Aristotle

Aristotle Notes – K. Wilt [Adapted from our lectures and various other sources in hopes of making your study easier] -Aristotle was the first to systematize the ethical reflectionsmost important treatment of Western Ethics (i.e. Nicomachean Ethics… named after his son). [FYI – Aristotle was a student of Plato] Teleology  the final cause Everything created for a purpose [acorns become oak trees; embryos develop into adulthood; ears hear, etc] To not read final cause is to not reach telos. Eudaimonia  the telos of human life (happiness). The ultimate goal in life is to be happy. [Why do you go to school? To get a good job? Why? Money. What will that achieve? Happiness. ] All leads to human happiness, therefore it is the end or the final cause for life. Hierarchy of ends  the final end is done for its own sake; i.e. studying for your exams. Passing the exam is the final end. Studying for the sake of studying is not the final end unless it really is. [What are we trying to achieve in the end is the final end.] Aristotle says we ought to strive for higher ends in life. Study for the sake of study; volunteer for the sake of others (not self). How we act is the kind of person we will become. How ought society act? 1] we must place trust in law b/c it provides good order, sets rules for peaceful living and applies to all equally. 2] we must place trust in ethics b/c then we will act virtuously. Virtue is the wisdom to apply theories in particular situations. Society is better off if we all act virtuously. How do we evaluate “good”?  A “good” hammer should drive nails. [Fulfils its purpose] A “good” mower should mow grass evenly. [Fulfils its purpose] A “good” eye should see correctly. [Fulfils its purpose] A “good” person should think rationally. (Rational thought is unique to humans in the first place… it is our purpose; therefore, goodness is fulfilling a purpose? Human Goodness = Human Rationality) A clever person knows the best means to any end. A wise person knows for which ends are worth striving. VIRTUE: good habit of acting according to a mean between too much and too little. (According to the individual) {GOLDEN MEAN}

Deficit Cowardice Insensible Lazy Undue Humility

Virtue Courage Temperance Proper Desire / Ambitious Proper Pride

Excess Rashness Self-Indulgence Zealous Vanity

Virtue and Happiness  happiness is both subjective and objective. Unhappy people will not reach their telos  Subjective happiness  defined by the person Objective happiness  way to happiness through virtue b/c virtue is the character trait valued as “good” by most people. Bad decisions = diseased persons = unhappy persons  will not reach their telos. [i.e. a child thinks a diet of candy is great. A drug addict sees drugs as happiness – neither really know their happiness (they are diseased). ] Character parts of the human person = attitudes, opinions, dispositions, resulting from patterns of behavior. Rationalthinks, deliberates, judges right from wrong: distinctly human quality. Rational side controls the non-rational side. Separate human behavior from animal human behavior. Takes discipline to form new habits. WE BECOME WHAT WE DO!! Non-Rationalappetitive & vegetative Appetitivedesires, emotions, sexual urges, anger, fear (shared with the animal world). VegetativeInvoluntary functions—growth, breathing, digesting… events without a moral significance. We cannot control vegetative nonrational behaviors. People become good by practicing good actsPRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT The Golden Mean – Too much food = Gluttony (Vice). Too little food = Starvation (Vice). Just enough food = the Golden Mean. The virtue between two flanking vices = the Golden Mean. Golden Mean is subjective. A 7’ basketball player needs more food than a 5’ ballerina.

Some things do not have a Golden Mean. Murder, adultery, that which is intrinsically evil or disordered has no corresponding extremes. We become virtuous by observing virtuous people and practicing virtuous acts. Morality is the art of creating the mean of what may be too much or too little through your own learning experience. Remember WISDOM AND GENERIOUS LOVE as the FOUNDATION for the GOLDEN MEAN. REMEMBER: There are some things for which there are no meansmurder of innocent people; jealousy; hate. Character Types – Virtuous, Continent/Enduring, Incontinent/Soft, Vicious a. Virtuous – Judges right from wrong. Appetites in line with reason. Agent makes the right choice always. b. Continent/Enduring – Judges right from wrong. Appetites in line with reason but there is internal struggle, Agent almost always does right thing. c. Incontinent/Soft – Judges right from wrong. Appetites NOT in line with reason. Agent will usually do the wrong thing. d. Vicious/Self-Indulgent – Does not judge right from wrong. Appetites in line with reason because there is not understanding of right/wrong. Agent does not do the right thing ever. These should be executed. Virtue – Moral Virtue, Intellectual Virtue Moral Virtue –> Appetitive obedient to rational. Control of urges and vices. Acquired by habit (not by nature), acquired by acting virtuously and destroyed by excess or defect. Intellectual Virtue –> A kind of wisdom/understanding acquired through teaching. Act virtuously and be virtuous? Not quite. Performing a virtuous act by accident or being forced into it is not becoming a virtuous person. Doing something good for glory, recognition or money? Not virtuous. A just person performs a just act justly. Becoming Virtuous Avoid that which is more opposed to the mean (choose lesser of 2 evils) Know yourself. Know which vices you are prone to and avoid them. Be wary of pleasure it can lead you astray. Delay gratification and do what we should do rather than what we want to do. If we identify a vice, we may need to move past the mean toward the other vice in order to “bend back” to the mean. Two Understandings of Morality (Child, Adult)

a. Child – Learns from parent (outside the agent). Negative understanding (don’t touch the stove). Patterned by habit. b. Adult – Learns from experience (within the agent). Positive understanding (I like what I’m becoming). Patterned on models of virtue or ideal behavior). c. Adolescent – Combination – Very confusing and frustrating. Aristotle and Christianity (Similarities) a. Both stress human happiness b. Both stress moderation in life c. Both stress seeking out virtuous people d. Both stress the Golden Rule e. Both stress virtue as key to happiness Aristotle and Christianity (Differences) a. Aristotle’s god had no concern for humans b. Aristotle held out no hope for salvation c. Humility is a vice with Aristotle, a virtue for Christianity d. Aristotle had little or no concern for others, the poor or outcast e. Aristotle – Abortion permissible (limited use for population control) f. Aristotle – Infanticide permissible (limited use for defective babies) g. Aristotle supported execution for vicious in society.

According to Aristotle there can be no ‘form of the good’ because this is a good that is spoken of in only one category . The good though, is different in every category for example a good time is not the same as a good apple, a good driver is not the same as a good throw. CRITICISM: Surely there must be a single common feature that all of these things share in order for them to be called good? RESPONSE: There is relation, but not through an ‘ideal of good’ but through being parts of different categories (substance, quality, quantities, time, possibility.) Happiness is a state of action Even within the categories ‘good’ can be broken down further, for example, there can be a good time for war, peace, sleep, dinner and yet they would all be different times and in very different contexts. Also: Even if there was a form of the good it wouldn’t help us. Aristotle is more interested in action. Referring back to his interest in practical knowledge as the path to good as opposed to theoretical knowledge.

The good is rational action that leads to an end. Greeks interpreted happiness as EUDAIMONIA, as is translated as good character/self. Refers to a person that leads a good life, that can deal with bad situations and make the right choices. Unlike other things you aim for happiness is something that can stand on its own, it is self sufficient. For example wealth Is enhanced when pleasure is added and vice versa. They are always better when added together, whereas happiness doesn’t need anything else to enhance it. Problem with happiness is that there are always different degrees of it. Someone can be more happy than someone else but they can both be called happy. You can always strive for more. Aristotle believes that nothing can be added to happiness but there is a difference between a happy life and a really happy life.