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The
Ethics of
Virtue
Abraham Lincoln
and the piglets....
The Ethics of Right Action
vs. the Ethics of Virtue

Action ethics focuses on the rightness
and wrongness of rules, obligations, and
actions.

Virtue ethics focuses on character traits
of the individual.
Virtue Ethics...for the
ancient Greeks...

Arete...

Character...

Habits...
Aristotle

Followed teachings of
Socrates and Plato…the
concept of "virtue"

“Man is by nature a social
and rational animal…”
Aristotle...

Aristotle’s account of
virtue is found in The
Nichomachean Ethics,
which he named in
honor of his son
Nichomachus.
Aristotle’s Virtue Theory:

The elite are to be
guided by their will to
excellence

The non-elite by their
sense of duty

Illustration from the
Nurnberg Chronicle 15thC.
An aside....

Like Aristotle,
Nietzsche saw the
concept of duty (slave
morality) as necessary
and fit for those who
could not achieve the
higher morality of
excellence
Nietzsche
What are virtues? One answer…

Qualities which allow us to control our
emotions…
 The quality of courage helps us dominate
our fear.
 The quality of honesty helps us do the right
thing even when we are afraid of the
consequences.
 The quality of charity helps us overcome
our selfishness.
Aristotle’s virtue theory:

Moral virtues are habits that regulate the desires
of our appetitive nature

Most virtues are at a mean between two vicious
habits

My moral actions are freely chosen and are an
extension of my virtuous habits

Personification of Virtue
in the Library at Ephesus
(the virtues of Roman
Senators)
Somewhere along
the way…

Virtue gave way to
rules…

For Christianity, virtue
lay in conducting one’s
life according to the will
of God…
Christianity stressed…

Original Sin

The frailty of human
character

The need for God’s
help
After a thousand years of Christendom...
The emphasis changed from doing the right thing
for God to doing the right thing for other reasons...

Because it will make living together easier
(Hobbes and Locke and social contract theory)

Because it will increase general well-being
(Bentham and Mill)

Because it’s the right thing (Kant)
Thomas Hobbes
Hobbes’ Virtue Theory

The pre-political state of nature for humans
is a condition of mutual conflict that
contains no objective moral values

We achieve peace by mutually agreeing to
give up our rights to harm each other
(social contract)

To assure compliance, we create
governments that punish those who break
the agreements
David Hume:
Catalog of Virtues
Natural virtues are those which
do not change from one place
or time to another…

compassion, generosity, gratitude,
friendship, fidelity, charity, good sense,
wit and humour, perseverance, patience,
courage, parental devotion, good nature,
cleanliness, etc.
David Hume:
Catalog of Virtues
Artificial Virtues are those which
are context specific and…





are developed to meet specific needs
are developed by communities to suit
themselves
are taught to new or young members
aid in social cohesion
contribute to social order and good
government
(Hume on Christian Virtues….)

'Celibacy, fasting, penance,
mortification, self denial,
humility, silence, solitude,
and the whole train of
monkish virtues’ are,
neither agreeable nor
useful; they ‘stupefy the
understanding and harden
the heart, obscure the fancy
and sour the temper.’
For Hume, all moral virtues fall into
these categories…
(1) qualities useful to others
(2) qualities useful to oneself
(3) qualities immediately agreeable to others
(4) qualities immediately agreeable to oneself
Hume's theory:
Moral agents perform actions that are
motivated by either instinctive or acquired
character traits.
 Recipients experience pleasure (pain) either
immediately from the agent’s action, or from the
usefulness (inconvenience) of that action.
 Moral spectators sympathetically experience
pleasure (pain) when observing the recipient’s
pleasure (pain).
 The moral spectator's pleasure (pain)
constitutes his moral assessment of the agent's
character trait, thereby deeming the trait to be a
virtue (vice).


Immanuel Kant
developed the classical
formulation of
deontological ethics.

right action consists
solely in the conformity
of an action to a
justified rule or
principle.
Wisdom....

Doing the right thing
doesn’t make you a
good person…

Being a good person
makes you do the
right thing…
Legalistic morality
Good conduct = obedience to moral law
 God given: Divine Command
 As dictated by Utility: Rule Utilitarianism
 As dictated by pure reason: Kant
 As dictated by society: Social Contract Theory
Legalistic vs. Virtue Ethics....
 Legalistic ethics
○ begins with rules
○ defines good conduct as
that which accords
with the rules
○ defines good persons as
those who conduct
themselves accordingly
 Virtue ethics
○ begins with a
conception of the
good person
○ defines good conduct
as the sort of
conduct that
follows naturally
from good character
○ rules just rough
generalizations
Elizabeth Anscombe:
Modern Moral Philosophy....1958

...proposed that moral
philosophers should
abandon their obsession
with moral rules...with
notions such as obligation
and duty...

...recommended a return to
Aristotle (and the
development of a proper
‘moral psychology’)
Should We Return to the Ethics of Virtue?
Anscombe's complaint:

legalistic ethics rest on the
incoherent notion of a "law"
without a lawgiver

the alternative sources of
moral "legislation" are
inadequate substitutes
12.2
 Traits
The Virtues (and the vices)...
of character
expressed by
habitual patterns of
behaviour
List virtues....

Remember that
virtues (and vices) are
traits of character
expressed by
habitual patterns of
behaviour





...
...
...
...
...
Aristotelian virtues...

Virtues (and vices)
are traits of
character
expressed by
habitual patterns of
behaviour








courage
temperance
Liberality
greatness of soul
good temper or
gentleness
being agreeable in
company
wittiness
modesty
Aristotle....naturalistic background

The purpose of
everything is to
flourish...

Vegetative fulfillment
Animalistic fulfillment
Uniquely human
fulfillment


(to live according to
reason)
Moral Virtues as Means between
Vices of Excess & Defect
Example...
 Cowardice - Courage – Foolhardiness
What is wanted...
 facing dangers
at the right place,
at the right time,
for the right purposes.
Courage...

Courage is a quality
so necessary for
maintaining virtue that
it is always respected,
even when it is
associated with vice.
- Dr. Samuel Johnson
Cleverness and Wisdom

The clever person knows the best
means to any possible end.

The wise person knows which ends are
worth striving for.
5/22/2017
(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
34
12:3 Advantages of Virtue Ethics...

Correct Account of moral motivation

Makes room for partiality

Speaks to feminist concern for the
personal….instead of just male concern for the
public
12.4 The Problem of Incompleteness...

Virtue theory leaves
you flying by the
seat of your pants...

Virtue theory isn’t
much help in moral
conflicts…

Hercules between Virtue and Vice
Emmanuel Benner (1836-1896)

A Young Man Between Virtue and Vice
Paolo Veronese 1528-1588

A Philosopher between Virtue and Vice
Orazio Samacchini 1532-1577

Whose actions are
moral?

Does Karl exhibit
virtues or vices?

What about the
mother?