VIRTUE ETHICS

Part I
What this Ethics course is about…

• good and bad

• right and wrong
• obeying rules
• pursuing ideals
• developing character
SIMPLE RECALL
What this Ethics course is not…

• this is not values education

• this is not catechism
• this is not moral theology
• this is not a rulebook or instruction manual
• this is not applied ethics (yet)
ETHICS AS VALUATION

• Aesthetics
• Etiquette/Manners
• Technical / “Practical”
• Legal
• Cultural
• Religious
ETHICS AS MORAL REASONING

Why?
Reward and Punishment?
Benefit?
Authority?
Conformity?
HINDRANCES:

• SUBJECTIVISM
• RELATIVISM
• PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISM
• ETHICAL EGOISM
What is Morality?

• Generally, morality is a system of rules that modifies our

behaviour in social situations. It's about the doing of good
instead of harm, and it sets some standard of virtuous
conduct.
Where Does Morality Come
From?

• When asked about morality, many people respond like this: "Oh, that's all
just a matter of personal opinion anyway, right?"
• But if you look at the way in which moral values actually work in our
everyday lives, you'll see that this is not the case.
• Personal intuitions are important, of course.
• But morality generally comes into play when people interact with each
other.
• This suggests that morality is a system of "shared" values which "justify"
actions.
• As such, morality is about deciding on best courses of action in all
situations. As you'll see, there are quotation marks around the words
"shared" and "justify" for a reason.
"Shared" Values

• Moral values are generally shared values.

• If we did not have any values in common, it would be
exceedingly difficult to agree on any one course of action.
• But since there is often disagreement as to what is the right
thing to do in any situation, we can see that in fact, various
values are shared to a greater or lesser extent.
• On some values there will be nearly unanimous agreement.
• On others, there may be considerable disagreement.
The Meaning of Moral
"Justification"

• The word "justification" is commonly used in two

different senses, one positive and the other negative.

• The negative sense = typically accompanied by an

accusation that the justifier is being insincere. It is in this
sense that fast-talkers are sometimes accused of being
able to "justify" anything and everything. This use is
typified by statements like, "Justify your behaviour
however you want...it's still wrong!" It suggests that the
"justifier" is merely coming up with excuses for her
behaviour, excuses that even she doesn't believe.
The Meaning of Moral
"Justification"
• The word "justification" is commonly used in two
different senses, one positive and the other negative.

• The positive sense of justification = bringing others to

see our actions as reasonable. In this sense, a course of
action is justified if there are better reasons in favour of
it than there are against it. Preferably, these reasons
should be ones that other people could agree are good
ones. It is this sense of justification that is important for
morality. Moral justification, then, means showing that
there are more or better moral reasons weighing for a
course of action than against it.
Moral Decision Making (Moral Dilemma)

• There is no formula or algorithm for moral

decision making.
• It is not a process which can easily be based on a
determinate set of rules.
• It is also important to see that good moral
decision making involves more than just acting on
hunches or intuitions, though these, too, are
important.
Moral Decision Making (Moral Dilemma)

• Good moral decision making involves

• a) knowing the facts of the situation

• b) careful consideration of the moral values

(some call these principles) that are relevant
to a given situation.

• Importantly, it involves sensitivity to the moral

dimensions of everyday situations, and an
awareness of the range of interests involved in
specific decisions.
Definition of Virtue Ethics

• The ethical framework

• That is concerned with understanding the
good
• As a matter of developing the virtuous
character
• Of a person
What is this fresco? It was made by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It
was painted between 1509 and 1511? It is part of Raphael’s commission to
decorate the rooms now known as the Stanze di Raffaello. And, it is found in
the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.
Plato Versus Aristotle

• PLATO = IDEALIST

• ARISTOTLE = MATERIALIST
Layunin ng etika

para kay Aristoteles

= ang pagkamit sa kaligayahan

At ang depinisyon ni Aristoteles sa kaligayahan

ay ang mahusay o sukdulang kaganapan ng mga
likas na kakayahan ng tao. (NE I, 7)
Historical Background

• Aristotle: 384-322 BCE

• Student of Plato in the Academia, Athens
• Gave emphasis on reason as the highest
faculty of a person (same with Socrates and
Plato)
• Founded his own school, Lyceum because of
his intellectual differences with Plato
Historical Background
Works of Aristotle:
1. Theoretical Sciences
(Metaphysics, Physics, De Caelo (astronomy), De
Generatione et Corruptione (biology), De Anima
(psychology)
2. Practical Sciences
(Nicomachean Ethics, Eudemian Ethics, Politics)
3. Productive or Poetical Sciences
(Rhetoric, Poetics)
4. Logic
(Organon)
Nicomachean Ethics

▪ Aristotle departs from the Platonic theory

that the real is outside the realm of the sensory
experience and is in the world of forms.

▪ Aristotle: real as matter and form

▪ The good does not exist independent of the

person’s experience in the world
 Outline

1. Historical Background
2. A. Telos: Eudaimonia
B. Ergon: reason
C. Structure of the Soul: irrational and rational
faculties
3. A. Intellectual and Moral Virtue
B. Definition of Moral Virtue
C. Mesotes
Telos

What is the ultimate purpose of a person?

Telos

• There is a purpose in every action of a

person which is perceived as something
good.
▪ There is a hierarchy of purpose
▪ Criteria for the ultimate telos
• a. Final
• b. Self-sufficient
• c. Attainable
Telos

What is the ultimate purpose of a person?

Eudaimonia: happiness
Checkpoint 1

What is my ultimate purpose of a person?

Eudaimonia

▪ Not an emotion which is temporary

▪ Not nirvana (state of liberation from
samsara) nor stoicism (rejection of
emotion)
▪ “Activity of the soul in accordance with
virtue”
▪ Achieved by fulfilling a person’s ergon
(function)
Checkpoint 2

Am I really happy?
Ergon

What is the function of a person?

Ergon

▪ Function is what distinguishes or characterizes the

thing from other beings (ex. umbrella used as
protection from heat and rain)
▪ Function of a person which sets him apart from the
rest: activity of reason
▪ To be a person is to act in accordance to reason.
To be a good person is to perform their rational
activity well.
▪ In a good or excellent way: arête (virtue, birtud,
kagalingan, maayo)
Arete: Virtue

“But we must add “in a complete life”. For one swallow

does not make a summer…Also a happy man needs
the external goods as well; for it is impossible, or not
easy, to do noble acts without the proper
equipment…as good birth, goodly children, beauty…”
(Bk. I, 1098a19)

▪ Virtue cannot be accomplished by a single act

▪ Conditions in order to be happy
Psyche: soul of a person

1. Irrational:
a. vegetative: growth, nutrition
b. appetitive: desire

▪ Not dictated by reason

▪ Desire: does not arise from the rational
faculty of the soul but is subject to reason
Ang etika ni Aristoteles ay
nakatungtong sa kanyang sikolohiya. Sa
kanyang pag-unawa ng psyche (diwa)
ng tao, ang diwa ay may rasyunal at di-
rasyunal na kakayahan.
Psyche: soul of a person

2. Rational :
a. Moral (acting)
b. Intellectual (knowing)
i. Practical wisdom (phronesis)
ii. Philosophic wisdom (sophia)
▪ Dictated by reason
▪ Aspect of the soul where virtue, that is, where
human excellence can be attained: moral and
intellectual virtues
Intellectual Virtue

Act of knowing

▪ Intellectual virtue is seen in wisdom

▪ Acquired through teaching, learning
▪ Phronesis: excellence of knowing what
to do
▪ Phronesis: necessary for moral virtue
Moral Virtue

Determining the good and doing the right

actions
▪ Moral virtue
▪ Acquired through habit
▪ Formation of one’s character: habitually
willing and doing the good (mabuting pag-
uugali)
What comprises moral virtue?

Acting out the right feelings/passions?

▪ Most feelings/ passions are neutral. Neither good nor bad
Ex. being angry

▪ Moral virtue is the excellent management of one’s feelings and

passions
Ex. Being angry with the right person, time, reason,
manner, circumstance

▪ Right measurement: mesotes (mean)

Mesotes

Hence it is hard work to be virtuous, since in each case

it is hard work to find what is the mean (mesotes)
…So also getting angry, or giving and spending money,
is easy and anyone can do it; but doing it to the right
person, in the right amount, at the right time, for the
right end, and in the right way is no longer easy, nor
can everyone do it. Hence, (doing these things) well is
rare, praiseworthy, and fine. (Bk. II, 1109a24)
Phronimos (Practical action)

• a virtuous person does not even

have to control oneself because
one’s resolution has been so
habituated to always rightly act; self-
possessed
Virtue is the mean in between two vices

Deficiency---------- Virtue ----------Excess

mesotes
 Table of Virtues and Vices

Class of Excess Mean Deficiency

action or
feeling

fear and rashness courage cowardice

confidence
giving and prodigality liberality meanness
getting small
amounts

pagtitiwala uto-uto kabaitan mapaghinala

Example: ? ? ?
Moral Virtue: mesotes

Exactness of mesotes, or as the maximum act (ex. not

sobrang bait, not over sa tapang, not medyo
palakaibigan)

▪ Wrong actions have no mesotes i.e. murder,

adultery, theft
Etika ng Kahusayan sa
Pagpapakatao
Ingles Griego Tagalog
end telos layunin, tunguhin
happiness eudaimonia kaligayahan
pleasure hedone kaluguran, sarap
virtue arete kahusayan, kagalingan
deliberation bouleusis pagsasaalang-alang
choice proairesis pagpapasya, pagpili
mean meson gitna,angkop,hindi
labis,hindi kulang
active condition hexis ugali, gawi
practical judgment,
prudence,
practical wisdom phronesis huwisyo, matinong
pagpapasya
AGYAMANAK!