Aristotle

1
Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics

• The good what all things aim at
• We study Ethics, not merely to know, but to
  attain the good to live good lives

2
The Good for Man Eudaimonia

• complete, sufficient
• a fulfilling human life
• human ergon think on/lead a good life
• a teleological ethics
• Defn rational activity with virtue
• focused on the goal how to make my life
  good/fulfilling?

3
Major Claims

• Ethics quest for the good
• The good happiness-in-rational activity
• Possible to attain in a life of virtuous
  activities together with friends

4
Contrasting ethical theories

• Ancient
• Relativism
• Universalism
• Command theories
• Divine Command
• Polis laws
• Hedonism
• Eudaimonist
• Socrates?/Stoics virtue alone happiness
• Callicles dominance virtue happiness

• Modern
• Relativism
• Existentialism (authenticity-ethics)
• Universalism
• Deontology (Kant categorical imperative)
• Utilitarianism (Mill the greater good)

5
Contrasting Ethical Claims

• ARISTOTELIANS
• vs. KANTIANS
• Ethics ideal way of life, not principles of
  action
• C.I. does not work
• Justice constitutive of happiness
• Self-fulfillment in virtue, even in e.g. war
• vs. UTILITARIANS
• Pleasure subjective aspect of good
• Good is happiness, not pleasure
• Self-sacrifice for greater good may not be
  just but may be for enlarged self

• KANTIANS
• Categorical Imperative ? Universal Moral Rules
• Possible conflict bet. Moral duty vs. Happiness
• Virtue means to Duty, not ends
• UTILITARIANS
• Utility /Greatest Good Highest ethical
  principle
• Good pleasure or greatest happiness
• Conflict bet. personal happiness vs. greater good
  (including others)

6
Virtue (arete)

• Moral Stages
• Mature, rational person
• Chooses own goals, values
• Moral intellectual virtue
• Maturing self
• Obedient to moral guidance, sense of honor
• Moral-behavioral virtues
• Immature ego
• Acts on impulse/feelings
• Opposes morals
• Moral Ed changes
• immature ego ?
• moral self ?
• rational person

• Virtues of character (moral virtues)
• Courage
• Temperance
• Justice
• Virtues of mind (intellectual virtues)
• Practical wisdom (phronesis)
• Philosophical wisdom (sophia)
• Interpersonal virtue
• Friendship (philia)

7
Moral development

• Actions
• Voluntary vs. coerced, done in ignorance
• Chosen
• ? habits of choice, character
• Virtue involves
• Knowing the act
• Choosing it for its own sake
• A consistent state of character

8
Freedom and Responsibility (III.5)

• Aristotle
• If you know the particulars and
• You are not coerced then
• You are responsible, even if you dont
  deliberately choose to do it.
• But if actions arise from character, and it from
  how we are raised, are we really free?
• Aristotles reply
• Either we are co-responsible
• Or, if not, we must still reward and punish to
  bring out what is better

9
Definition of Moral Virtue (II.6)

• A habit or state of character that expresses a
  choice
• Which finds a mean relative to us
• As determined by rational principle, ie. guided
  by values a morally wise person would see are at
  stake

10
The Doctrine of the Mean

• Virtue (of character) involves striking a mean
  between extremes of action and passion.
• Excess having too much of something
• Deficiency having too little of something.
• The mean is not mediocrity, but harmony and
  balance.

11
Deficiency Cowardice VIRTUE COURAGE Excess Rashness
Self-indulgent (drunken, glutton, promiscuous) TEMPERANCE (healthy moderation) Anhedonic (incapable of enjoying pleasure)
Cheapness GENEROSITY Wastefulness
Self-Shame, Servility (low self-esteem) PROPER PRIDE ( high ambition) Arrogance, Vanity (bloated self-esteem)
Exploitative (covetous, dominator) JUSTICE (fair-mindedness) (Altruistic)
12
Virtue and Self-Control

• Aristotle contrasts
• Self-controlled or continent people, who have
  unruly desires but manage to control them, guided
  by good judgment (right reason).
• Temperate people, whose reason and desires have
  become harmonizedsecond-natureand choose that
  which is good for them.
• Weakness of will (akrasia) occurs when
  right-thinking people cannot keep their desires
  under control. (Discussed in Bk VII.)

13
Courage and Cowardice

• courage involves mastering fear
• courage willing to give your life for the good
  you value
• no freedom without courage

14
Temperance vs. Intemperance

• Temperate
• choose mean, willingly limit your pleasures
• enjoy temperance
• Self-indulgent
• E.g. drunkenness, promiscuity
• virtue freely act within limits
• vice enslaving

15
Justice and Fairness

• Virtues of Justice
• Obeying the Law
• Fairness willingly giving other his due
• 2 Forms of Justice
• Distributive
• Corrective
• 2 Norms of Justice
• Conventional
• Natural

16
Distributive vs. Corrective Justice

• Distributive giving or taking of goods or evils
  fairly to others, i.e. according to
  proportionality by merit/desert
• what constitutes merit may vary with situation
  call for judgment, esp. where participants are
  unequal in their situation

• Corrective restoration of equality between
  individuals where one has wrongfully injured the
  other
• here the differences in merit between the
  individuals is irrelevant the superior has no
  more right to harm the inferior than vice-versa

17
Conventional vs. Natural Justice

• Natural Right Justice according to the
  laws/actions that fulfill human nature, relative
  to wise judgment
• These will reflect the ideal vision of a humanly
  fulfilling society with a realistic appraisal of
  what can best be attained at the time

• Conventional Right Justice according to law or
  the prevailing norms of the society
• These will be at least partly in conformity to
  natural right, but may be distorted e.g. laws
  under conditions of tyranny or oligarchy or
  communism or other societies that do not value
  genuine merit

18
Sub-category of fairness honesty

• Virtue of Honesty
• Obeying the rules of the game
• Fairness willingly giving the other
  (competitor) his due
• Act of honesty
• Done consciously
• Choose for own sake
• Act of character
• Relation to other virtues
• PRIDE Self-respect, high-mindedness, integrity
• PRACTICAL WISDOM True v. false self-presentation
  (vs. cleverness, self-deception)
• FRIENDSHIP with self, others
• HAPPINESS in genuine accomplishment

NOTE honesty implies either (i) other-directed
sense of honor shame (pre-adult virtue) or (ii)
personal sense of honor principle (adult
virtue)
19
Virtues of the Mind

• Art e.g. sculptor, doctor
• Makes particular useful things
• They wouldnt otherwise exist
• Science e.g. chemist
• Deduces from necessary, universal laws
• Not concerned with particular things/events
• Intuitive Reason
• Realizes principles/facts are ultimate
• Recognizes principles in practical situations

• Practical Wisdom
• Deliberative skill re means
• Right values (ends)
• Self-knowledge
• Unity of Virtue
• Theoretical Wisdom
• Logic, Physics, Ethics
• Vision of God

20
Moral Knowledge is like

• Art (techne, craft)
• Goal-oriented
• Perception of, feel for the situation (nous)
• Brings about useful, noble particulars, which
  otherwise dont exist
• Grounded in desire, not cognition
• Truth-in-action more than in logos

• Science (episteme)
• Truth-revealing
• Awareness of universal principles, human nature
• Skill in deliberation and reasoning
• Involves knowledge of self, others
• Particulars exemplify universal values

21
Weakness of Will

• Socrates No one can know the good and not
  choose it.
• Common view People can know what they should
  do, but still choose not to do it.

• PARADOX
• How can you choose to do what you know is not
  good for you? Who knows? Who is choosing?
• Compare how is self-deception possible?

22
Aristotles Solution

• One can have general
• knowledge but, moved by
• passion, not apply it.
• PARADOXES
• Chronic weak-willed do not choose
• Chronic weak-willed not one self

• SOLUTION
• vs. Socrates
• abstract knowledge is possible
• knowing is not doing.
• vs. Common sense
• Cannot know in situ and still choose bad
• voluntary doing is not choosing
• Person can lack moral self-unity

23
What is Self-Love?

• Is it good or bad?
• Self-love based on virtue is good
• We should love ourselves, be caretakers of our
  virtue and well-being (compare Apology 30b)
• Care of our psyche will involve care of our
  works (theoretical and practical), but value
  process/virtue over outcome/success

24
Art of Self-Care?

• Socratic theme
• Central value integrity
• Self-friendship preserving ethical balance in
  midst of actions, emotions
• Phronesis evaluates lifes opportunities with
• good reasoning
• right values (justice, noble beauty)
• concept of full life

25
True Self-Love

• Self-care, self-respect (proper pride)
• Having good goals (wisdom)
• Sticking to goals (courage, temperance)
• Acting to promote flourishing in yourself, others
  
• (justice, friendship)

26
Friendship (filia)

• Friendships of
• utility
• pleasure
• virtue
• Friendship bridges egoism / altruism
• True friendship
• based in self-love
• expands the self

27
Is Altruism Possible?

• ARISTOTLE
• Friendships most egoistic based on
  pleasure/utility
• Perfect friendship
• Based on virtue
• mutual recognition
• Non-competitive
• includes pleasure, utility
• Friend is other self
• Self is expanded self
• Friendship Egoism
• bridges gap between egoism and altruism
• Even self-sufficient virtuous person needs
  friends

• Ethical egoism seek good for oneself.
• Altruism do good for another (for their sake)
• Counterexamples
• sacrifice for child, friend who betrays
• Still do it?
• Friendships alliances for mutual benefit or
  emotional attachments (temporary? long-lasting?)

28
The Good Life and Politics

• subjective vs. objective good
• pleasure/joyfulness vs. happiness/flourishing
• 2 forms of the good life
• contemplative (theoria)
• Vision of God
• Perfect happiness
• active (praxis)
• Imperfect happiness
• Necessary good

29
Puzzle What is the Telos?

• Dominant End
• Goal activities aiming at ? truth or ? liberty
  and justice
• Life-actions are subordinated to one great goal
• Fulfillment in goal-achievement

• Inclusive End
• Goal inclusive balance of goods within a form
  of life
• Self e.g. politician, business, family life,
  physical life
• Performative balance in a good life
• Which is Aristotle?

30
Answers to Skeptics

• To Egoists and Immoralists why be moral?
• A No one can find peace and fulfillment without
  a rational, friendly relation to others.
• To Hedonists
• A virtues and even external goods are not good
  b/c they are pleasurable, but are truly enjoyable
  b/c they are good (conducive to rational
  flourishing, fulfillment)
• To Relativists
• A some individuals and some societies ethics
  are more deeply fulfilling of human nature than
  others (the fact people disagree does not mean
  there is not a true answer to the question)
• To Pluralists
• A some individuals lives are more fulfilling
  than others (the life of the mind and the life of
  politics are fully satisfying in ways that a life
  of art, or a life of business and family are not
  yet many contemporary Aristotelians reject this,
  and the dominant end model of life)

31
Aristotles Politics I

• rejects Republic as contrary to natural law
  humans by nature desire/need
• Family life
• Property of their own
• Share in governing themselves (except for
  natural slaves)

32
Aristotles Politics IIrule by
philosopher-kings impossible men need the rule
of law

• GOOD GOVTS
• Constitutional Monarchy
• Constitutional Aristocracy
• Constitutional Republic blends other forms

• BAD GOVTS
• Tyranny rule by fear (lawless)
• Oligarchy govt by the rich
• Democracy rule by working class (least bad)