Aristotle concludes that a virtue is ‘
a state of character concerned with choice, lying in the mean (the mean relative to us)
, this being determined by a rational principle and by that principle by which the person practical wisdom would determine it’.
What are the moral virtues according to Aristotle?
Aristotle. Moral virtues are exemplified by
courage, temperance, and liberality
; the key intellectual virtues are wisdom, which governs ethical behaviour, and understanding, which is expressed in scientific endeavour and contemplation.
What is virtue to Aristotle?
Aristotle explains what virtues are in some detail. They are
dispositions to choose good actions and passions
, informed by moral knowledge of several sorts, and motivated both by a desire for characteristic goods and by a desire to perform virtuous acts for their own sake.
What is meant by virtuous act according to Aristotle?
More explicitly, an action counts as virtuous, according to Aristotle,
when one holds oneself in a stable equilibrium of the soul
, in order to choose the action knowingly and for its own sake. This stable equilibrium of the soul is what constitutes character.
How does Aristotle define moral virtue quizlet?
Moral virtues.
good character traits
(e.g., courage, honesty, generosity, kindness).
What are the two main types of virtue identified by Aristotle?
There are two kinds of virtue:
intellectual and moral
. We learn intellectual virtues by instruction, and we learn moral virtues by habit and constant practice. We are all born with the potential to be morally virtuous, but it is only by behaving in the right way that we train ourselves to be virtuous.
What is the highest virtue according to Aristotle?
For Aristotle,
eudaimonia
is the highest human good, the only human good that is desirable for its own sake (as an end in itself) rather than for the sake of something else (as a means toward some other end).
What is the aim of human life according to Aristotle?
To summarise from Pursuit of Happiness (2018), according to Aristotle, the purpose and ultimate goal in life is
to achieve eudaimonia (‘happiness’)
. He believed that eudaimonia was not simply virtue, nor pleasure, but rather it was the exercise of virtue.
What is a good life according to Aristotle?
Aristotle argues that what separates human beings from the other animals is the human reason. So the good life is
one in which a person cultivates and exercises their rational faculties by
, for instance, engaging in scientific inquiry, philosophical discussion, artistic creation, or legislation.
Aristotle describes a virtue as a
“mean” or “intermediate” between two extremes
: one of excess and one of deficiency. 2. Example: bravery (e.g. on a battlefield) Involves how much we let fear restrict or modify our actions. Bravery is the mean or intermediate between cowardliness and rashness.
What are the main principles of virtue ethics?
Virtue ethics teaches:
An action is only right if it is an action that a virtuous person would carry out in the same circumstances
. A virtuous person is a person who acts virtuously. A person acts virtuously if they “possess and live the virtues”
Which of the following is the highest virtue?
Truth
is the highest virtue, but higher still is truthful living.
Is a great virtue?
A virtue is
a good quality or way of behaving
. His virtue is patience. Her flaws were as large as her virtues. Humility is considered a virtue.
Why is it difficult to be a person of virtue?
Pleasure and pain are indicators of virtue and vice
For moral excellence is concerned with pleasures and pains; it is on account of the pleasure that we do bad things, and on account of the pain that we abstain from noble ones.” … This is why it is difficult to become
virtuous
.
What is the contribution of Aristotle?
He made pioneering contributions to all fields of philosophy and science, he
invented the field of formal logic
, and he identified the various scientific disciplines and explored their relationships to each other. Aristotle was also a teacher and founded his own school in Athens, known as the Lyceum.
What is human According to Aristotle?
According to a philosophical commonplace, Aristotle defined
human beings as rational animals
. … And, since definitions fix the basic terms for each science and serve as explanatory principles within them, it follows that ‘human being’ cannot be defined.
