ARISTOTLE’S VIRTUE

ETHICS
GROUND AND NORM OF MORALITY BY REYES
 ETHICS FOR ARISTOTLE

 Not a science (epistme), dealing with absolute and eternal truths, but an art
(techne), the art of living well
 As an art, ethics does not proceed by deduction from first principles. Not
does it lead by induction to first principles
 Ethics is a comparative method, a dialectic, comparing different opinions
regarding good and bad, and arriving at a set of prudential directives of
limited generality
Aristotle set out inquiring about man, about
his purposes and ends in life, and the
conditions needed for the attainment of
these ends.
 The good is that which
is the end of any being,
What then is the that which a being tends
good? toward
 All men seek for
happiness, but some men
But for man, seek happiness in:
there seems to be Pleasure?
a whole variety
of ends. Wealth?
Power?
 DOES MAN SEEK SOME KIND
OF ULTIMATE END FOR
The points is WHICH ALL THESE OTHER
NOT what man ENDS ARE SOUGHT, THE END
seeks for but BEYOND WHICH THERE IS NO
WHAT IS HIS OTHER, INSOFAR AS IT
TRUE END? CONSTITUTES HIS PROPER
FULFILLMENT AND THUS,
HIS TRUE HAPPINESS?
THE ERGON OF MAN

The proper function (ergon) or

purpose of man, by which man
attains the fulfillment of his being
 What is man?

Composed of soul (part of the composite which

animates and commands) and body (the part of the
composite which is subordinate, as the tool is to the
artisan, or the slave to the master)
 THE SOUL OF MAN

 The soul has two main parts:

The Rational and the Irrational
 The rational soul, completely independent of the body, is further subdivided into the speculative
intellect, pure thought of intellection (theorelike dianoia), and the practical intellect (to praktikon
dianoetikon).
 The practical intellect is ordained toward action and determines appropriate means to attain the end
The Irrational Soul of Man

 The Irrational soul, closely united with the body, is subdivided into the vegetable part
which is manifested by the activities of nutrition, growth and reproduction, and desiring
part, which is further subdivided into three progressive levels:
 Epithumia- unruly and irrational sense desires and covetousness
 Thumos- spontaneous impulses
 Boulesis- desires and tendencies which may partially coincide with the dictates of reason, and
wishes and desire, these wishes and desires have as object something stable, something which is
perceived as good
THE TASK OF MORALITY IS TO EFFECT A HARMONIOUS COMBINATION BETWEEN
THE RATIONAL COMMANDS OF THE PRACTICAL INTELLECT AND THE DOCILE
WISHES AND DESIRES, BOULESIS.
THUS, THE REAL MAN IS SEEN TO BE HIS SOUL, THE FUNDAMENTAL
ACTIVITY OF THE SOUL IS REASON

 REASON IS AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING, SELF-INSTITUTING, SELF-GOVERNING

ORDER PREVAILING OVER ALL REALITY
 MAN AS RATIONAL MEANS THAT PARTICIPATES IN AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING
LOGOS, NOT MERELY IN THE SENSE OF BEING GOVERNED BY REASON
WHICH THE WHOLE WORLD IS, BUT IN THE SENSE THAT MAN HAS WITHIN
HIM A CAPACITY FOR IMMANENT ACTIVITY OF SELF-INSTITUTING, SELF-
GOVERNING ORDER.
 MAN IS UNLIKE THE LOWER BEINGS, WHOSE SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES ARE ALL
TRANSITIVE ACTIVITIES.
 TRANSITIVE ACTIVITIES- ACTIVITIES INITIATED FROM WITHOUT AND
TERMINATED IN A PURPOSE OR END OUTSIDE OF THE INDIVIDUAL BEING.
 THUS, MINERAL, PLANS, AND ANIMAL ACTIVITIES ARE DETERMINED BY
THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT AND TERMINATE IN SOME END OR PURPOSE
EXTERNAL TO THE INDIVIDUAL, SUCH AS FOR EXAMPLE THE ENRICHMENT
AND PERPETUATION OF THE SPECIES.
 MAN AS A RATIONAL BEING IS CAPABLE OF ACTIVITY STARTING FROM
WITHIN AND TERMINATING IN A PURPOSE WHICH REMAINS WITHIN MAN,
WITHIN THE ACTIVITY ITSELF, THUS IMMANENT, LIKE IN THE ACT OF
INTELLECTION.
 IF REASON OR IMMANENT ACTIVITY IS THAT WHICH IS SPECIFIC TO MAN
OR TO HIS SOUL, THEN THE END OR FUNCTION (ERGON) OF MAN MUST
HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS SPECIFIC activity of man
Hence, for Aristotle,

 THE END OR FUNCTION OF MAN COULD ONLY BE THE IMMANENT ACTIVITY

OF REASON ITSELF BROUGH TO ITS FULLEST EXTENT, NAMELY, THE MORAL
VIRTUES WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE COMMUNAL LIFE OF THE POLIS
AND THE ACT OF CONTEMPLATION
 MORAL VIRTUES IS NOT HE MEANS TOWARD THE GOOD BUT MORAL
VIRTUE IS THE VERY END OF MAN.
THE MORALLY VIRTUOUS ACT

 For Aristotle, a morally virtuous action consists of a (1) measured activity, following the
rule of the “just middle” (mesotes), neither deficient nor excessive, with reason ordering
the desires and passions into a harmonious whole.
 Example, the value of courage: consists of an activity which is neither pusillanimous nor
reckless, but steadfast in the face of danger, thereby manifesting the nobility and
excellence of man and of the human spirit
THE MORALLY VIRTUOUS ACT

Virtue is an activity which proceeds from certain proper dispositions.

A virtuous act is one which proceeds from a (2) habitual state or disposition acquired by
constant practice, where the doing of the virtuous act has become a kind of second nature, the
action being posed firmly and surely, without fail and without any doubt or agonizing doubts
or hesitation.
For Aristotle, an action done after going through agonizing doubts and temptations is a sign
that man has not acquired mastery over his unruly desires and passions.
THE MORALLY VIRTUOUS ACT

A virtuous act is one which proceeds from (3) the right intention. This means that the action is
desired for its own sake and not for some ulterior motive beyond the action itself.

Example, in the virtue of friendship, the intended goal of friendship should be the human
relationship itself, the mutual good will binding two or more people, each loving the other for
his own sake, rather than for some extraneous purpose such as to curry favor, to acquire some
advantage or pleasure from the other.
Summary of what a Moral Virtue is:

 A moral virtue is a (1) rational measured activity following the rule of the “just middle,” (2)
motivated by the right intention and (3) proceeding from a permanent disposition acquired
through repeated exercise of the act.

 Question:
 What is the norm for “just middle”?
 What is the norm or rule of right intention?
 Would any action desired for its own sake be good?
 What kind of activity is needed for a permanent disposition? A permanent disposition without a
rule or norm could either be a virtue or a vice.
Practical Reason

 To answer those questions, Aristotle proposes a kind of master virtue, a virtue of virtues,
practical wisdom (phronesis).
 Practical wisdom means knowledge on one hand, which participates in the act of
contemplation, and action, on the other hand, which is akin to moral virtues.
 As knowledge- practical wisdom provides the insight to the truth, regarding the intrinsic
worth and excellence and beauty (kalon) of the action to be done
 As action- practical wisdom is the practical intellect which properly decides to act
 It takes the appropriate means (prohairesis) in the situation in view of the intended goal
and takes command of one’s desires and passions
 It thus results not only in knowledge and wishful thinking, but in results not only in
knowledge and wishful thinking, but in efficacious action.
 Practical wisdom is the proper activity and virtue of the practical intellect, by which man
as the source of action is the union of desire and thought.
Life of the Polis

 For Aristotle, the communal life of the polis is seen in its essence o be the very life of
moral virtues and thus the polis constitutes one of the ends of man.
 He views the organized life of the polis itself as one immanent activity whereby man
precisely achieves his humanity as a rational being:
 Through organized economic activity, typified by the virtue of temperance (discipline,
hard work and the judicious husbanding of means) man in community provides for his
material needs and thus attains self-sufficiency in his physical life
 The shared life of the community constitutes essentially the companionship and the
communion of the virtue of friendship whereby fellowmen reciprocally bear good will
and love toward each other
 The shared life and tradition of the community make possible the education of the
succeeding generations, this assures the continuance of the life of moral virtue as a self-
maintaining immanent activity
THE EXAMPLE OF THE VIRTUE OF COURAGE
Communal Life as a Spiritual Activity

 The communal life of moral virtue of the polis is not external to the individual, it is
essentially a spiritual activity, the shared communal life is immanent to the individual,
and has the good of the individual, as a rational activity, as its proper end.
The Act of Contemplation

 This is the other end of man, the proper activity and virtue of the speculative intellect.
 This is the best and most perfect virtue.
 The speculative intellect is capable of science (episteme) which is the demonstration and
derivation of conclusions from first principles
 On the other hand, it is also capable of intuition of the fundamental principles (nous)
 But the highest capability of the speculative intellect is a perfect science
What is a perfect science?

 Perfect science is the possession of the most fundamental principles and their elaborations
and derivations, which Aristotle calls philosophy (philosophia or at times Sophia
signifying its fulfilled state)
 Such a perfect science in the concrete consists of contemplating what Aristotle calls the
most sublime beings, which would include the eternal heavenly bodies which were
considered divine by Greek tradition, but most especially, contemplating the most perfect,
most sublime being which is God Himself
THE CONCEPT OF GOD
In Contemplation Man Becomes Like God

 Thus, in contemplation, the most immanent, the most self-sufficient activity man is
capable of, man attains the apex of his possibilities.
 He becomes God.
 For Aristotle, contemplation does not mean an encounter with something or someone
beyond man, for that would break the circle of immanence. Rather, contemplation for him
is to engage in the highest, most perfect type of reflection, the way it is in God as noesis
noeseos.
 Contemplation constitutes man’s sovereign end and happiness.
Nous

 This is the divine part of the human person, which is immortal in him.
 However, the “high’s” of contemplation come only as rare brief moments in man’s life
 Even for the best of men, such moments are not to be expected as everyday happenings.
The “End” of Man: Divine Contemplation and
Communal Life

 On the one hand, there are the rare intense moments of intellectual activity that is divine
contemplation, and more commonly, there is the active life of moral virtues and practical
wisdom within the context of the communal life of the polis.
Morality As An Affair of Human
Reasonableness

 Morality is being true to the intrinsic nobility and excellence of one’s rational soul.
What is Immorality?

 Immorality therefore consists in an activity which is inordinate, excessive, disorderly,

unreasonable.
 And the fault is ultimately traceable to ignorance and error in judgment which make man
miss his proper end in life
 Such ignorance may be attributable to man himself for failure to exercise discipline over
his lower passions and desires, thereby letting his intellect and judgment be clouded over.
 Or this ignorance may be due to external factors, such as the lack of necessary natural,
social or material conditions.
 Only a Few has Access Over the Proper Ends
and Fulfillment of Man

 Such ends require necessary conditions which are not given to all. They require a certain
natural endowment—normal desires, tendencies and passions which do not unduly distort
the higher intellectual part of man, except by the individual’s own suffering: and a proper
social background that affords man from early childhood training and education and
orientation to his proper ends.
 They also require a level of material ease and leisure which gives man the opportunity to
develop his powers and possibilities.
 Here we find Aristotle’s ethics to be quite exclusive and aristocratic.
CRITIQUE ON ARISTOTLE’S ETHICS
MORAL END IS IMMANENT IN HUMAN
ACTIVITY AND ACHIEVABLE IN LIFE