A2-Ethics-Virtue Ethics
- Created by: Npc
- Created on: 03-03-16 18:09
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- VIRTUE ETHICS
- Aristotle
- 'Virtuous actions must be pleasurable in themselves'
- Believed that eudaimonia was the goal in life
- Virtues
- Originates with
- Aristotle
- 'Virtuous actions must be pleasurable in themselves'
- Believed that eudaimonia was the goal in life
- Aristotle
- Aquinas
- Developed Aristotle's idea od virtues
- Became known as cardinal virtues
- PRUDENCE- means that we should be careful and not reckless in how we think or behave
- TEMPERANCE- refers to doing things in moderation and having some self-control
- COURAGE- refers to the ability to have courage when bearing pain
- JUSTICE- implies that we must be fair to all people
- Called cardinal virtues because they are the hinges on which all moral virtues depend
- Latin: Cardo= 'hinge'
- Became known as cardinal virtues
- Developed Aristotle's idea od virtues
- They are the middle point between a deficiency and an excess
- This is the doctrine of the mean or the golden rule
- 2 types of virtues
- Intellectual virtues
- 9 intellectual virtues- 5 primary and 4 secondary
- Are qualities of the mind that can be developed in our lives by instruction by others
- Moral virtues
- E.g. courage, patience
- Are the qualities of character we must develop in order to become good people
- Intellectual virtues
- Originates with
- Modern virtue ethics
- Elizabeth Anscombe
- Believed it was important to find a system of morality that could be based on the ideas of human flourishing
- 'Virtues ethics might provide a much firmer foundation for reasoning about moral dilemmas'
- 'Actions have replaced persons; behaviour has been separated from people'
- Believed it was important to return our attention to the character of the person rather than simple obedience to rules and principles
- 'Good people make good deeds, but good deeds do not necessarily make good persons'
- Philippa Foot
- 'Courage, temperance and wisdom benefit both persons who had these dispositions and other people as well; and moral failings such as pride, vanity and worldliness and avarice harm both the possessor and others'
- Agreed with Aristotle that training id the basis groundwork of virtue ethics and they need to be nurtured through constant habit especially in early years
- Alasdair MacIntyre
- Believed modern society was a 'moral vacuum'
- Argued that society needs to reassert Aristotle's moral and intellectual virtues in medicine, education, politics, and commerce
- He identifies some of the archetypal characters that have evolved in a society lacking virtue
- The Bureaucratic Mangers
- The Rich Aesthete
- The Therapists
- Rosalind Hursthouse
- Attempts to show how virtue ethics can be applied to moral issues
- E.g. Abortion
- A virtuous person shouldn't take abortion lightly
- They will realise that motherhood is intrinsically worthwhile
- E.g. Abortion
- Attempts to show how virtue ethics can be applied to moral issues
- Elizabeth Anscombe
- Aristotle
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