotle )

David Hume

(1711-1776

CE

)

Enquiry Concerning the Principals of Morals p.279

“But what philosophical truth can be more more advantageous to society than those which represent virtue… Virtue talks not of useless austerities and rigours, suffering and self denial. Virtue declares that her sole purpose is to make mankind, if possible, cheerful and happy…… The sole trouble which Virtue demands, is that … of just calculation, and a steady B……preference of the greatest happiness.” ( David Hume )

M O S E S Elizabeth Anscombe Command Theory rejects the Divine where God is understood as the source of morality e.g. Decalogue In 1958 Professor Elizabeth Anscombe, commented “in a secular age modern moral philosophy is misguided because it rests on the notion of a `law’ without a lawgiver.” To follow a moral law out of a sense of obedience belittles the status and integrity of human beings. Virtue should be its own reward , irrespective of the source of authority or the desirable /

undesirable consequences (heaven or hell).

Elizabeth Anscombe President Truman

After World War II Oxford University proposed honouring President Truman , (a former American President) However, Elizabeth Anscombe spoke against the proposal on the grounds that it would be wrong to honour the person who was responsible for dropping two nuclear bombs on Japan .

Anscombe knew that by speaking out she would make herself unpopular , but showed courage and fortitude.

Professor Philippa Foot Virtue ethics: Agent centred

Virtues, such as courage, used in an unworthy cause cease to be virtues..

Virtue ethics can help to correct deviant behaviour as it it is agent , not act, centred .

Professor Foot

Virtues are a skill , they develop with practise. Reason selects appropriate emotions for the particular situation .

The Crisis of Modernity

MacIntyre considers that since the Enlightenment ethics has been too pre-occupied with autonomy and reason .

This is a serious mistake as ethics is grounded in communal living , forms of life .

Virtues such as loyalty, trust, friendship arise out of communal living , and is it to this that ethics should return…

Problems of Rule Based Ethics Often founded on a theistic belief – which lacks relevance in a secular age.

Can ignore the spiritual dimension to the human character.

Focuses too much on the issue of autonomy at the expense of communal life .

“We need to attend to virtues in the first place in order to understand the function and authority of rules.” MacIntyre

After Virtue

Virtues are Gender Specific

( Carol Gilligan )

Female Virtues

• Responsibility in Relationships • Caring / Loyal • Compassionate

Male Virtues

•Rules of Contract • Justice / Fairness • Determination • Courage

Natural Law Upheld By The Magisterium is Too Authoritative

Hans Kung regards the Catholic Pius XI Pius XII Church as being too authoritarian . He thinks the Roman Catholic church is operating with a Medieval world view ethic where Nature is held to be superior to reason . The laity are instructed by the clergy Paul VI John Paul II through Papal authority e.g.

Humanae Vitae

, which forbids the use of artificial contraception.

Hans Kung

Duty for Duty’s Sake…

• Reason is cold and impersonal • The Shoah (Holocaust) • Trial of Adolf Eichmann , SS officer , his defence was that he was simply performing his Kantian duty .

Duty, without guidance from human benevolence and sympathy, can lead to rigid moral fanaticism

Trial of Adolph Eichmann, Chief Administrator of the Holocaust Jerusalem 1961

(Source: Peter Singer

How are we to live?

p. 220) “I meant by my remark about Kant that the principle of my will must always be such that it can become the principle of general laws.” Eichmann also cited, in support of his Kantian attitude to his duty , the fact that out of the millions of cases that passed through his hands, he allowed sympathy to sway him from his path of duty on only two occasions. Because Eichmann one’s duty believed one should do unaffected by sympathy , he steadfastly stuck to his duty, instead of being tempted to bend the rules and help the Jews.

M O S E S Elizabeth Anscombe Command Theory rejects the Divine where God is understood as the source of morality e.g. Decalogue In 1958 Professor Elizabeth Anscombe, commented “in a secular age modern moral philosophy is misguided because it rests on the notion of a `law’ without a lawgiver.” To follow a moral law out of a sense of obedience belittles the status and integrity of human beings. Virtue should be its own reward , irrespective of the source of authority or the desirable /

undesirable consequences (heaven or hell).

Thomas Hobbes Social Contract Theory of Ethics

Thomas Hobbes took a rather pessimistic view of human nature , thinking “Life is isolated, nasty, brutish and short.” Hobbes recommended the need for a Leviathan – a ruler who would have the right to force people to comply to the general will .

People’s incentive to follow the social contract was founded upon veiled egoism ; as by cooperating the

individual was most likely to prosper.

Utilitarianism: Undermines Justice

Instrumental Approach Utilitarians think that justice is only important

if

it serves the principle of utility .

Justice has no intrinsic value

.

e.g

To Kill a Mocking Bird, Harper Lee

Tom , a black farm-hand, is made a scapegoat and is unjustly accused of having raped a young, white woman.

If the racist, white, jury adopted an act-utilitarian approach it would be justified in finding Tom guilty of a crime he did not commit, on the grounds that the predominantly white townsfolk would have justice “seen to be done” and so the majority of people would be happy.

Utilitarianism: Lack of Intrinsic Goods

Utilitarianism is a consequential morality and so lacks intrinsic goods , such as trust, honesty and dignity. This creates an ethos of uncertainty where people are never really sure if they are valued.

e.g

YUPPIES ( Young Urban Professional People )

In the early 1980s many middle-aged businessmen, who had shown great loyalty accruing high profits for their companies, were sacked over-night and replaced by YUPPIES . YUPPIES were considered to be of greater

immediate

use to the company, being younger and so cheaper in the short run.

• It is important to realise that Aristotle’s use of the term soul is different to that of Plato or Christianity.

• For Aristotle the term soul does not refer to a separate incorporeal (spiritual) entity existing inside the physical body, rather the soul gives form to the body’s matter; and so may be understood as referring to a person’s personality .

• Human beings will therefore be happy when they are living a life that enables them to flourish.

• The Greek word ` eudaimonia ’, a Aristotle used which means happiness is flourishing of the soul , it is an active kind of well being and well doing.

• This state of happiness, eudaimonia , is recognized by as being desired for its own sake.

reason