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Virtue Ethics: Nicomachean Ethics

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Virtue Ethics: Nicomachean Ethics Lecture 9: Virtue Ethics – David Agler Lecture 9: Virtue Ethics Aristotle. 1999. Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by T. Irwin. Indianapolis: Hackett. I. Introduction a. Previous ethical theories have asked these questions 1. What Makes an action good 2. What is the right action to make if we want to do the good b. Virtue Ethics asks a different question 1. What makes a person good? 2. What types of dispositions/characteristics should we develop if we want to be a good person? c. Shifts the focus away from a law that we have to obey to a more future looking perspective 1. We all come from different places and have our own strengths 2. How do we all move towards becoming a better person 3. Future-looking not focused on law-obeying. II. Book I: Ends and Goods A. Chapter 1 1. Description: Chapter 1 proposes that all action seeks some good and that the good is the end that every action seeks. Action is teleological (end + logic). Generally, these ends are multitudinous and often they conflict; thus, one way of determining which of these ends are more choiceworthy is by determining which end is less subordinate. An end that is subordinate to a higher end is done for the sake of that end, and therefore there is a hierarchy of good ends. 2. First principle: All action seeks some end. a. Whenever we do anything, we seek some end i. If we go fishing, what are we seeking: to catch fish. ii. If we are taking a class, we are seeking to gain credit from it. b. We often seek things that we don’t find. 1. Example: I am seeking a perfect wife, but I may not find it because it might not exist, or because I am looking in the wrong way. 2. Example: I want a good grade in this class, but I may not go about actualizing it in the right way. c. Plurality of ends i. Health, Wealth, Family, Educational Success d. Some ends may be conflicting i. Health and Pleasurability (e.g. smoking) ii. For Kant: Pleasurable Consequences and Doing Good. e. Our actions have a purpose/directionality even if we aren’t aware at the time what it is. 1 Lecture 9: Virtue Ethics – David Agler i. Sometimes we don’t know why we behave a certain way; we don’t have total command of the meaning of our actions. ii. We often try to explain it later in life. iii. Our behavior is animated by a vague sense of purpose. 3. Second principle: The good is that which all actions seek. a. Whenever we are aiming to do an action, we are trying to do good. b. We might not necessarily be cognizant of what that good is or it isn’t clear. c. Objection: Hitler was not trying to do good with his actions. i. Reply: Guided by an idea of what the world should be like; tried to bring it about. Action guided by a wrong idea of how to obtain the good. Aristotle says “every action and decision seems to seek some good.” ii. Aristotle is not affirming that every action we do actually is good; action only seeks it. 4. Plurality of Ends and Notion of Means and Ends Creates a Hierarchy of Good Ends a. Some ends are more important than others. i. Health more important than new tires on your car. b. Some actions are done for the sake of something else (done as a means to an end). c. Actions are put in a hierarchy, whereby one action is deemed more “choiceworthy” because it is the aim of our action. d. Creates the notion of subordination. i. Attending class subordinate action to Getting Your Degree ii. Engineering of Medical Equipment Medicine Health iii. Making horseshoes, bridle-making, etc. Horseriding e. Conclusion: We have some ends that we think are more important than others. Some ends serve others. B. Chapter 2: The Highest Good 1. Description Chapter 2 proposes the supposition that there is some action that is not done for the sake of another end; namely, a best good. Aristotle contends that knowledge of this good would provide assistance in directing action towards it (e.g. archers aiming at a bullseye). Finally, Aristotle contends that it is political science (whereby Ethics is a subset) which stands as the controlling science, directing all others to the human good. 2. The Best Good a. All action seeks some end AND all action seeks some good. b. Hierarchy: We also know that some actions are done for the sake of something else. 2 Lecture 9: Virtue Ethics – David Agler c. The Best Good: The limit of our action; that which all action seeks as its ultimate end; every aim/end is subordinate to this aim/end. 3. Benefit in Knowing this Best Good a. Aristotle seeks to give us an outline of this good. i. Knowing where the bull’s eye is allows for better aim. ii. Knowing your degree would allow you to only take courses that are relevant to obtaining the degree. iii. Knowing this ultimate aim (the best good) would allow us to direct our behavior better. C. Chapter 3: The Method of Political Science 1. Description Chapter 3 contends for a general and fallible outline on the good. Aristotle contends that the following is not an exact account of what we should and should not do, but a guide for different situations. Further, Aristotle contends that it is reason and not moral intuition or feelings that benefits us in our attempt to reach the end. Reason is the proper faculty for benefiting from further experience because it allows us to make use of our knowledge and our immediate feelings. 2. A General and Fallible Outline a. Aristotle seeks to give truths that hold roughly. i. Some things we associate as being good don’t always result in good consequences a. Generosity could result in getting killed. b. Wealth could result in being destroyed by your enemy. ii. Let’s get a general idea of what this ultimate good is. b. In Search of a General Good i. Doesn’t have to be without exception ii. When we ask the question “what makes us a good person,” we want a rough way to determine this. 3. The use of Reason to Determine what the Good is a. Like Kant, Aristotle spurns the use of feelings when trying to determine how we should act. b. We should rely on our reason for guiding our action. c. Reason as a practical faculty, not for the attainment of theoretical knowledge, but for directing behavior. d. Unlike Kant, our use of reason requires us to draw upon our experience and consider the consequences of our behavior. e. Reference past mistakes and use our reasoning capacities to anticipate future consequences D. Chapter 4: Common Beliefs 1. Description 3 Lecture 9: Virtue Ethics – David Agler Chapter 4 contends that all knowledge and decision pursues some good and that the highest good sought is happiness (eudaimonia), which is equivalent to living well. Aristotle notes the disparate views of happiness and notes its tendency to change depending upon the situation. 2. What is this highest Good a. Happiness (eudaimonia – εὐδαιμονία) i. When Aristotle uses the word “happiness,” he really means “eudaimonia” (εὐδαιμονία), which is more equivalent to “human flourishing” than just having a smile on your face. ii. He writes “they suppose that living well and doing well are the same as being happy” (I.4.2). b. What is Happiness? i. Disparate Views on the matter a. Utilitarianism defined it as pleasure with the absence of pain. b. Aristotle contends that some people define it as wealth or honor. ii. Often tends to be defined by the situation we are in. a. Cancer patient Happiness is being healthy b. Poor person Happiness is Wealth 2. Whatever it is, we seem to acknowledge that it is real a. We have an unclear idea of what it is, but we know it because our behavior seems to be directed by our indeterminate idea of it. b. It is the limit of our search. The remainder of the chapter tries to give us a better idea of it. E. Chapter 5: The Three Lives 1. Moved to Ch.7 Discussion F. Chapter 6: The Platonic Form of the Good Skipped G. Chapter 7: An Account of the Human Good 1. Part 1 a. Description Chapter 7 contends that the good of an action is found in the end of it. Aristotle contends that the best end, or the best good, is one that is complete and self-sufficient. Happiness fits both of these conditions. 1. Complete: do not seek it for the sake of something else (final + inclusive). a. First, happiness is complete (or final/telos) and therefore more choiceworthy because we do not pursue happiness for the sake of something else. i. It is the final end of all action. 4 Lecture 9: Virtue Ethics – David Agler 1. Action: We get the milk out of the refrigerator (Incomplete – not final) – done for the sake of something else (to drink it). 2. Action: We have a child – done for the sake of something else, our own happiness or to contribute to the world. ii. It is final, but also inclusive of all our action. 1. Action: Get a new car (incomplete – not inclusive of our other final ends). We do actions for other reasons. iii. Happiness as complete implies that it is the most choiceworthy of ends.
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