ARISTOTLE: Background

1
ARISTOTLE Background

• PLATO The forms patterns or ideals are not
  this world and can only be known through a
  process of education
• Thus morality is based on the highest knowledge
  available only to a few.
• ARISTOTLE The forms or patterns that enable
  us to understand objects dont exist apart from
  particular objects.
• Thus morality is not based on a "good"
  independent of experience, but on experience
  itself.

2
ARISTOTLE What He Asks

• Aristotle asks What do people desire? He says
  we desire an end that is self-sufficient, final,
  attainable
• According to Aristotle this end can only be
  HAPPINESS.
• And happiness can only be explained in terms of
  our capacity for reason.

3
How ARISTOTLE Classifies Knowledge Human
Activities

• Theoretical Sciences -- include Metaphysics,
  Physics and Mathematics
• Productive /Practical Sciences -- are those where
  reason serves human beings.
• Productive Sciences -- involve "know-how" and
  cover many crafts, including art.
• Practical Science or ETHICS -- Here humans are
  AGENTS rather than producers.
• The "end" of the Practical Science is not a
  product, but the living of a certain kind of
  life.

4
Aristotles Starting Assumptions

• Every activity has its proper end at which it
  aims. "end in itself"
• Politics is the "master art" -- why? Who should
  practice it? Contemporary relevance?
• Different Sciences" will have different levels
  of precision.
• Ethics, dealing with opinions, will not have the
  same kind of precision as mathematics.
• The best judge of the appropriate precision is a
  person educated in that subject.

5
Happiness is the aim of Human Existence

• Aristotle thought that there was agreement among
  people that the ultimate human good is happiness.
• Why? what is Aristotle assuming about human
  interests?
• It is FINAL is that for which everything else is
  done
• It is SELF-SUFFICIENT by itself it makes life
  desirable
• It is ACHIEVABLE BY ACTION attainable

6
Aristotles Definition of Happiness

• The "function of man" is an activity of the soul
  that follows a rational principle.
• Aristotles definition relies on his analysis of
  the soul and the Greek definition of virtue
• VIRTUE is the appropriate excellence for an
  activity -- What that activity aims at. virtue
  being good at ____ for the Greeks
• Thus HAPPINESS as the goal or "excellence" of
  human life is "activity of the soul in accord
  with virtue"

7
Reason, the Human Soul and Virtue

• The human soul has two elements.
• Rational grasps a rule or principle
• Irrational
• The rational part has two functions
• The exercise of reason for its own sake.
• The control of the irrational part
• 2 kinds of virtue parallel the functions of
  reason.
• Intellectual Virtues consist of instruction
  knowledge - the "virtues of intellect"
• Moral Virtues consist of practical actions
  habits of choice. - the "virtues of character"

8
Aristotle argues that Virtue is a State of
Character involving the "Mean"

• According to Aristotle the human personality has
  three elements
• Passions
• Faculties
• States of character.
• The passions and faculties abilities are not
  blameworthy or praiseworthy in themselves
• Thus Virtue must be a state of character.
• Virtue makes a man good
• Virtue makes him do his own work well.

9
Aristotle argues that Virtue is a State of
Character involving the "Mean"

• Every activity has an excess and a defect.
• The master of an art avoids the extremes
• BUT the "mean" or balance is relative to each of
  us
• In summary virtue is a state of character, lying
  in a mean relative to us, which is determined by
  a rational principle.

10
Examples of Virtues and the "Mean"

• Excess Mean Defect
• rashness courage
  cowardliness
• vanity proper pride undue
  humility
• self-indulgence temperance 'insensible'

11
The Two Kinds of Intellectual Virtue

• Practical Wisdom deals with variable things.
  Here the reasoning must be true and the desire
  right if the choice is to be good
• Philosophical Wisdom deals with invariable
  things Contemplative in nature. Not practical
  nor productive.
• The origin of Moral Action is in CHOICE.
• Choice cannot exist without reason or intellect,
  or without a moral state of character.
• Good action cannot exist without intellect and
  character.

12
Aristotle believes that Philosophic Wisdom is
superior because

• The activity of reason offers pleasures that are
• Pure and enduring
• Self-sufficient.
• Are leisurely.
• ..
• Question Is this a life that humans can aspire
  to?

13
The Ethics of Character

• The example of Le Chambon
• Their goodness is not Kantian or utilitarian. It
  came from the kind of people they were.
• For Aristotle the question isnt How should I
  act?, but What kind of a person should I be?
• This is a focus on CHARACTER rather than ACTION
• Aristotle argues that in ethics we need good
  PERSONS as well as good ACTIONS

14
The Clash between Duty Inclination

• We can understand Aristotle as an attempt to
  reconcile duty inclination/reason emotion
• This is unlike Kant where the divide between
  reason emotion is a key element of his ethical
  theory.
• Aristotle makes a distinction between a temperate
  a continent person.
• The temperate person does what is right because
  they WANT to from the heart
• The continent person does what is right, but
  doesnt necessarily want to. from the head

15
Kant Utilitarianism

• Both Kants ethics and Utilitarianism maintain
  the split between head heart.
• For KANT
• The moral person is close to the continent
  person.
• UTILITARIANISM
• Motives arent a factor in the hedonic
  calculus.
• And everyones emotions count equally.
• If anything OUR emotions are given less weight.

16
TEXT The Structure of Virtues I

• According to Aristotle virtue is
• a habit or disposition of the soul not inborn,
  but acquired
• involving both feeling and action not only
  action, but certain kinds of feelings
• to seek the mean in all things relative to us
• where the mean is defined through reason as the
  prudent man would define it. this reflects the
  need for both principles and persons

17
TEXT Aristotle on Virtue II

• In Aristotles discussion of virtue the
  emphasis is on CHARACTER as a result of habits
  of behavior and perception, rather than
  individual actions
• He asks what life with or without a certain
  virtues mean, excess or defect would be like?

18
Two Virtues Courage Compassion

• COURAGE A lack of courage can interfere with
  reaching our goals.
• Courage rests on rightly ordering our fears
  an accurate assessment of risk as well as proper
  confidence.

19
Two Virtues Courage Compassion

• COMPASSION Compassion is part of recognizing the
  suffering of others as suffering.
• Compassion always involves the desire to do
  something. whether possible or not
• Compassion involves moral imagination
• Compassion takes us beyond the rules.
• Yet we still need good judgment.
• Compassion implies moral equality/pity implies
  inequality.

20
The Virtue of Self-Love

• Love, whether of self or other, wants to see the
  object of the love flourish.
• Self-love involves both feelings and behaving/
  acting towards ourselves in certain ways as well
  as self-knowledge
• Love is not unconditionally positive -- it
  involves doing what you need to do to flourish.
• The excess arrogance, conceit etc. and
  deficiency self-deprecation, self-effacing etc
  interfere with your flourishing.
• Proper self-love is very important in friendship.

21
How does Practical Wisdom work?

• Practical Wisdom involves the reflective and
  affective application of a general disposition to
  right action of some kind. huh?
• Translation A particular virtue that is part
  of your moral character and your conception of
  the good life come together in a certain
  situation guiding you to form a judgment
  practical wisdom about what you should do.

22
In Closing

• Aristotle says you cant have one virtue without
  the others - there is a reciprocity.
• This is because virtues are connected both with
  practical wisdom and with human flourishing.
• Finally An ethics of character helps other
  moral theories apply rules sensitively and,
  through practical wisdom, is able to balance the
  competing claims of utility rights etc.