Is Aristotle's Virtue Theory an accurate account of morality? (25)
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Moral Philosophy
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AQA A-level Philosophy Year 1 and AS
Is Aristotle's Virtue Theory an accurate account of morality? (25) - 25 mark essay A* grade on Aristotle's virtue ethics for moral philosophy topic in a level philosophy AQA
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Is Aristotle's Virtue Theory an accurate account of morality? (25)
In this essay, I will argue that Aristotelian virtue ethics is a convincing moral theory. I will
refute the objections to the theory, such as the claims that it holds no clear guidance or leads
to conflicts between virtues. Instead, I will contend that it is successful as an account of
moral responsibility because of its realistic, flexible nature and focus on what it actually
means to be a human being.
Aristotle’s virtue ethics is an aretaic theory which focuses on the development of virtues and
good moral character. I would argue that since it is agent centred rather than act centred, the
theory is already strengthened by the fact that it takes the narrative or history of a person's
life into account, rather than focusing upon impractical moral dilemmas. At the core of the
theory is the ultimate good or final end of eudaimonia - the good life for human beings, for
the sake of which everything else is done. Aristotle also uses the terms ergon (the function
or characteristic activity of a thing) and arete (the property or virtue that enables a thing to
achieve its ergon) to show that we can only achieve eudaimonia through exercising our
reason.
I believe that one strength of Aristotlean virtue ethics is its realistic nature and sharp focus
on what it actually means to be a human being. Aristotle, in his skill analogy argues, and I
agree, that developing virtues is somewhat analogous to developing a skill such as learning
to ride a bike or play the piano. Nobody is born knowing how to play the piano, but we are
born with the capacity to know how to play the piano. Likewise, nobody is born virtuous, but
we are born with the capacity to become virtuous. Furthermore, you cannot learn to play the
piano by just acquiring knowledge on piano playing, you have to actually practise the activity.
Likewise, you cannot become virtuous by just acquiring knowledge on what it means to be a
good person, you have to actually act virtuously (i.e. doing good actions) because ‘like
actions become dispositions’. I believe that this analogy makes virtue ethics convincing
because as it explores the development of moral reasoning throughout an agent’s life, it
allows you to learn from your mistakes and become a good person over time. This is
something which Anscombe picks up on in her arguments for virtue ethics. Criticising
modern moral philosophy’s preoccupation with a law conception of ethics which deals
exclusively with obligation and duty, she argues that we cannot be our own self-legislators.
Instead, Ascombe calleds for a return to concepts such as character, virtue and flourishing.
Thus, a strength of virtue ethics is that it does not focus on obligation, but on what it means
to be a human being.
However, it could be argued that an issue with Aristotle’s virtue ethics is that it is an
imprecise theory since it has no clear guidance or rules on how to act in a particular
situation. The golden mean - the concept used to explain how virtues are the intermediate
between two extremes (vices of deficiency and of excess) - suggests that where a virtue lies
between the two extremes varies depending on the situation. For example, courage is a
virtue between the vices of cowardice and recklessness. Aristotle says that it is correct to act
courageously, or even angrily sometimes - but he does not tell us when exactly this should
be or how angry we should get before it crosses over from a virtue to a vice. Hence, every
situation is different and there is no single rule or criteria against which to judge whether one
course of action is better than another. The golden mean does not give actual quantities,
only vague descriptions such as “not too much” and “not too little”. In fact, Aristotle himself
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