ETHICS FINALS
ARISTOTLE'S QUOTE ON EXCELLENCE
"Excellence is an ART won by training and habituation. We ARE what we repeatedly DO. Excellence then is not an act but a HABIT."
EPICURUS' QUOTE ON PLEASURE
"One must honor the noble, and the virtues and things like that, if they produce pleasure. But if they do not, one must bid them goodbye."
PLATO'S QUOTE ON BEING VIRTUOUS
"The most virtuous of all men is he that contents himself with being virtuous without seeking to appear so. "
bodily appetites, the irrational desires and the shadow world of false values
, could persistently cloud one's vision and temp him away from the truth
Speculative or theoretical SCIENCE
- knowledge for the sake of knowledge
Practical SCIENCE
- knowledge for the sake of the proper conduct of man - Ethics belongs to the practical science and is concerned with the correct conduct that guides man toward a life of excellence.
Productive SCIENCE
- knowledge or science concerned with providing for the human needs.
Knowledge
= By nature men seek pleasure, but it is __________ that will guide them to the choice of the right pleasures. = What will guide people to the choice of the right pleasures? =Without deliberation, it is impossible to hinder needless and artificial desires or to secure the right pleasures needed to attain happiness = In order to understand how we should live in order to enjoy the most pleasant and serene existence, we must know the nature of the various desires and the different pleasures which come from their satisfaction.
Ethics as Science FOR PLATO
= Maintains that ethics is as objective as the mathematical sciences. = , ethics is also concerned with forms like justice, good, virtue, etc. = ethical forms are objective standards of morality which serve as guide and provide direction in life amidst the arbitrary power and persuasion of society and the influence of our irrational desires. =
World of forms and ideas / The Perfect World / intelligible world
= PLATO'S ultimate good and perfect = OBJECTS: good, forms, mathematical objects = MENTAL STATES: intelligence, thinking
ultimate good or ultimate end of men must have the following characteristics:
= SELF SUFFICIENT = FINAL = ATTAINABLE a goal that meets all these requirements is happiness or eudaimonia (ultimate goal)
"doctrine of the mean."
= The mean relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle, and by that principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it." = Every ethical virtue is a condition intermediate between two extreme states: excess and deficiency. = will vary from one situation to another and from one individual to another. - no universal rule or a mechanical procedure that will determine the mean; it requires a full and detailed acquaintance with the circumstances.
The Well-ordered Life accdg to Plato
= The person who has the virtues of justice and wisdom knows the physical pleasure and allows them their proper place. He knows the pleasure of honor and reputation and enjoys them in the proper degree. = truly happy person sets in order his own inner life and is his own master and his own law and at peace with himself
wisdom in plato's ethics
= allows reason to be in control of the person and guides the other parts of the soul. Reason becomes like a commander or a director who understand the whole picture and helps others to play out their respective roles
The bodily appetites
= are associated with our bodily needs and desires. = pull us toward physical gratification. = lowest but the most dangerous of our desires = irrational to always follow on its desires.
The intellectual virtues
= are intellectual excellences; they excellences of our rational faculty. = Further subdivided into philosophic and practical wisdom. = attained through instruction and evidenced by knowledge;
types of desires accdg to epicureanism
= artificial = natural (necessary & unnecessary) =It is necessary to keep our desires at a minimum and distinguish the natural and necessary desires from artificial ones
Epicurus and the Cyrenaics
= both maintain that human nature is so constituted that people always seek what they believe will give them pleasure and avoid pain = Both believe that pleasure is the only intrinsic good and pain is the only intrinsic evil. = encourage people to choose pleasure judiciously = choose the right pleasures and that only the actions that further the enjoyment of individuals can have moral significance.
moral virtues
= concern the habitual choice of actions in accordance with rational principles. = the right disposition to make the right decisions and prudent action. = It is knowing how to make moral decisions and doing the right actions not just knowing that certain things are true or that certain actions are good and right. = Hence, "we become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts and brave by doing brave acts" = produced by habits of choice and expressed in practical actions tempered by both the circumstances and the individual.
World of experience / World of Appearances
= copies of perfect ideas from world of forms = OBJECTS: visible things, images = MENTAL STATES: belief, imagining
The virtue of courage in plato's ethics
= enables the spirit to subordinate itself to the counsel of reason and applies its energy, ambitions and assertiveness towards the right goal. = The healthy spirit holds fast to the command of reason and ignores the pulls of pain and pleasure. With the _______ the spirit finds its glory and esteem only in doing what is right, fears what is genuinely fearful and bravely confronts all enemies of truth and goodness
Epicurus' take on pleasure
= equates pleasure with peace of mind = duration of pleasures is more important than their intensity in achieving happiness. = mental pleasures are superior than physical since they last longer although less intense. = finds the physical pleasure to be acceptable in themselves, he contends that the pursuit of them for their own sake does not lead to happiness. = most intense physical or sensual pleasure is self-defeating
Ethics as Science accdg to ARISTOTLE
= ethics as a body of objective knowledge, as systematic organization of concepts and principles or laws.
artificial desires
= fame, power, wealth =are not just unnecessary, they are sometimes destructive of the natural and necessary desires.
natural desires
= friendship, wisdom, food, clothing, shelter, health, tranquility = necessary and unnecessary = satisfaction of the necessary desires, i.e., those that preserve bodily health and mental peace, and the freedom from pain that accompanies such satisfaction lead to happiness.
virtues for aristotle
= good habits - the proper or right way of doing something. = When we do repeated good acts we develop these .= human excellences or the dispositions to perform or act in a proper manner or way
The spirit
= is associated with passion or emotion. = is distinct from the two because we can be moved by either the bodily desires or by moral fervor. = is a motive force but it receives its direction from the two other faculties, it can follow either the commands of the appetites or reason
The virtue of temperance in plato's ethics
= is manifested when the appetites control and moderate their desires for pleasure and subordinate themselves to the two higher elements. = is not a complete denial of the body's needs and desires but a sense of balance and mastery
Prudence in epicureanism
= is the noblest part of philosophy = overall virtue then that must be cultivated is _____-; it is the most valuable of all moral attributes and the source of all virtues by which we able to live happily
Reason
= is the rational and more reflective part of the soul sometimes vetoes the urgings of the appetites. = also has its own rational desires, like desire for truth and understanding = highest faculty that seeks the higher good, = controls the appetites and put order into the desires of the appetites = must control the spirit's desire for self-esteem and pride
REASON AS VITAL CONCEPT OF HAPPINESS
= man's highest and distinctive function or activity and happiness depends upon the actualization or the full realization of one's rationality The purpose of human life stresses that it entails a life lived according to certain plan or purpose furnished by reason. = involves two things: knowing/thinking and doing. = knowing the right principles to follow and applying these principles in real life
Aside from prudence the following characterize the life of a happy person (EPICUREANISM)
= self-sufficiency, sober reasoning, honor, justice, wisdom, health of the body peace of mind and plain food = did not consider moral virtue as a matter of excellence or something that needs to be pursued for its own sake. = Virtue is a means towards individual pleasure.
Three categories of things being good:
= some things are good for their own sake and not for their consequences; = good for their own value and for their consequences, = may be burdensome but are good for their consequences = life falls into the second category.
EPICURUS' MAIN TEACHINGS / PHILOSOPHIES
= taught that happiness involves serenity and is achieved through the simple pleasures which preserve bodily health and peace of mind. = whole point of philosophy is to heal the souls and to enable us to live a happy life. = disdains theoretical speculation and stresses that philosophy should serve practical human needs. = no benefit from philosophy if it cannot drive out the disease of the soul
Sophists Claim
= that man is the measure of all things; they teach that we base our moral norms either on subjective personal opinions or social conventions. = There are no higher moral standards beyond conventions,
PLEASURE
= the alpha and omega of a happy life = purpose of life, accdg to Epicurus, is personal happiness; and by happiness he means _______ itself = first and kindred good and the starting point of every choice of every aversion = we do not choose every _____ whatever, but often pass over many _____ when a greater discomfort ensues from them. = , "the absence of bodily pain and mental anxiety"
The Idea of the Good / GOOD
= the conception that unites the principle of teleology and the theory of forms with ethics. = Good is at once the final goal which all things in the universe are seeking to realize and the ultimate source of their intelligibility and meaning = universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual world
Two basic philosophical conceptions which are relevant to the Plato's ethical theory:
= the doctrine of teleology = theory of ideas or forms
virtue of justice in plato's ethics
= the over-arching virtue that is present when all the other elements have achieved their correct balance within the person. = one who possesses wisdom, courage and temperance and in whom all the elements or faculties play their proper roles and maintain proper places. = condition wherein all the various elements of the person are balance and in the right order
VIRTUES AS VITAL CONCEPT OF HAPPINESS
= the performance of an activity must be in accordance with ______ or excellence. = refers to the excellence of a thing or the disposition to perform effectively its proper function. = attained through repeated action
accdg to epicureanism,a prudent person is :
= truly knows that the truly good things are easy to obtain and that evils are either short-lived or slight. =knows that he himself and not destiny controls the factors that will bring him happiness =has the power to turn chance occurrence into good account =chooses wise decision rather than the fortunate outcome
Epicureanism
= was one of the philosophies that arose during the decline of ancient Greek philosophy as a source of relief from increasing social disorganization. = one of the 'salvation philosophies' which flourished until the Greco-Roman culture was superseded by the Christian. = distinguished itself for the constancy of its doctrine
morally good or virtuous person is one
= who carefully follows reason, = desires to do the right thing, =has a well-formed character, =knows the proper goals in life and can deliberate how to achieve these goals in practice and =the one who has the most experience in making difficult moral decisions
GARDEN OF EPICURUS
AFTER TEACHING IN ASIA MINOR.... Later he returned to Athens and taught in his famous garden, the_____________, until his death. = served as a sanctuary from the turmoil of the outer world for a select group of men who applied in their daily lives the precepts of their mentor.
tripartite soul:
Bodily appetites Reason Spirit - passion and emotions
Two types of virtues according to Aristotle
INTELLECTUAL virtues (wise or intelligent individual) MORAL virtues (continent or moral individual ) = To enable us to balance our desires and the emotions, we need more than intellectual virtues, we need moral virtues.
HAPPINESS VIRTUES
Like Socrates and Plato he considers _________as the end of human desires. He also considers the ____________as central to a well-lived life.
Aristotle's thoughts on ethics can be found in his two treatises on ethics:
Nicomachean Ethics Eudemian Ethics. = both start with a discussion of eudaimonia which means "happiness" or "flourishing," and then turn to an examination of the nature of arête or "virtue" or "excellence"
PLATO ON ETHICS
Plato's ethical theory, is an attempt to answer the question: "What is the good life?" = Following Socrates that 'virtue is knowledge,' Plato develops that thesis that the life of reason is the happiest and the best
The Charioteer MODEL
Reason - CHARIOTEER, instill harmony among the soul Appetite - SIDE HORSE, obedient horse Emotion - MAIN HORSE
frugality and simplicity
Reflection on the desires will lead us to the view that _________________ are the true roads to happiness.
There are three types of knowledge or science,
Speculative or theoretical Practical Productive
The four primary moral virtues in PLATO'S ETHICS
Wisdom Courage Temperance Justice = Each virtue finds its place within the elements of the soul.
contemplation
______ is the highest form of moral activity because it is continuous, pleasant, self-sufficient, and complete
Ideas or forms physical objects
_________________like that of circle, good, humanity are unchanging : REAL =while ____________ that copy them in the spatio-temporal world are changeable. :FAINT COPIES OF FORMS
and the passive or negative pleasures
comes from the absence of pain = For Epicurus, these are more fundamental than the active, since it is through them that happiness is gained
active or positive pleasure
comes from the gratification of specific wants or desires = Aristippus sets the goal of life as the constant seeking of ___________ or _________, = Epicurus maintains that these are important insofar as they terminate the pain of unfulfilled desires
psyche or soul
essential core of the person is his ____________
Epicurus (342- 270 BC)
founder of ______ , was born and educated in Samos and inherited Athenian citizenship from his parents. = After the death of Alexander the Great, the Athenians were driven out of Samos and Epicurus went to Asia Minor where he taught for several years = warmly affectionate to his followers and they were devoted to his followers and they were devoted to him
INTERMEDIATE GOALS
goals like wealth and honors are not the ultimate desires of men; which must ultimately aim at some final good which we desire for its own sake
PHILOSOPHY
is "the art of making life happy" FOR EPICURUS = must have some practical application, otherwise it is useless = Our good can be realized through ______ the quest for knowledge, that is practical knowledge = Mere sensual enjoyment leads ultimately to unhappiness, just as a good digestion keeps the body well, philosophical contemplation keeps the mind at peace.
morally virtuous person in plato's ethics
is one who is rationally, biologically and emotionally balanced, in Platonic terms, one who is wise, temperate, courageous and just = desires and passions function harmoniously under the governance of reason = Knowledge produces a harmonious person, in the sense that when reason governs the desires and passions, an orderly and well-balanced personality results
Philosophic wisdom
is purely theoretical and is achieved by understanding the unchanging structure of reality
Practical wisdom
is the rational understanding of how to conduct one's daily life. = Understanding the rules of conduct or norms of society and how to behave or act in a particular community are manifestations of ___________
nature of arête
or "virtue" or "excellence"
three elements of human personality,
passions, Faculties states of character.
state of serenity or ataraxia
person's ultimate goal is not a constant succession of intense sensual pleasures, but rather the __________ which characterizes freedom from trouble in the mind and pain in the body. = everyone is capable of attaining a life of serenity
Happiness contains two vital concepts:
reason and virtue.. = Happiness is related to the highest activity of the soul which is reason.
doctrine of teleology
stresses that everything in the universe has a purpose or proper function within a harmonious hierarchy of purposes
theory of forms or ideas
stresses that general concepts or ideas are not derived from experience but are logically prior to it, they exist by themselves in their own world, the world of ideas. = WORLD OF FORMS = PHYSICAL WORLD
ULTIMATE GOOD: self-sufficient
that which even when isolated makes life desirable and lacking in nothing; (would money be self-sufficient? Is money alone enough?)
ULTIMATE GOOD : final
that which is always desirable in itself and never for the sake of something else;
Central to Aristotle's ethics are
the notions of happiness, virtues, freedom of the will and responsibility, and moral character.
function of deliberative reasoning:
to consider each of the many actions that are within one's power to perform, considering the extent to which each of them would contribute to the attainment
Eudaimonia WORD
which means "happiness" or "flourishing,"
Cyrenaic doctrine by Aristippus
which was formulated by ________, a student of Socrates who ironically advocates the hedonistic principle that pleasure is the supreme good. = identifies pleasure with sensual pleasures
Cyrenaic
who stresses that pleasure = physical pleasure = looked to the momentary pleasures of gaiety and excitement.