Sunday, September 10, 17

Transcription

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2 Aristotle ( )

3 Aristotle: Goods Instrumental goods: desired for the sake of something else Intrinsic goods: desired for their own sake

4 Goods Intrinsic Instrumental Final

5 Final Goods we call final without qualification that which is always desirable in itself and never for the sake of something else. One thing is always desired for its own sake, never for the sake of something else:

6 Final Goods One thing is always desired for its own sake, never for the sake of something else: happiness

7 Final Good Now such a thing happiness, above all else, is held to be; for this we choose always for self and never for the sake of something else, but honour, pleasure, reason, and every virtue we choose indeed for themselves (for if nothing resulted from them we should still choose each of them), but we choose them also for the sake of happiness, judging that by means of them we shall be happy. Happiness, on the other hand, no one chooses for the sake of these, nor, in general, for anything other than itself.

8 Happiness One thing is always desired for its own sake, never for the sake of something else: happiness both the general run of men and people of superior refinement say that it is happiness, and identify living well and doing well with being happy. Happiness (eudaimonia) = living well = flourishing What does that require?

9 Happiness One thing is always desired for its own sake, never for the sake of something else: happiness Happiness (eudaimonia) = living well = flourishing What does that require? Prosperity and luck, love, friends many things external to us but also something internal

10 Living well What is it to live well? Analogies: A good knife cuts well A good eye sees well A good teacher teaches well

11 Living well In each case, a good thing fulfills its function well A good person fulfills his/her function well

12 Function What is the function of a human being?

13 Function What is the function of a human being? A thing s function stems from what is special about it: what distinguishes it from other things Knives cut: sharpness > cutting Eyes see: ability to see > seeing Teachers teach: ability to teach > teaching

14 Our Function What is special about people?

15 Our Function What is special about people? We act according to rational plans

16 Our Function the function of man is an activity of soul which follows or implies a rational principle

17 Function and Virtue [If] we state the function of man to be a certain kind of life, and this to be an activity or actions of the soul implying a rational principle, and the function of a good man to be the good and noble performance of these, and if any action is well performed when it is performed in accordance with the appropriate excellence: human good turns out to be activity of soul in accordance with virtue...

18 Virtue Our function is rational activity A good person succeeds at rational activity

19 Virtue Virtue = excellence Two kinds Excellence in rationality: intellectual virtue Excellence in activity: moral virtue

20 Intellectual and Moral Virtue Virtue = excellence in function = Excellence in rational activity Rational Activity Intellectual virtue Moral virtue

21 Becoming virtuous Intellectual virtue can be taught Moral virtue can t be Moral virtue isn t just knowing, but doing

22 Weakness of will Weakness of will (akrasia): giving in to temptation knowing the better and doing the worse knowing what you ought to do and not doing it doing something you don t think is right

23 Weakness of will Paul: I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. (Romans 7:15, 18-19, RSV)

24 Weakness of Will Doing the right thing Moral luck Virtue Weakness of will Knowing what to do

25 Weakness of will One may have intellectual virtue without moral virtue One may know what to do but not do it A weak-willed person lacks the ability to do the right thing, even when he/she knows what it is How can we develop willpower?

26 How to become good? It requires developing habits We become good by doing good things

27 Habit Virtue, then, being of two kinds, intellectual and moral, intellectual virtue in the main owes both its birth and its growth to teaching (for which reason it requires experience and time), while moral virtue comes about as a result of habit... the virtues we get by first exercising them... we become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.

28 Practical Wisdom A good person consistently does the right thing at the right time, in the right way, and for the right reason. There is no rule for becoming good, or for distinguishing good from bad, right from wrong. Practical wisdom: ability to draw the right distinctions and tell right from wrong.

29 Virtue as a Mean Moral virtues are means between extremes Virtues constrain desires But we may constrain too little or too much We must give in to desire in the right circumstances, in the right way, for the right reason, etc. Practical wisdom allows us to find the mean

30 Virtue and action Actions, then, are called just and temperate when they are such as the just or the temperate man would do; but it is not the man who does these that is just and temperate, but the man who also does them as just and temperate men do them. to feel them at the right times, with reference to the right objects, towards the right people, with the right motive, and in the right way, is what is both intermediate and best, and this is characteristic of virtue.

31 Intuitionism Pluralism: Goods differ in kind Conflict: They sometimes conflict Complexity: There are no exact rules for deciding the outcomes of these conflicts We must be content, then, in speaking of such subjects and with such premisses to indicate the truth roughly and in outline, and in speaking about things which are only for the most part true and with premisses of the same kind to reach conclusions that are no better.

32 Moral Rules and Principles At best, practical principles are fainthearted: ceteris paribus, other things being equal the whole account of matters of conduct must be given in outline and not precisely. Examples? Aristotle does think there are some universal moral rules murder and adultery are never right Finding balance among competing goods requires judgment practical wisdom

33 Virtue Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean, i.e. the mean relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle, and by that principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it.

34 Moral Virtue Giving to others: Stingy Generous Extravagant

35 Virtues and Vices Drive Too little Just right Too much restraint Fear cowardly courageous rash Pleasure self-indulgent self-controlled insensitive Material goods stingy generous extravagant Self-esteem vain high-minded small-minded Anger short-tempered gentle apathetic Sociability grouchy friendly obsequious Boasting boastful truthful self-deprecating Humor clownish witty boring Drive for honor ambitious motivated? unambitious Spending vulgar magnificent grudging

36 Moral Virtue Courage: Too much confidence Rashness??? Courage Too little fear Too much fear Cowardice??? Too little confidence

37 Practical Wisdom Practical wisdom lets us find the mean The virtuous person finds it does the right thing at the right time, in the right way, and for the right reason You can t be too moral! Note the contrast with Confucius

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39 Too Moral?

40 Four Types of Character Virtue: knows what s right, wants to do it, does it no conflict, no temptation Strength of will: knows what s right, wants to do the wrong thing, but resists it conflicted, tempted Weakness of will: knows what s right, wants to do the wrong thing, does it conflicted, tempted, gives in to temptation Vice: knows what s right, wants to do the wrong thing, does it no conflict

41 Four Types of Character Character Virtuous Strong-willed Weak-willed Vicious Knows what s right Wants to do right Wants to do wrong Does the right thing

42 What should I do? An act is right if it is something a virtuous person would tend to do What should I do? Aristotle s answer depends on the answer to: What kind of person should I be?

43 Aristotle s Definition Too narrow? Right action What a virtuous Too person would do broad?