Philosophy Exam

What factors combine to produce moral virtues and vices?

...the factors are is it an Desire? Vice of Deficiency? Virtuous Mean? or Vice of Excess?

Legislative people must possess what:

the intellectual virtue of Phornesis which is connected to understanding what constitutes vicous or virtuous behavior and knowing how to direct people to do what is right

virtue ethics

the man who possesses character excellence does the right thing, at the right time, and in the right way.

prudence/phronesis

the perfection of the mind as a matter of practical wisdom in knowing what to do and when to do it

What does Aristotle mean by "science"?

theoretical intellect

How does theoretical reason differ from practical reason?

theoretical reason is science and practical intellect is prudence. cleverness and practical reason differ in deliberate choice.

How do pleasure and pain interfere with phronesis?

they disrupt Arche which is the foundation of moderation. pleasure builds up and you loose your ability to differentiate btw pleasure and pain if pleasure overwhelms, then your to blame.

Aristotle says that a well-born person has a better chance at possessing virtue because

they have more resources available to them

states purpose

to allow people to live well

definition of human nature

to be a rational animal

"But if a person harms someone from choice, he acts unjustly; and it is in reference to these acts of injustice that he who does them is himself unjust..." The person in this passage is acting :

volentary

. "Since what is chosen is a certain longing, marked by deliberation, for something that is up to us, choice would in fact be a deliberative longing for things that are up to us" This description of the process of choosing is an example of something:

voluntary

If someone is drunk and commits a crime, can they be blamed?

yes

Is Aristotle's concept of happiness metaphysical?

yes

Strictly speaking, can children or animals be called "happy"?

yes

Does Aristotle believe a life devoted primarily to pleasure will result in happiness?

yes but excess of pleasure is bad, he says to aim for the opposite vice if this is the case

Does theoretical reason play a role in deliberation and choice?

yes theoretical reason is when you think something will happen so you act accordingly so it influences your choices bc you anticipate the future.

Does a mathematician or scientist deliberate?

yes.

highest human good

intellectual virtues + virtue of character= eudimiamonia

What does Aristotle mean by "happiness"?

"Happiness depends on ourselves." More than anybody else, Aristotle enshrines happiness as a central purpose of human life and a goal in itself. ... Essentially, Aristotle argues that virtue is achieved by maintaining the Mean, which is the balance between two excesses.

What is a virtue (arete) in general?

"excellence of any kind". The term may also mean "moral virtue". ... The person of Arete is of the highest effectiveness; they use all their faculties—strength, bravery, and wit—to achieve real results. example justice, prudence, moderation and courage.

Can two different persons in the same situation be ethically required to do different things? If so, can they be said to possess different concepts of happiness?Are there any things that can never be done?

...yes. ethically if they are more physically able they are required to take action agaisnt violence, if weak to call for help. Theyre concepts of happiness could be different because they might not have the means to achieve it

"And the more he possesses complete virtue and the happier he is, the more he will be pained at the prospect of death. For to this sort of person, living is especially worthwhile, and he is deprived of the greatest goods knowingly—and this is a painful thing" Aristotle is speaking here of what type of person?

A courageous person

Happiness (Aristotle)

A life directed toward worthwhile goals

What sorts of things are "base in themselves" (II.6;1107a14), and why?

Actions that can never be "done well" (ex: Murder, Rape, Humiliation)

What are the different parts of the soul in Aristotle, what are their specific activities, and how do they relate to the moral virtues?

Aristotle divided the soul into two parts, the rational part and the irrational part. In Aristotle's belief, a correctly functioning soul uses all of the parts well and properly. Only a soul that functions correctly can find happiness/eudaemonia.

action (praxis)

Aristotle in turn argues that happiness is properly understood as an ongoing and stable dynamic, a way of being in action. deliberate actions and choice, all aim at some good apart from themselves. one becomes happy through performing beautiful actions.

art (techne)

Art (Techne). This is rational, because it involves making things deliberately, in a way that can be explained. (Making things in a way that could not be explained would not be techne.) It concerns variable things, but specifically it concerns intermediate aims. A house is built not for its own sake, but to have a place to live, and so on. truth in techne would concern making something needed for some higher purpose.

Why is justice an essential component of friendship?

Because a friend is a second self, an equal.

Aristotle say that death is the worst thing that can happen to a person?

Because nothing good or bad will ever happen to us again.

What became a symbol of modernity and technology?

Crystal Palace

Practical Judgement (Phronesis)

DELIBERATION PLUS CHOICE = ETHICAL JUDGEMENT. Practical Judgement (Phronesis). This is the judgement used in deciding well upon overall actions, not specific acts of making as in techne. phronesis judges things according to the aim of living well overall. This, unlike techne and episteme, is an important virtue, which will require further discussion. Aristotle associates this virtue with the political art. Aristotle distinguishes skilled deliberation from knowledge, because we do not need to deliberate about things we already know. It is also distinct from being good at guessing, or being good at learning, because true consideration is always a type of inquiry and reasoning.

Notes from the Underground is generally seen as a forerunner to _______.

Existentialism

Why is experience necessary for prudence? What does it mean that "prudence gives commands" (VI.10;1143a9)?

Experience is fundamental to prudence, as experience tailors one's perception of how one "ought to live"; it is only through trial and error that prudence develops

How does prudence (phronesis) determine what to do in each particular situation? What factors does it take into account (III.1;1111a2-7)?

For Aristotle, prudence or practical wisdom is a virtue of thought that is practical rather than theoretical and deliberative rather than intuitive. One decerns the univeral to morally precieve whats to be done DELIBERATION + CHOICE it tells you what to do. it takes into account universal rules like "dont kill"

The simply complete thing, then, is that which is always chosen for itself and never on account of something else" What is this complete good of which Aristotle speaks here?

Happiness

If not, how do we know what happiness is?

Happiness as the Ultimate Purpose of Human Existence. Aristotle claims that nearly everyone would agree that happiness is the end which meets all these requirements. It is easy enough to see that we desire money, pleasure, and honor only because we believe that these goods will make us happy. It seems that all other goods are a means towards obtaining happiness, while happiness is always an end in itself.

three kinds of human good

He tells us there are three kinds of good toward which our choices look, the pleasant, the beautiful, and the beneficial or advantageous.

deliberation (boule)

How can every virtuous action be chosen, on Aristotle's view, if choice requires deliberation (since surely some situations do not permit time for deliberation)? deliberation is not of the end but the pre- event to the event choice to then action. It is unethical to not deliberate becuase one must be self reflective and know themselves.

What distinguishes the Underground Man from the rest of the world?

Hyper-consciousness

If someone doesn't know what they're doing, can they be blamed or praised? Can someone act or live well unreflectively?

If someone doesn't know what they are doing, they cannot be blamed or praised, as these things require intent. Similarly, without reflection, one cannot truly act or live well; living well requires virtue, virtue requires intended action, intended action requires reflection

Distinguish the intellectual virtues from the moral virtues.

Intellectual virtues (e.g. practical wisdom) are states or traits of character of the reasoning part of the soul (as analysed by Aristotle). By contrast, moral virtues, or virtues of character, (e.g. temperance) are states or traits of the part characterised by desire and emotion.

What characterizes the non-rational parts of the soul (are they the origin of happiness)?

Irrational part - contains the desiderative and vegetative parts. Desiderative side helps us to distinguish between needs and wants. Vegetative side is concerned with basic needs that keep us alive and is effectively our survival instincts. Rational part - contains the calculative and the scientific parts. Calculative side does what it says; it calculates. It weighs up knowledge and helps us arrive at decisions. Scientific side holds types of knowledge that are factual and not up for debate (a priori knowledge).

Happiness is the greatest human good because

It doesn't need anything else to be perfect.

Reason that Aristotle gives for the superiority of the contemplative life?

It is the kind of life the gods live.

choice (prohairesis)

Moral virtue as conscious choice. real character involves conscious choice, unlike habit. indeed all deliberate actions and choice, all aim at some good apart from themselves. Aristotle points to the fact that many aims are really only intermediate aims, and are desired only because they make the achievement of higher aims possible.

Does theoretical knowledge of the good life suffice for happiness in the absence of prudence?

No. In order to be happy one must act with virtuous intent and theoretical knowledge is an inactive concept

Does phronesis determine the telos?

No. Phronesis is the process by which one reallizes the telos

Can somebody become happy in an instant or through a single act?

No. Prudence engenders happiness, and prudence must be developed over time

Could a person become happy through accident or chance?

No. Prudence engenders happiness, and prudence requires intended/thoughtful action

Does the prudent person necessarily possess theoretical knowledge of the good life?

No. Prudence is not directly related to theoretical knowledge, but instead to practical knowledge

moral perception

PRAISE OVER BLAME

Which intellectual virtue aims at the particular?

Reason!!! science is concerned with particulars, unchanged science.

Good (Aristotle)

Since our rationality is our distinctive activity, its exercise is the supreme good. Aristotle defines moral virtue as a disposition to behave in the right manner and as a mean between extremes of deficiency and excess, which are vices.

Why is prudence not a techne?

Techne creates external good artefact and prudence creates internal good.

How is ethical behavior teleological?

Telos, is purpose, good behavior is nessasary to become happy. Your happiness is dependent on what makes you specifically happy. theory of morality that derives duty or moral obligation from what is good or desirable as an end to be achieved.

"The result is that if we are perceiving something, we also perceive that we are perceiving; and if we are thinking, that we are thinking. And to perceive that we are perceiving or thinking is to perceive that we exist..." What is Aristotle on about here?

That the act of self-awareness is uniquely human

What does Aristotle mean by "happiness"?

The function of man is to live a certain kind of life, and this activity implies a rational principle, and the function of a good man is the good and noble performance of these, and if any action is well performed it is performed in accord with the appropriate excellence: if this is the case, then happiness turns out to be an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.

What is the virtue of each part of the human soul, and how is it determined?

The good of something is the nature of its vegatative functions. One irrational part of the human soul is "not human" but "vegetative" and at most work during sleep, when virtue is least obvious. A second irrational part of the human soul is however able to share in reason in some way. We see this because we know there is something "desiring and generally appetitive" in the soul that can, on different occasions in different people, either oppose reason, or obey it—thus being rational just as we would be rational when we listen to a father being rational. It is determined by knowing it.

What does Aristotle mean by a "virtuous" eye or a "virtuous" horse (II.6;1106a17ff)?

The thing being described as virtuous is performing its ideal role to the most complete extent

characteristic (hexis)

These characteristics concern the attitude people have towards whether they cause pain to others. good souled people do not take small risks, They gladly do favors but are ashamed to receive them, They are not given to wonder.

About what sorts of things does one deliberate? Are the eternal things subject to deliberation?

We deliberate about things that are in our power and can be done. As human beings, our desires need not be mindless and random, but can be transformed by thinking into choices, that is desires informed by deliberation. The characteristic human way of being-at-work is the threefold activity of seeing an end, thinking about means to it, and choosing an action. Now about eternal things no one deliberates, e.g. about the material universe yes they are subject to deliberation

What is the purpose of laws enacted by a legislature? How is politics an "architectonic" science?

To help improve the character of the individuals it governs. The architectonic means overuling politics legislates for the good of the community. purpose of politics are laws that lead people to be virtuous elect legislators of good nature.

Which comes first in time: virtues or virtuous action?

Virtuous action creates virtue

What are the primary intellectual virtues?

WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING. the primary intellectual virtues are wisdom, which governs ethical behaviour, and understanding, which is expressed in scientific endeavour and contemplation.

Why is upbringing important for happiness?

We must learn to both act correctly and feel correctly. We are trained by our parents to go to sleep, but you have to make rational decisions to be happy

habit

a behavior that is repeated so often that it becomes almost automatic

How does a virtuous shoemaker, for example, differ from a virtuous person?

a virtuous shoemaker performs his role as a shoemaker with complete excellence, while a virtuous person does not necessarily perform this role

Why does Aristotle say a happy person lives and acts well?

because they pocess eudiamonia they satisfy both inclinations and rational desires, wants to do right and does right, derives pleasure from good behavior and is satisfied and happy with their character

certain goods

certain goods (e.g., life and health) are necessary preconditions for happiness and that (b) others (wealth, friends, fame, honor) are embellishments that promote or fill out a good life for a virtuous person, but that (c) it is the possession and exercise of virtue which is the core constitutive element of happiness.

end (Aristotle)

doable in action. some are activities while others are works of some sort beyond the activies. Eating well and thriftily is also not an end in itself but a means to other ends. Only happiness is an end in itself, so it is the ultimate end at which all our activities aim. As such, it is the supreme good. ... Aristotle defines the supreme good as an activity of the rational soul in accordance with virtue.

virtue (arete)

excellence

external goods

external goods (wealth, fame, honor, power, friends)

What has nothing to do with divine will?

fate

goods of the body

goods of the body (life, health, good looks, physical strength, athletic ability, dexterity, etc.)

goods of the soul

goods of the soul (virtue, life-projects, knowledge and education, artistic creativity and appreciation, recreation, friendship, etc.).

If not, what role does pleasure play in the virtuous life? Is a happy life pleasurable?

happiness involves pleasure because a blessed person enjoys life. pleasure is not a good at all. because every pleasure is precieved coming to be in the natural state, it plays a role in a virtuous life because a person of virtue needs to know how to moderate their desires and pleasures and balance.

Do we come to know what happiness is through prudence?

happiness is a final end or goal that encompasses the totality of one's life. It is not something that can be gained or lost in a few hours, like pleasurable sensations. It is more like the ultimate value of your life as lived up to this moment, measuring how well you have lived up to your full potential as a human being. Prudence is required to live a happy life continously

What role do riches or honor play in becoming happy?

identify happiness with honor; for this is, roughly speaking, the end of the political life. Further, men seem to pursue honor in order that they may be assured of their goodness. The life of money-making is one undertaken under compulsion since wealth is not the good we are seeking and is merely useful for the sake of something else.

romanticism in underground man

meets his spite with love then rejects her. hes to be blamed for his bad personhood

Illustrate the process of character formation using courage and moderation as examples.

moderation is a virtue concerned with pleasure and pain and courage is also a virtue. Character formation happens when one is tested to act upon these virtues, they use prudence to determine what to do.

moral virtue

moral virtue required that the one acting choose an action knowingly, out of a stable equilibrium of the soul, and for its own sake. The knowing in question turned out to be perceiving things as they are, as a result of the habituation that clears our sight

Can somebody with a bad upbringing ever be happy?

no

Can someone live virtuously who experiences no pleasure?

no

Could somebody with no external goods be happy?

no

If the rational is subordinated to the non-rational, can a person be happy?

no

Is happiness the same for all humans?

no some people are born luckier then others

Is a good upbringing alone necessary for happiness?

no there are many factors necessary for happiness, but when raising kids you need time, patience and virtue

Will a virtuous/happy life be free of pain?

no you can be virtuous and experience pleasure and pain

Can a person unreflectively become virtuous?

no, one must understand their virtuous behavior to be virtuous

What in general are the passions (II.5; 1105b21)?

passions (courage and temperance), those concerned with external goods (e.g., generosity, magnificence, magnanimity), and those concerned with social life (e.g., mildness, truthfulness, wittiness, friendliness), and justice

What "good" does prudence aim at?

prudence helps train you to live well. the good is happiness and you have to know the definiton of happiness to aim with prudence.

How does action (praxis) differ from the production of an artefact?

techne produces an artifact: art, craftmanship, praxis is the action

Distinguish craftsmanship/art (techne) from prudence according to their objects.

techne produces an external good and is a repeated activity that produces something.

What does the Underground Man use as his model?

underground man sees opportunities to humiliate people. he sees the particular and follows the rule. particular experience is what ought to be done, or what rules he follows, which is to exploit, and humiliate and exersize dominance.

states of personhood in relation to virtue

vicious man= pleasure from acting badly incontinent= inclined to act badly, weakness continent= strength of will, acts rightly virtuous= satisfy both inclinations and rational desires, wants to do right and does right, derives pleasure from good behavior

Are people born virtuous? How do the intellectual virtues primarily come into being (II.1; 1103a15)?

virtue is accuired over time. The intellectual virtues come into being by using reason and moderation.

Does theoretical reason play a role in understanding the human good?

yes. Aristotle claims that to discover the human good we must identify the function of a human being. He argues that the human function is rational activity. ... The way human beings do things is by making rational choices. Making rational choices is using theoretical reason.