Virtue

NS 412--Leadership and Ethics: 

NS 412--Leadership and Ethics Virtue

Introduction: 

Introduction Concern for character has flourished in the West since the time of Plato, whose early dialogues explored such virtues as courage and piety.

Two Moral Questions: 

Two Moral Questions The Question of Action: How ought I to act? The Question of Character What kind of person ought I to be? Our concern here is with the question of character

An Analogy from the Criminal Justice System: 

An Analogy from the Criminal Justice System As a country, we place our trust for just decisions in the legal arena in two places: Laws, which provide the necessary rules People, who (as judge and jury) apply rules judiciously Similarly, ethics places its trust in: Theories, which provide rules for conduct Virtue, which provides the wisdom necessary for applying rules in particular instances

Slide5: 

Strength of character (habit) Involving both feeling and action Seeks the mean between excess and deficiency relative to us Promotes human flourishing Virtue

Two Conceptions of Morality : 

Two Conceptions of Morality We can contrast two approaches to the moral life. The childhood conception of morality: Comes from outside (usually parents). Is negative (“don’t touch that stove burner!”). Rules and habit formation are central. The adult conception of morality. Comes from within (self-directed). Is positive (“this is the kind of person I want to be.”). Virtue-centered,often modeled on ideals.

The Purpose of Morality : 

The Purpose of Morality Both of these conceptions of morality are appropriate at different times in life. Adolescence and early adulthood is the time when some people make the transition from the adolescent conception of morality to the adult conception.

Rightly-ordered Desires : 

Rightly-ordered Desires Aristotle draws an interesting contrast between: Continent people, who have unruly desires but manage to control them. Temperate people, whose desires are naturally—or through habit, second-nature—directed toward that which is good for them. Weakness of will (akrasia) occurs when individuals cannot keep their desires under control

Rightly-ordered Desires and the Goals of Moral Education : 

Rightly-ordered Desires and the Goals of Moral Education Moral education may initially seek to control unruly desires through rules, the formation of habits, etc. Ultimately, moral education aims at forming rightly-ordered desires, that is, teaching people to desire what is genuinely good for them.

Virtue As the Golden Mean : 

Virtue As the Golden Mean Strength of character (virtue), Aristotle suggests, involves finding the proper balance between two extremes. Excess: having too much of something. Deficiency: having too little of something. Not mediocrity, but harmony and balance.

Virtue and Habit : 

Virtue and Habit For Aristotle, virtue is something that is practiced and thereby learned—it is habit (hexis). This has clear implications for moral education, for Aristotle obviously thinks that you can teach people to be virtuous.

Courage : 

Courage The strength of character necessary to continue in the face of our fears Deficiency: Cowardice, the inability to do what is necessary to have those things in life which we need in order to flourish Too much fear Too little confidence Excess Too little fear Too much confidence Poor judgment about ends worth achieving

Nichomachean Ethics, 3.7 : 

Nichomachean Ethics, 3.7 What is terrible is not the same for all men; but we say there are things terrible even beyond human strength. These, then, are terrible to every one- at least to every sensible man; but the terrible things that are not beyond human strength differ in magnitude and degree, and so too do the things that inspire confidence. Now the brave man is as dauntless as man may be. Therefore, while he will fear even the things that are not beyond human strength, he will face them as he ought and as the rule directs, for honour's sake; for this is the end of virtue. But it is possible to fear these more, or less, and again to fear things that are not terrible as if they were.

Courage : 

Courage Both children and adults need courage. Without courage, we are unable to take the risks necessary to achieve some of the things we most value in life. Risk to ask someone out on a date. Risk to show genuine vulnerability. Risk to try an academically challenging program such as pre-med.

Courage and the Unity of the Virtues : 

Courage and the Unity of the Virtues To have any single strength of character in full measure, a person must have the other ones as well. Courage without good judgment is blind, risking without knowing what is worth the risk. Courage without perseverance is short-lived, etc. Courage without a clear sense of your own abilities is foolhardy.

Compassion and Pity : 

Compassion and Pity Pity looks down on the other. Consequently, no one wants to be the object of pity. Compassion sees the suffering of the other we something that could have happened to us. Consequently, we welcome the compassion of others when we are suffering.

Compassion : 

Compassion Etymology: to feel or suffer with… Both cognitive and emotional Leads to action Excess: the “bleeding heart” Deficiency: moral callousness Contrast with pity

Friendship : 

Friendship For Aristotle, there is no necessary dichotomy between self-interest and concern for others. Without friends, in Aristotle’s view, we cannot achieve happiness: “…without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods; even rich men and those in possession of office and of dominating power are thought to need friends most of all…”

What Is Friendship : 

What Is Friendship “We may describe friendly feeling towards any one as wishing for him what you believe to be good things, not for your own sake but for his, and being inclined, so far as you can, to bring these things about. A friend is one who feels thus and excites these feelings in return: those who think they feel thus towards each other think themselves friends. This being assumed, it follows that your friend is the sort of man who shares your pleasure in what is good and your pain in what is unpleasant, for your sake and for no other reason.”

Types of Friendship : 

Types of Friendship Friendship may have three possible aims: Utility: ends when the useful purpose is no longer present. Pleasure; ends when the pleasure disappears. A shared commitment to the good: “Perfect friendship is the friendship of men who are good, and alike in virtue; for these wish well alike to each other qua good, and they are good themselves.”

Self-love and Altruism : 

Self-love and Altruism “It is true of the good man too that he does many acts for the sake of his friends and his country, and if necessary dies for them; for he will throw away both wealth and honors and in general the goods that are objects of competition, gaining for himself nobility; since he would prefer a short period of intense pleasure to a long one of mild enjoyment, a twelvemonth of noble life to many years of humdrum existence, and one great and noble action to many trivial ones. Now those who die for others doubtless attain this result; it is therefore a great prize that they choose for themselves. They will throw away wealth too on condition that their friends will gain more; for while a man's friend gains wealth he himself achieves nobility; he is therefore assigning the greater good to himself.”

Cleverness and Wisdom : 

Cleverness and Wisdom The clever person knows the best means to any possible end. The wise person knows which ends are worth striving for.

Concluding Evaluation : 

Concluding Evaluation Virtues are those strengths of character that enable us to flourish The virtuous person has practical wisdom, the ability to know when and how best to apply these various moral perspectives.

Next Week’s Readings and Class: 

Next Week’s Readings and Class EML 437-499 Discuss Chap XII chap 1-4

Next Week’s Paper: 

Next Week’s Paper Virtue: Using Aristotle's concept of virtue, explain how friendship and the military rank system can be compatible.  How does leadership fit between friendship and duty?