virtue ethics overview and re-visit
TRANSCRIPT
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8/9/2019 Virtue Ethics Overview and Re-Visit
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Why Should I BeMoral?Because of My Character!
Virtue Ethics
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A ims of Todayjs LessonTo deepen our understanding of what MacIntyre calls ka return
to virtuelTo consider how Christianity has adopted Virtue Ethicsthrough its valuing of moral
saints and heroesTo identify some of thestrengths and weaknesses of Virtue Ethics
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Starter Exercise (15Mins)To re-cap and build upon your
learning fro last lesson, you will bewor ing together as a group toco plete the ti e-line of Virtue onthe front desIjll explain the tas by doing anexa ple
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A retology A rete - Excellence, Strength, VirtueA retaic Ethics - Strength-CenteredEthicsE phasises Virtues (Strengths) andVices (Wea nesses) of CharacterNot What Should I Do?l butWhat Kind of Person Should I Be?l
BEINGNESS not DOINGNESS
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A ristotle and the Goal of Human Existence (384-322 BCE)mEudaimonia (p.g. 4)
mFlourishing, Happinessm A Lifelong Pursuit,acco plishedn Rationally, through reason
and conte plationn Functionally, throughpractice
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Two Types of Virtue (p.g. 4-5)Intellectual Virtuesn E.g. Wisdo , Understanding, Prudence
(co on sense)n Inborn but developed through instruction
Moral Virtuesn E.g. Justice, Courage, Te perancen The result of habit
n Not natural or inborn but acquiredthrough practice nhabitkThose strengths of character that enable
us to flourishl
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A ristotle therefore said:"Everybody who understands his
business avoids ali e excess anddeficiency; he see s and chooses themean, not the absolute mean, butthe mean considered relatively to
ourselves."
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Examples of the mean
C ow ard ice C ourage Foo lhard iness
S tinginess G enerosity P rod igality
S ham lessness M odesty B ashfu lness
M aliciousness R igh teousIndignation
Enviousness
V ice of De ficiency Virtue Vice of Excess
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Virtues and Community mA ristotle said that virtues are
defined and lived in co unity
thus a ing friendshipessential (p.g. 8)Sharing a co on identity andstory Modeling the VirtuesnI portance of Moral Exe plars
(Saints and Heroes)
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Moral Heroes and Heroines
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Mother Theresa of Calcutta Not otivated by
pity or obligation .Saw "the face of Jesus" in the poorand dying.Her wor and herdaily religiouspractice wereboth a participation in thestory of Jesus.
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The A retaic Turn in MoralPhilosophy A lasdair MacIntyre (p.g. 11)
Af ter Virtue (1981)
Moder moral philosophy isba rupt; it must recover thetraditio o f virtueImporta ce o f Narrative as a
klived traditio l, telli g thestories o f our sai ts
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Stanley HauerwasResident Aliens (1989)n Christianity has lost its soul.n Christians are not pri arily
citizens o f a liberal, democratic society - Preach as i f you have e emies li e
the fi rst Chr i st i a s d id mProvocat iv e, o ff e s iv e, challe g ing
n kHow Marr i age i s a Sub v ers iv e Act -fid e i ty n kWhy Gays (As a Group) Are Mora y Super i or to Chr i st i a n s (As a Group) n they ha v e co n vi ct i on !
n Commu n i tar i a n Eth i cs
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Example of Virtue Ethicsm Am ishco m munitiesn An
ti-worldly 16th Ce n tury n Pacifistn Fa m ily
n Story
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The Taliban Vice and VirtueDepartmentn Anti-wester n
n Commu n ity focusn Provocativen Challe ngin g: behave
in Islamic waysn Story n what is our
iden tity asfollowers of Islam,what virtues shapethat ide n tity
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Strengths of Virtue Ethics(p.g. 14f)m Importance of the Person, Motive, Heart,
Conscience n perso n al side of ethicsmCon nectio n to Commu n ity mRealizatio n that morality is not defi n ed
by mome n ts or rules but by a lo n g-termprocess
m A llowa n ce for gray areas, varyi n gco n texts, differe n t levels of moralmaturity a n d life co n texts
m A ttai n able because wor s through
examples of virtuous people
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Wea nesses of VirtueEthicsm How do we define virtue ( A nnas)
m Robert Louden n is it practical, how does a perso n n ow what a kgoodperso n l wou l d do whe n faced witha n issue l ike abortio n n virtuesco n f l ict etc
mOver depe
nde
nce o
nstro
ngcommu n ities
mCul ture depe n de n tmSusa n Wo l f - bori ngmCa n be tur n ed i n to a se l f-ce n tred
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Conclusionsm Utilitarianism and Deontology arehelpful
mBut they demand some ind of larger criteria or grounding, somelarger view
mVirtue ethics seems to provide this,and
mSeems to reflect Christian ethicsbest
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TodayjsA
ims Met?To deepen our understanding of what MacIntyre calls ka return
to virtuel
To consider how Christianity has adopted Virtue Ethicsthrough its va l uing of mora l
saints and heroesTo identify some of thestrengths and wea nesses of Virtue Ethics
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8/9/2019 Virtue Ethics Overview and Re-Visit
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A ristotle
(384 n 322 BCE)
Plato
(428 n347 BCE)
Homer
(disagreement n
ust a very longtime a go!)
A mbrose (338 n397 CE)
A ugustine ( 354 n430 CE)
Gregory (540 n604CE)
This thin
er stressed the conceptof Eudaemonia (well being). Thethin
er spo
e in terms of Moral
and Intellectual Virtues and said
that human beings flourished whenthey struc
the mean betweenexcess and deficiency in any of the
virtues.
For this thin
er the ethical lifewas the life of virtue whereby a
person learnt to be good eventhough ithe goodj was not absolute
This thin
er believed in anideal world of
good l andkv
rtue l . Yes a person can
be good, th s th
nker sa
d,
but the r goodness was
rea ll y a poor ref l ect on of
the kperfect good l that l ay
n what was ca ll ed kthewor l d of Forms or
deas l .
Th s th
nker sa
d that th
s
wor l d of dea l good and
perfect v rtue was l
ke l
fe
outs de of a cave. What
we ca ll kgood l
s j ust a pa l e ref l ect
on of that l
fe
We ll
t a ll began w
th th
s
person. Sa
d to be theauthor of two ep
c poemsset aga
nst the backdrop
of Troy, th s apparent l y
bl nd poet speaks of
courage, phys
ca l strength, cunn
ng andfr
endsh
p. Wh
l stbetraya l and dece
t were
seen as the oppos te of
fr endsh
p, fr
endsh
p
dur ng war made l febearab l e and was
therefore pr
zed. Th
spoet pr
zed honour and
v rtue above a ll e l se.
These th nkers trans l ated the
Greek Trad t
on of V
rtue
nto
an approach to eth cs thatChr
st
an
ty cou l d accept.One of them stressed theneed for sexua l v
rtue (onaccount of a l
tt l e prob l em he
had w th h
s l
b
do). For 1400
years these two th nkers set
the stage for Chr
st
an eth
csand made sure that V
rtuel ay at
ts heart
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A quinas
(1225 n 1274 CE)
Sre n Kier
egaard
(1813n 1855 CE)
Sta n ley Hauerwas
(b. 1940 CE)
G. E.Anscombe
Moder n Moral
Ph losophyj
1958
A lasda r
MacIn tyre
A fter V
rtuej
1981
Th s th
n ker wrote a boo k
n
th s year called k A fterV
rtue l . In
t the th
nkerargued for pract
ca l eth
csrooted
n the krea l wor l d l a nd p l eaded for huma n
commu n t
es to be at the
ce n tre of eth
ca l l
fe. Theth
nker c l a
med that stor
es(a nd te ll
ng stor
es) has thepower to create commu n
t
es
of v rtue n where good
s
ce l ebrated a nd bad frow nedn
Th s th
nker s o ne we have
yet to study. Hejs a Chr st
a n
Theol og a n who wrote a book
n th
s year ca ll ed kRes
de n tAl
ens l . Bas
ca ll y, th
seth
c
st be l
eves thatChr
st
a ns shou l d l
ve as
f
they were
n heave n . Thosearou nd them shou l d not
ce
how d
ffere n t they are fromthe rest of the crowd.
Chr
st
a ns, l
v
ng by stro ngv
rtues l
ke fa
thfu ln ess,
shou l d be l ke res
de n t a l
ens
ll
Th
s th
nker was very extreme
n the way that they we n t about th
nk
ng abouteth cs. The perso n spoke of
eth
cs
nvo l v
ng a k l eap of fa
th l at a t
me whe n otherph
l osophers were ta l k
ngabout reaso n a nd rat
ona l
ty.
For th s perso n , the most
eth ca l perso n was A braham n
who l
ste ned to God,
gnoredreaso n , a nd took a l eap of fa
th
n to the dark. Th
s
th nker
s k now n as a n ex ste n t
a l
st.
Th s th
nker was o ne of thef
rst Chr
st
a n Theol og
a ns torea ll y ref l ect o n v
rtue from
a Chr st
a n sta ndpo
n t. Tothe card
na l v rtues of
courage, ust
ce, tempera nce
a nd w sdom, th s th nkeradded three theo l og
ca l v
rtues: Fa
th, Hope
And Char ty
L ke St. Pau l , he stressed that
Love was the greatest v rtue
of a ll
These th
nker wrote a n art
c l e
n th s year that
rea ll y set mora l ph
l osophers th
nk
ng aboutv
rtue o nce more. Theth
nker sa
d that mora l ph
l osophy s
nce theen l
ghte nme n t had throw n
the baby out w th the bath
water a nd had become tooobsessed w
th reaso n . Theth
nker p l eaded for a retur n to A r
stot l e a nd the V
rtue
trad t
on .