Aristotle Virtue Ethics

Aristotle’s formulation of virtue ethics revolves around three key Greek words: Eudaimonia, arête, and Telos. Each of these terms respectively translates into happiness, virtue, and final cause. Unlike the hedonistic

An ethical virtue is a habit that you inclined toward. Virtue is not simply one isolated action but an overall habit of acting in a certain way. To be virtuous, a person must knowingly and deliberately be conscious of the

Virtue ethics is a very different approach to the others and central to Aristotle's work. It does not primarily concentrate on the right action as such; the right action according to virtue ethicists is the one that the virtuous agent would do. Virtue ethics takes the central feature of morality to be the virtuous character, and the account of what the virtues are as the basis of the theory.

Aristotle and Plato both said that there are four "natural virtues": Justice, Prudence, Temperance, and Fortitude. These values are all necessary to achieve human flourishing. Another key part of Aristotle’s ethic is what he referred to as ‘The Golden Mean’. He believed that a virtue can not necessarily be viewed as a virtue when it is used in excess. For example, courage is a virtue, but in excess it becomes rashness, a vice rather than a virtue. Moreover, when there is a lack of a certain virtue, this is also considered a vice. Aristotle's ethic is based primarily on balance. There cannot be too much excess or too little of the virtue. Thus, he said: "The mean [i.e. the balance] is successful and commendable. Virtue then is a state of deliberate moral purpose consisting in a mean that is relative to ourselves, the mean being determined by reason, or as a prudent man would determine it.”

Aristotle’s virtue ethics assume that moral virtue is necessary for flourishing, It logically follows, then, that those exhibiting the ordinary vices of domination, despite appearances to the contrary, are far from ever attaining a truly good life. Aristotle’s ethics are too narrow in scope, because any code of ethics should be universally applicable and equal because reinforcing privilege and oppressive structures negatively affect everyone's chances--including the perpetrator’s-- at developing the virtues described in Nicomachean Ethics and therefore negatively affect everyone's chances at leading the best life possible.

However, we were born with sin natures, not virtuous natures, and did not know virtue. Since we didn't always know virtues, we must have learned it. Because of this, virtue is learnable and therefore

Socrates says that all activities done by humans depends on the soul itself, and if you are going to do some beneficial then it involves wisdom to a certain extent. So if in order to do something beneficial you need wisdom and they defined virtue as being something beneficial, therefore making the valid point that virtue is wisdom, for the most part ( Sections 87e – 89b).

Virtue ethics is an approach to ethics that emphasizes an individual 's character as the key element of ethical thinking. Virtue ethical theories originate to ancient Greek philosophy discussion of what were recognized as the four cardinal virtues- wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance." The roots of virtue theory lie in pre-Socratic times but commenced in earnest with Socrates’ infuriating questioning of the values and beliefs of his fellow Athenians. The theory was significantly advanced by Plato and was definitively elaborated by Aristotle himself

For instance we can look at the example of exercise; in which an excess or deficiency in exercise can ruin one’s health. The application of the Doctrine of the Mean, applies to all instances of virtues, in which we must find the mean relative to us, in order to be virtuous. Granted, Aristotle explains the conditions that must be met in order to be virtuous; “They must have knowledge of what they’re saying; they must perform the action for its own sake and the action must be preceded from a firm and unchangeable character” (Lecture 8, Moral Problems). In other words, actions are noble, when they are carried out noble.

Aristotle believes that there are two kinds of virtue, one being intellectual and the other being moral virtue. He states that Intellectual virtue comes from being taught meaning we’re not born with it. Moral virtue on the other hand we develop as we grow and gain an understanding of life. “The stone which by nature moves downwards cannot be habituated to move upwards, not even if one tries to train it by throwing it up ten thousand times” (N.E. II.1) Right there he is talking about how if you are designed to do one thing, it is impossible to do the opposite no matter how hard you force it. He talks about how we gain our virtues by practicing them and using them on a regular basis. That is how we learn

Aristotle found that there are two kinds of virtues of the soul. First, there are virtues of thought, such as wisdom. Next, there are virtues of character, such as generosity. The main focus of his virtue ethics lies in the virtues of character. Aristotle assumed that these virtues are learned through habit. For example, whereas intellectual virtue may arise from reading a book, the adoption of virtuous character is inherited solely by practice. Therefore, it is through a person's upbringing that moral virtues are cultivated, and it is through the habit of thinking virtuously that one can excel towards happiness.

Virtue ethics are theories that highlight the importance of character and morals over dutiful behaviors. Many virtue theories are rooted in Aristotle's teachings, which argue that a "virtuous person is someone who has ideal character traits" (Athanassoulis, 2004). Virtue theories are founded upon the contention that sets of universal principles, virtues, can be applied across a variety of situations. Virtues are defined as conformity to a standard of right or particular moral excellence (Merriam-Webster, 2012). Presently, virtue theories have seen resurgence, specifically Eudemonism, agent-based theories, and the ethics of care (Athanassoulis, 2004). Eudemonism "bases virtues in flourishing, where flourishing is equated with performing one's distinctive function well" (Athanassoulis, 2004). Agent-based theories argue that individuals seek to emulate virtuous qualities they see in others based on common-sense intuitions, whereas the ethics of care argues that qualities such as caring and nurturing should also be considered as virtuous traits.

Virtue ethics is a theory that focuses on character development and what virtues one should obtain to be who they are supposed to be, as oppose to actions. An example of virtue ethics would be someone who is patient, kind, loving, generous, temperance, courage and flourishing as oppose to a person who lies, cheats, and

In order to decide if virtue is knowledge, this example is given: the good are not so by nature, and they therefore must have been taught to be so, and since virtue is something good, there is the possibility that it can also be taught. The problem with this is the fact that the possibility remains that people who are virtuous are so by nature, and if virtue was is in people naturally, there is no need to teach it.

To start with, Aristotle highlights that the perception of virtue is different for everyone, and there are a lot of factors which influence it. For example, people's moral principles, mentality, the society they live in and its formative culture peculiarities. The highest human good is considered to be in close relations with the sense of happiness. As all people have different characters, attitudes to life, moral values, it is difficult to define the conditions on which their happiness depends. Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, writes that the highest human good "proves to be the activity of the soul in accord with virtue" (Aristotle, trans. Irvin T., 1999). In other words, it is the way of a person's appropriate behavior in the situations of different nature and difficulty in his or her life.