THE IMPERATIVE OF VIRTUE ETHICS FOR A NEW SOCIETY BY NWANGUMA OKENNA MICHAEL DI/342 BEING AN ESSAY SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY, DOMINICAN INSTITUTE OF PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY IBADAN, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF BARCHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE IN PHILOSOPHY IBADAN JUNE 2010. ATTESTATION This is to certify that the long essay titled: THE IMPERATIVE OF VIRTUE ETHICS FOR A NEW SOCIETY, submitted to the department of Philosophy, Dominican Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Ibadan, for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy of the University of Ibadan, is an original and insightful research work undertaken by Nwanguma Okenna Michael and was supervised and approved by Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Ben Faneye, O. P. MODERATOR: Date……………………. Sign……………………. Rev. Fr. Faneye, Benedict, O. P. Head of Philosophy Department, Dominican Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Ibadan, Nigeria. II DEDICATION This project is fondly dedicated to my parents, Mr. Bartholomew Duru Nwanguma and Mrs. Grace Chinyere Nwanguama. It is also dedicated to you, the reader – I hope you will find it an insightful introduction to contemporary virtue ethics and the need to learn and grow in the virtues. III ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Thanks to the Triune God for bestowing on me undeserved love, wisdom and strength to accomplish this project. I remain ever grateful to my dearest mother, Mother Thrice Admirable, Queen and Victress of Schoenstatt, for guiding me through the difficult moments of the execution of this project. The stimulus to write this work came from Rev. Fr. Alfred Kistler. I am much indebted to him for his encouragement at every stage. Especially, I must thank Rev. Fr. Ben Fanaye, my moderator, for reading the entire manuscript in draft, and for taking the time to make many characteristically insightful comments. I am also most grateful to Anthony Onyeuwaoma, Rev. Fr. Magnus Ifedikwa Charles Agboeze, Cajetan Okeke, Lazarus Illigh and Stanley Obijiaku for being willing to take the trouble to read some of the more awkward bits and let me know whether people coming to virtue ethics for the first time would find it relevant. I remain grateful other friends who in one way or another contributed to the success of this project. Worthy of mention are my Schoenstatt Fathers’ group brothers, Chukwuwike Enekwechi, Ekenedilichukwu Uchenu, Victory Oforka, Raymond Gbadamosi and Damian Chilobe. I also remember profoundly the contributions of my dear father, Bartholomew Nwanguma, my good friend Oluwaseun Opeyemi Oni and other friends whose name I cannot mention here for want of space. I have you all in my mind for the good impact you have made in my life. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Attestation…………………………………………………………………. II Dedication...………………………………………………………………. III Acknowledgement………………………………………………………… IV Table of Contents………………………………………………………….. V INTRODUCTION I. Statement of the problem…………………………………………. 1 II. Aim and scope of the work……………………………………….. 2 III. Methodology……………………………………………………… 2 CHAPTER ONE HISTORY OF VIRTUE ETHICS 1.1 What is Ethics?............................................................................... 4 1.2 Division of Ethical Theories…………………..…………………. 5 1.2.1 Normative Ethics…………………………..…………….. 5 1.2.2 Descriptive Ethics………………………..………………. 6 1.2.3 Metaethics……………..…………………………………. 6 1.3 Historical development of Virtue Ethics………………………..... 7 1.3.1 Greco-Roman Ethics- Aristotle’s Ethics………………….. 8 V 1.3.2 Medieval Period- Aquinas’ Ethics…………………………. 11 1.3.3 Modern Period- Deontology and Utilitarianism…………….14 1.3.4 20th Century- Anscombe’s “Modern Moral Philosophy”….. 19 CHAPTER TWO KEY CONCEPTS IN VIRTUE ETHICS 2.1 Human Flourishing……….…………………………………………23 2.2 Moral Education and Character Formation………………………... 28 2.3 Types of Virtues……………………………………………………. 34 2.4 Uncodifiability of Ethics………...…………………………………. 40 CHAPTER THREE IMPERATIVE OF VIRTUE ETHICS FOR A NEW SOCIETY 3.1 Moral dilemma of our society today………………………………. 43 3.2 Virtue and social life………………………….……………………. 56 3.3 The imperative of Virtue Ethics…………………….……………… 63 3.4 Conclusion…………………….…………………………………… 65 3.5 Bibliography………………………………………………………. 67 VI INTRODUCTION I. Statement of the Problem Aristotle in propagating virtue ethics focuses on the inherent character of a person rather than on the specific actions the person performs. This approach to normative ethics which was the prevailing approach to ethical thinking in the ancient Greek and Medieval periods of philosophy, faded out during the early Modern period where virtue ethics was practically jettisoned and replaced by utilitarianism and deontology. It re-emerged in the late twentieth century heralded by Anscombe's famous article “Modern Moral Philosophy” (Anscombe 1958) which crystallized an increasing dissatisfaction with deontology and utilitarianism as the paradigm for normative ethical theories. Virtue ethics suffered rejection on the accusation that it lacked absolute moral rules which can give clear guidance on how to act in specific circumstances such as abortion, digital crimes, euthanasia and so on. Also some others reject virtue ethics because they believe different people, cultures, and societies often have vastly different perspectives on what constitutes a virtue. Since it is difficult to establish the nature of the virtues especially across different cultures and societies, it is erroneously held that virtue ethics can no longer hold true in many modern societies. 1 II. Aim and Scope of the Work This work aims to argue, in the line drawn by Elizabeth Anscombe, that a return to virtue ethics is not only relevant but also desirable to help modern society out of its plunge into moral decadence. In response to its critics, we shall show how virtue ethics is able to resolve specific moral dilemmas and establish that there is a necessary interplay between social life and the virtues. Consequently, this essay shall argue that virtue ethics can serve as paradigm for reconstructing our present morally decaying society in order to create a better one. III. Methodology To achieve the set aim, in chapter one, we shall trace the history of virtue ethics from the period of Greco-Roman philosophy and the Medieval era of philosophy to the era of its decline in the early Modern period. We shall then discuss how Anscombe was able to revive virtue ethics by showing dissatisfaction with the then prevailing deontology and utilitarianism. In the second chapter, we shall expose the key concepts of virtue ethics. Usually, concepts like eudaimonia, habit, character, types of virtues and the doctrine of the mean are either misunderstood or misapplied and so our aim shall be, as much as possible, to place this understanding in the right perspective. 2 Finally, in the last chapter, we shall show how consequentialism and deontology have failed to meet new moral challenges of our modern society. In this place, we shall argue that virtue ethics is able to meet these challenges. To meet modern society’s moral and social challenge, there should be interplay between virtue and social life in order to facilitate the possible attainment of the goal of having a society with virtuous personalities promoting common good. This can be done without virtue ethics necessarily falling into moral relativism as its critics claim. Duty based moral thinking has failed to lead man to its promised ideal of a morally upright world. Virtue ethics is the viable alternative ethical theory that can lead us to the Promised Land – the evolving of a virtuous man in a new society! 3 CHAPTER ONE HISTORY OF VIRTUE ETHICS 1.1 What is Ethics? Etymologically, ethics derives from the Greek word ethika, which designates “character,” “custom”, principles or standards of human conduct. It is sometimes called “morals” from Latin mores, meaning “customs”, and, by extension, the study of such principles, sometimes called moral philosophy.1 To attempt a more technical definition, we can say ethics is the science of human conduct. There are two important elements of this definition, science and human conduct, which both require explanations. The sense of science used in the definition is not the same as the physical experimental science that rely on fixed empirical principles but it involves a broad sense of the word, which designates an intellectual enterprise that uses scientific methodology for its rational inquiry to attain truth.2 Human conducts, on the other hand, pertains to the ability of man to make voluntary choices between alternative courses of action because they have decided that they ought to choose one alternative rather than the 1 Cf. "Ethics." Microsoft® Encarta® 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. 2 Cf. Oliver Johnson, Ethics: Selection from Classical and Contemporary Writers (Fort Worth: Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication Data, 1989), p.2. 4 other.3 Ethics thus sets out to address the problem of how humans ought to act which is different from how they indeed act. 1.2 Division of Ethical Theories There are generally three divisions or approaches to ethical theories; although the conclusions arrived using one approach may bear on those of other approaches. It is thus useful that we distinguish between the three before we fully delve into the area that largely concerns us in this work. 1.2.1 Normative Ethics Normative Ethics prescribes how we should act. This level of theorizing includes sets of principles that can be used