Ethics Finals Study Guide- Week 6

Explain Aristotle's view of the hierarchical nature of activities. - Albritton

1.Aristotle wants to impress the point here that actions done in the service of another activity will always be lower than the action or result ultimately pursued. So for example if I bake a cake, the baking of the cake will be a lower activity than the eating of the cake which was the only reason why I baked the cake in the first place.

Describe the virtue and vices associated with pleasure and pain (§3). - Hodges

10. Arjan, very good thoughts about what Aristotle has to say about the role of pleasure and pain in virtue. Specifically Aristotle is specifically concerned with here the virtue of temperance and its corresponding vices. Temperance concerns the desire to consume a moderate amount of food, drink, and sex - things we normally associate with pleasure. He is not against any of these things, but with all things in life he thinks the appropriate attitude to them is a type of moderation and veering in one extreme or the other leads to vice. One thing to note here is that Aristotle is concerned with both sides of extreme. He would say that the desire for too much of these things can be vicious but this cuts both ways and Aristotle would say a person who lacks proper desire for these things also possesses a vice of a deficient sort.

Describe the virtue and vices associated with giving and taking money (§4). - Hollingsworth

11. The specific virtue expressing moderation that you correctly noted is generosity. The excessive vice would be wastefulness - the person that just gives money without much thought. The deficient vice would be stingy or miserly - Scrouge from Dickens classic work exemplifies this vice well.

Describe the virtue and vices associated with other conditions of money (§6). - Jefferson

12. The virtue here is magnificence (concerning the giving of large gifts). Stinginess would be a deficient vice and the excessive vice would be vulgarity. There is a cultural oddity in Aristotle's discussion here. He seems to reserve magnificence for the rich as the poor or middle class could not afford to give large gifts. Anyone could be generous but only the rich could be magnificent. That has a very strange feel to the modern, how can any virtue be reserved for those with lots of money? Aristotle saw no problem here but it does strike me as problematic. For instance, why not just note the virtue of generosity and say how people of different levels of income can express that virtue differently? I think the difference here shows us important things about how cultural can greatly influence one's background ethical assumptions that drive theory.

Describe the virtue and vices associated with honor (§7). - Lane

13. When it comes to looking at the virtue and vices of honor, Aristotle describe this somewhat as being the degree to which a person feels this sense of honor. If the person feels honor in excess he is looked at as being vane, yet if he looks at honor deficiency, this deficiency is "pusillanimity". Both of these extremes are looked at as being more negative and therefore Aristotle states that most people generally want to be in the middle of these two extremes, or as he states magnanimous. It is important for a person not to desire honor too much or too less because either way he will be looked down upon and therefore a person needs to desire honor in the right way so that he does not have to be seen as being an "honor-lover" or "indifferent to honor", both of which are not positive attributes. Although it is important to note that Aristotle points out that there are times in which we may praise the "honor-lover" or even the person who is "indifferent to honor". Rachel, very good work describing the ways in which Aristotle discusses honor. I would just that Aristotle uses the concept of magnanimity to describe the person who exhibits the virtue of honor. This person is not weak and exhibit a deficient vice nor are they vain and exhibit an excessive vice in how they approach honor.

Describe the virtue and vices associated with anger (§10). - Knollenberg

14. The specific virtue here is that of mildness. The vice on the excessive side is the irascible person who is too quick to anger. And the vice on the deficient side is a type of passiveness displayed by a person who does not get angry when he or she ought to.

Describe the virtue and vices associated with truth telling (§12). - Smith

15. The virtue is truthfulness. It is the mean between the vices of boastfulness and of self-deprecating which I call false modesty. Boastfulness would be the excess, exaggerating the truth and making more of something than it is. False modesty is the deficiency, playing down the truth or not saying all of it. the virtue is just telling the plain truth which requires understanding what that is. The excessive vice here is that of self-aggrandizement or the person that simply uses truth as a way to boast about him or her self. The deficient vice is the person who lacks the ability to tell truth when they ought to.

Describe the virtue and vices associated with pleasures in amusements (§13). - Perry

16. The specific virtue that Aristotle is concerned with here, as you note, is that of wit. The witty person has the proper moderate disposition as amusements are concerned. The excessive vice here is that of being a buffoon - the person who enjoys getting a laugh at the expense of others or just being offensive. The deficient vice is that of the boor - the person who just has no sense of humor.

Describe the virtue and vices associated with pleasures in daily life (§13). - Ovwielefuoma

17."in the other sources of pleasure, those in daily life, let us call the person who is pleasant in the right friendly, and the mean state friendliness. If someone goes to excess with no [ulterior] aim, he will be ingratiating; if he does it for his own advantage, a flatterer. The deficient person, unpleasant in everything, will be a sort of quarrelsome and ill-tempered person" Ese, you got it! Aristotle, as you note, sees friendliness as virtue that would describe basic pleasures in daily life. We shouldn't be overly nice or quarrelsome but instead strive for being friendly. I should note that this is quite different from being a good friend. That involves a history with another and might involve our saying difficult things to another for their own good that we would not take liberties with in regard to a stranger or acquaintance.

Describe the virtue and vices associated with feelings about feelings (§14). - Migatz

18. The person who stands in the proper relation to his feelings has proper pride or proper shame, The deficient person exhibits the vice of not feeling enough shame when he ought to feel more. The excess person exhibits the vice of being disposed to feel more pride than he ought to. Virtues are not feelings according to Aristotle. Instead virtues will be mental dispositions or character traits. However, we can be virtuous with respect to how we treat our feelings.

Explain what Aristotle means when he says that there must be an ultimate good or end at which all acts aim. - Bailey AND Staten

2.In an earlier post I noted the comparison to a hamster wheel to illustrate what Aristotle has in mind here. If the actions that we take have no ultimate or final end then it is not clear that our actions carry any significant meaning as they would tend to be going 'nowhere' just like the hamster on his spinning wheel.

Carefully explain Aristotle's view of "good" using examples. - Bankes

3. The good of anything, for Aristotle, can always be traced back to how well the thing in question fulfills its function. So, for instance, the good chair is comfortable and very sturdy. The same, Aristotle reasons, can be applied to a person or as you note specifically the lawyer. The good person satisfies his or her function as well. And for Aristotle the unique human function is the ability to use reason to experience happiness or as he understands the term as 'human flourishing'.

What is the highest human good? Why? Explain carefully. - Beeson

4. Skyler, very good work here. You are right that Aristotle stresses the good of the city or polis above that of the individual. He sees this claim as fairly obvious given that the city is composed of so many people rather than just one individual. I do think in many ways this is a type of historical precursor to utilitarianism. It is only over the past 200 years or so where we have seen a shift in some cultures like the United States to a concern of the individual to levels that rival or surpass that of the group as a whole. I should also add here that Aristotle talk about happiness as the greatest good (although as you note help would apply it more broadly than just to the individual). But it is also worth nothing that Aristotle understands happiness as something akin to 'human flourishing' rather than a sense of contentment or satisfaction as happiness is often translated in modern times.

Choose some object other than a human and explain the relationship between excellences and a thing's good. - Bermudez-Martinez AND Stottlemyre

5.To start with the goodness of an object which is not related to human can be determined through its functionality in achieving the goals that have been set by man. In that respect I would choose a television screen as an example. A television has the systematic way of functioning by displaying moving pictures from all the world which also known as NEWS. A well-functioning television provides the viewers with a good display. Displaying of pictures of the highest quality is the ultimate good. In reference to human beings, when the TV functions well this can be life in accordance with reason, in connection to that the highest level of good will be man's life which is determined by a certain activity. However, excellence that deems appropriate to the functionality of human beings can be said to be appropriate to an operation depending on rational element. Example two where I wish to state that, in case a man was to steal this TV the safety and trust of that person would have been ruined. For the person to abstain from bad vices like stealing is an excellent deed which is appropriate to that activity and part of human definition of good is still acting in reference to this excellence. By staying in societal set ups and environs where stealing is forbidden allows human beings to function happily. Human beings cannot afford to manifest any signal of joy if they live in society and surroundings where stealing is legalized by the legal systems because the functions of those activities are contrary to the definition of good and excellence that man needs to get from both objects and other human. Felix, excellent work noting that the good or excellence of any thing for Aristotle will involve the proper functioning of that thing. Your example of both the TV set as well as a human system of laws makes this point very well.

Explain the relationship between function, virtue and happiness (eudaimonia). - Brooks AND Traore

6. Aristotle argues that the function of all human beings is to engage in happiness (human flourishing). When a person fails to engage in human flourishing then Aristotle would say there is a dysfunction, much like a watch that fails to keep good time. And virtue plays a role here because Aristotle argues it is a necessary ingredient of happiness. So without virtue we cannot fulfill our function as human beings.

What is the relationship between the highest human good and pleasure? - Buss

7. Aristotle would say if a person does not take pleasure in the virtues then they really just are not virtuous. Some of this might be because a lack of reason but it could also simply involve being habituated to the wrong things. If a person is habituated to find pleasure in vice then regardless of how they reason they will probably find pleasure in vice. This is why Aristotle thinks that the proper education of the youth and early habituation is absolutely essential for the ethical life. But this point is one we can take even further. Say a person desires to to cowardly or desires to be miserly. When such a thing happens I think Aristotle would simply take that as evidence that the person lacks the virtue which is an excellence.

Explain Aristotle's account of human virtue. Generally, what are virtues? How are they obtained? - Dannenberger and Vick

8.Virtues, for Aristotle, will always represent human excellences. Virtues will be dispositions of our soul or mind that exemplify the best of us. This is why, for Aristotle, the coward can never be happy where happiness means human flourishing. The coward might think they are just fine but in reality they have a weakness that takes them away from excellence. Second, virtues will always be mental dispositions as opposed to actions per se. So, for instance, the charitable person will always want to be charitable but how often they are able to express this virtue through action will be a element of what opportunities the world offers him or her. Third, the moral virtues (as opposed to simply virtues of thinking generally) will always be things that we acquire by habit and never simply things that we are automatically born with. There is not short cut to virtue, one must simply practice until one day practice beings the norm and it is no longer need to exemplify the good life.

Describe the virtue and vices associated with feelings of fear (§2). - Higgins

9. Having a moderate amount of fear is important. A Virtue of fear is courage and helpful in stressful situations to handle pressure. Defecient Vices of fear include cowardess, intimidatio, etc. Excessive vice wouldbe fearlessness which is also not good when too extreme.