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Summary Ethiek (Shafer-Landau) H17
- Vak
- Ethiek
- Instelling
- Universiteit Leiden (UL)
Summary of 6 pages for the course Ethiek at UL
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Ethics – Normative Ethics: Doing the Right Thing – Chapter 17 – Virtue EthicsWhat sort of person should I be? We should focus less on matters of moral duty, and
concentrate much more on ideals of character. Following that advice leads us directly to a
consideration of virtue ethics. All of the moral theories we have reviewed thus far share
a common assumption: that the moral philosopher’s primary task is to define the nature
of our moral duty. Rather than begin with a theory of moral duty, we would start with a
picture of the good life and the good person, and define our duty by reference to these
ideals. That is precisely what virtue ethics recommends. Virtue ethics is a family of
theories that can trace its history back to the ancient Greeks.
The Standard of Right Action
Virtue ethics insists that we understand right action by reference to what a virtuous
person would characteristically do. To put it a bit more formally:
(VE) An act is morally right just because it is one that a virtuous person, acting in
character, would do in that situation.
According to virtue ethics, actions aren’t right because of their results, or because they
follow from some hard-and-fast rule. Rather, they are right because they would be done
by someone of true virtue. This person is a moral exemplar – someone who sets a fine
example and serves as a role model for the rest of us.
Virtue ethics is actually a form of ethical pluralism. Though there is a single ultimate
standard – do what the virtuous person would do – there are many cases where this
advice is too general to be of use. At such times we need a set of more specific moral
rules. When these rules conflict, how do we know what to do? We should follow the lead
of the virtuous person. True, there will inevitably be disagreement about who counts as
virtuous, and about the actions such a person would pursue. But this needn’t cripple us.
Virtue ethicists deny that this undermines the existence of correct moral standards. It just
shows that some people may always be blind to them.
Moral Complexity
Many moral philosophers have hoped to identify a simple rule, or a precise method, that
could tell us exactly what our moral duty is in each situation. What’s more, this rule or
method could be reliably used by anyone, so long as he or she is minimally intelligent.
Virtue ethicists reject the idea that here is any simple formula for determining how to act.
At the beginning of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle cautions that we must not expect
the same degree in precision in all areas of study, and implies that morality lacks rules
and methods of thinking that are as precise as those, say, in mathematics.
Virtue ethicists sometimes invite us to appreciate the complexity of morality by having us
imagine a moral rule book. It could be applied in a mechanical way, without any need of
judgment. Is this a real possibility? Not likely, according to virtue ethicists. What we need
in all cases is a kind of sensitivity. Morality may be an imprecise discipline, but that does
not mean that each person’s moral views are as plausible as another’s. Aristotle and most
of his followers believe in objective standards of morality (those that are true
independently of personal feelings or opinions).
Moral Understanding
As virtue ethicist see things, moral understanding is not just a matter of knowing a bunch
of moral facts. Moral understanding is a species of practical wisdom. Moral wisdom is a
kind of know-how that requires a lot of training and experience. We need experience,
emotional maturity, and a great deal of reflection and training in order to acquire moral
wisdom. One way to reinforce this idea is to appreciate the crucial roles that emotions
play in moral understanding. There are three that are especially important:
, 1. Emotions can help us to see what is morally relevant, by tipping us off to what
matters in a given situation.
2. Emotions can also help to tell us what is right and wrong.
3. Emotions also help to motivate us to do the right thing.
Moral wisdom is an extremely complicated kind of skill. It does require knowledge of the
way the world works, but it demands more than that. We must have a great deal of
emotional intelligence as well. The moral virtues, which all require moral wisdom,
therefore also require a combination of intellectual and emotional maturity.
Moral Education
Virtue ethicists, again following Aristotle, believe that moral understanding can be gained
only through training, experience, and practice. So virtue is not inborn. It takes time to
acquire. And it also takes the right sort of environment and teachers. Indeed, Aristotle
thought that whether we are virtuous or not is partly a matter of moral luck. The point of
giving children a moral education is straightforward – to help them acquire the virtues.
The key to this is to develop their capacity for moral wisdom. We begin as apprentices,
following in an unquestioning way the rules handed down by our parents and teachers. As
children mature, they will, through experience and guidance, come to appreciate when
exceptions are called for. This line of thought supports the virtue ethicist’s rejection of a
simple moral litmus test, a formula that could be used by anyone, no matter her degree
of moral sophistication.
The Nature of Virtue
The ultimate goal of a moral education is to make ourselves better people. A better
person is a more virtuous person. A virtue is a character trait. Habits don’t define a
person; character traits do. In addition to routinely acting well, the virtuous person also
has a distinctive set of perceptions, thoughts, and motives. Consider first the virtue of
generosity. A generous person will often have different perceptions from a stingy person.
A generous person has different thoughts from those of a ungenerous person. A generous
person’s motives will differ from those of a stingy person. We can offer similar accounts of
all of the other virtues. Virtuous people are therefore defined not just by their deeds, but
also by their inner life.
People are virtuous only when their understanding and their emotions are well integrated.
A virtuous person who understands the right thing to do will also be strongly motivated to
do it, without regret or reluctance, for all the right reasons. In Aristotle’s view, and in the
virtue ethical tradition, this is what distinguishes the truly virtuous from the merely
continent – those who can keep it together, manage to do the right thing, but with little
or no pleasure, and only by suppressing very strong contrary desires.
Virtue and the Good Life
Aristotle thought it obvious that all of us seek eudaimonia, which translates as
“happiness” or “flourishing”. It isn’t only a state of mind, but rather a combination of
activity and pleasure. Aristotle thought that the good life is an active one filled with wise
choices and worthy pursuits. Aristotle was no hedonist.
Aristotle argued that virtue is an essential element in a good life. In this he agreed with
his teacher, Plato. Unlike Plato, however, Aristotle did not think that we could be happy on
the rack. Virtue does not guarantee a good life; it is necessary, but not sufficient, for our
flourishing. But what about criminals who have flourishing lives? Virtue ethicists argue
that appearances here are deceiving. But virtue ethicists deny that pleasure is the be-all
and end-al of a good life. Pleasure without virtue is not worth much. How can such a view
be defended? Aristotle set up a three-part test to determine our ultimate good, in part to
show that pleasure, wealth, power and fame are not what life is all about.
, First off, our ultimate good must not be something that is only instrumentally valuable.
Our ultimate good must also be self-sufficient.
Finally, our ultimate good must involve something that is distinctive about us, something
that is uniquely human.
Our ultimate good, then, must take the form of exercising our rationality. But there is little
good in reasoning poorly. Rather, our ultimate good consist in the excellent use of our
reasoning powers. And that is precisely what the virtues involve.
How attractive is a life of virtue? Very. A person who manages to have all of the virtues is
in most ways living an excellent life. True, if Aristotle is correct, having these traits will not
guarantee a good life. Even if a life of virtue is not a guarantee that you will flourish, a life
without virtue is a poor one.
The virtue ethicist thus has an answer to a skeptic who charges the good person with
being a dupe, with sacrificing self-interest on the altar of virtue. Being virtuous will
(barring disaster) make you better off. Virtuous people ordinarily do very well for
themselves, even if the vicious sometimes have more fun. That is because human well-
being is defined in terms of the virtues.
Objections
Tragic Dilemmas
Consider two central claims of the virtue ethical approach to morality:
1. Actions that would be done by a virtuous agent, acting in character, are morally
right.
2. Such actions, when motivated by virtue, deserve our praise.
If these views are problematic, then virtue ethics is in deep trouble. Tragic dilemmas
highlight the difficulty here. A tragic dilemma is a situation in which a good person’s life
will be ruined, no matter what she does. It is possible to find yourself in a tragic dilemma
through no fault of your own, like Sophie’s life in Sophie’s Choice. If virtue ethics is
correct, then selecting one of her children to be murdered is morally right and morally
praiseworthy. But that seems wrong. Here is an Argument from Tragic Dilemmas designed
to set out the worry:
1. If virtue ethics is the correct account of morality, then Sophie’s selection of one of
her children to be murdered is morally right and morally praiseworthy.
2. It is neither.
3. Therefore, virtue ethics is not the correct account of morality.
The only way to challenge premise 1 is to deny that a virtuous person in Sophie’s shoes
would select one of her children to be killed. That might be right. But recall that this
means the death of both of her children. That said, I think that the better option for the
virtue ethicists is to criticize premise 2. Under the circumstances, a virtuous person would
try to minimize the number of innocent deaths. Choosing is indeed the right thing to do. It
may also be praiseworthy. Finding the inner strength to choose the lesser evil on that
occasion need not be a moral failing, but may instead be something quite admirable. So
virtue ethicists can argue that certain choices in these situations are virtuous and that
such choices are therefore right and admirable, even if, in more ordinary circumstances,
any such choice would be purely evil.
Does Virtue Ethics Offer Adequate Moral Guidance?
Critics of virtue ethics often accuse it of failing to provide enough help in solving moral
puzzles: do what a virtuous person would do. But virtue ethics can provide more advice. It
will tell us to act according to a large number of moral rules, each based on doing what is
virtuous or avoiding what is vicious.
Still, the virtue ethicists has to face the familiar problem of moral conflict. What happens
when these virtue rules conflict with one another? There is a right answer here, because
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