On Whiteboards Write a paragraph to summarise Virtue

On Whiteboards: Write a paragraph to summarise Virtue Ethics using as many of the words below as possible… Good life Function Virtues Final end Eudaimonia Vices Rational Flourishing Doctrine of the mean

Recap – The Virtues 1. What are the vices for each of the following virtues? Vice of Deficiency Virtue Vice of Excess Courage Modest Patient 2. What are the two types of virtue according to Aristotle? What are each broadly for?

A Few REALLY Important points: 1. ‘Mean’ here refers to ‘middle’, but Aristotle is not saying that we should take the ‘middle way’ in every situation, or act moderately in every situation. Clearly there are some situations where a more (or less) emotional response is required, for example when protesting against extreme injustices a high level of anger is appropriate, whereas if someone cuts you up whilst driving it may be appropriate to get only slightly irritated.

A Few REALLY Important points: 2. As we said before, virtues are also relative to particular people, a fireman running into a burning building would be expected to show a higher level of courage as his mean than you or I would.

Test theory… • Think of 3 of your character traits. (How would people describe you? ) • For each one: What kind of actions might it lead you to take? • Does this display a virtue, or a vice according to Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean? • Remember: It is a vice if you show too much or too little of the particular emotion concerned!

Acquiring the Virtues So now we have an idea of what the Virtues are, and what they are meant to do, we need to find out how we identify and acquire them to start with. • Go back to your character traits (positive or negative!) • For each one – how did you get it? Where did it come from? • Is it something you just do naturally? Or have you had to work at it?

Education and Habit • So are the virtues nature or nurture? • Aristotle: Nurture. Whilst we may be born with certain dispositions and potentials, these only become actual through exercise, practice, action and habit. “The moral virtues are engendered in us neither by nor contrary to nature; we are constituted by nature to receive them, but their full development in us is due to habit. ”

Example: Music! • Are some people born with a gift for musical instruments? • Does this mean they will be good with no work whatsoever? • How do we therefore develop musical skill?

Habituation • Being virtuous is an art, like learning an instrument. • We learn by doing and developing natural dispositions. • E. g. Kindness / fairness – whilst we may be born with dispositions towards these emotions it does not mean we are always automatically kind or fair. • We develop them through habituation, through practice. • Note: Habituation is not the same as ‘habit’ – it’s not doing something mindlessly. It’s requires repetition and mental effort.

But why not education? • We may question why it’s not possible for someone to be taught to be virtuous. To learn through instruction rather than doing. • Aristotle argues if this were the case, then we’d have examples of adolescent ‘moral geniuses’ as we have in other taught skills like maths or science. But this of course, seems ridiculous. You could use examples of the virtues we discussed last lesson to illustrate this – could you really teach someone courage? Modesty? Wittiness?

Habituation – Quick Check What does Aristotle mean when he says we develop the virtues through habituation and practice?

The Skill Analogy Read through the skill analogy section on page 311: • Why are virtues like skills according to Aristotle? • What phases must we pass through when developing a skill or virtue? • Why is autonomy important? “The virtues we acquire by first exercising them, just as happens in the arts. For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them: people become builders by building and instrumentalists by playing instruments. Similarly we becomes just by performing just acts… brave by performing brave ones. ”

The Skill Analogy • As we’ve seen with some of the examples this lesson – we can compare the development of a virtue with the development of a particular skill (for example playing an instrument or learning a sport). • In fact, Aristotle himself makes this analogy in his writings. “The virtues we acquire by first exercising them, just as happens in the arts. For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them: people become builders by building and instrumentalists by playing instruments. Similarly we becomes just by performing just acts… brave by performing brave ones. ”

The Skill Analogy In fact we may break learning a skill and developing a virtue down into four stages: 1. Initial observation, guidance and input by an expert. 2. Starting to practise the skill or behaviour (which is difficult and painful). 3. Getting better through practice and habit (which may become more pleasurable as we go on). 4. The move from dependence on the expert, to independence from the expert.

Autonomy 4. The move from dependence on the expert, to independence from the expert. This last point about becoming autonomous is important. Aristotle believes mere habituation is not enough to generate the dispositions we need to develop if we are to achieve “excellence of virtue” (ethica arête), we must also understand the reasoning behind our behaving in a particular way. This is because the world is not always black and white, rules don’t always apply. So if we are to be truly virtuous we must learn to recognise how to act in different situations and contexts. This demonstrates a psychological aspect to the virtues as well as a behavioural.

Comparison Who is the more virtuous person? Why? Person A: Person B: Who shares sweets because he has been told by society that this is the right thing to do, and because he happens to like the person he is sharing with. Who shares the sweets because he understands what it means to be fair and wants to aim for that, and because he has always been generous wherever possible.

Summary Task So Far… How might Aristotle draw an analogy with learning a musical instrument and developing a virtue? Why is autonomy important in virtue ethics?

Feelings… If we are discussing someone's dispositions are we only concerned with their actions? If we want someone to develop a particular disposition or state of character, then we are not just discussing their actions but their feelings as well – more specifically how they respond to particular emotions in any given situation. This is one of the ways in which Virtue Ethics is drastically different from Kant or UT – whilst they may focus on a particular action here we are looking at the person as a whole, their actions and their feelings. Aristotle very clearly connects virtues and feelings in his work: “Virtues are concerned with actions and feelings”

Feelings… “A virtue is our capacity to shape our behaviour both as active agents (through taking the right action) and as passive agents (by having the correct response to our emotions). ” – Textbook quote, NOT Aristotle Do you think it’s possible to train yourself to feel a certain way through habituation?

Feelings… Vice of Deficiency Virtue Vice of Excess Cowardice Courage Rashness Immodesty Modest Prudishness Impatient Patient Walkover Think back to the doctrine of the mean, many of the examples in the list we discussed actually stem from particular emotional responses we may have fear, shame, indignation, anger etc. For Aristotle someone who is virtuous is able to respond appropriately to the emotion (by recognising what the appropriate feeling should be) and is then able to act on that feeling.

Feelings… The whole thing Aristotle is going for here is that someone who is ethica arête (has achieved moral excellence) should never have the internal conflict that may plague us when placed in a situation in which we could act virtuously. • Someone who is truly generous (who possesses the disposition or virtue to be generous) never has the internal dialogue about whether or not to give up the last slice of cake – they just recognise the situation requires generosity and then act accordingly. • Similarly someone who is truly courageous never has the dialogue about whether or not to act, they just recognise that courage is required then act accordingly!

Feelings… We can say then that feelings are important for Virtue Ethics because without the correct feelings, you cannot be truly virtuous. Someone who merely acts in a virtuous way but does not feel it is not truly virtuous. This brings us full circle back to the process of habituation and training we outlined previously – during the process of shaping our dispositions we are shaping the way we respond to particular emotional cues along with the way we may behave. So we can say Aristotle’s theory of eudaimonia is not only about how to act well, but also how to feel well.

Summary Thus the moral virtues are: • • Dispositions of character (involving feelings and actions) Acquired by ethical training and practice (habituation) Developed through a process not unlike skills (skill analogy) And enable the virtuous person and society to flourish (Eudaimonia) Meaning someone who is virtuous is someone who: • • • Has learnt through habituation to do virtuous acts. Recognises what the appropriate virtue to apply is. Enjoys doing virtuous acts. Has a history of doing virtuous acts. Has no internal conflict about acting virtuously. Chooses consciously to act virtuously whenever possible.

Specification So Far • ‘The good’ for human beings: the meaning of Eudaimonia as the ‘final end’. • The function argument and the relationship between virtues and function. • Aristotle’s account of virtues and vices: • • • virtues as character traits/dispositions the role of education/habituation in the development of a moral character the skill analogy the importance of feelings the doctrine of the mean and its application to particular virtues.

Exam Style Questions Do this: What is the doctrine of the mean according to Aristotle? (3 marks) Then pick one of these: Easy: Explain how Aristotle believes we should make decisions using the doctrine of the mean. (5 marks) Medium: Outline the skill analogy Aristotle uses when discussing how to develop virtues (5 marks) Hard: Explain why feelings are important to Aristotle in Virtue Ethics (5 marks)