Learning objective

1. Learning objective Key words Necessary good Desire Excess and deficiency Key question What is a virtue? To understand Phillip Foots adjustments and the strengths and weaknesses of her argument

2. “Nobody can get on well if he lacks courage, and does not have some measure of temperance and wisdom, while communities where justice and charity are lacking are apt to be wretched places to live, as Russia was under the Stalinist terror, or Sicily under the mafia.” Phillipa Foot

3. Benefit • Virtues are beneficial for society • The question is who do the benefits go to? • Does the benefit of the virtue go to the person with the virtue or to the people who are affected by that person? • The benefit Goes to: • In the case of some of the virtues the • answer seems clear. • Courage, temperance and wisdom benefit both the man who has these dispositions and the other people as well.”

4. Benefit • The benefit goes to: • In the cases of justice and charity, the answer is not so clear. • It seems as if the charitable person benefits the other more than himself. • It may even be that the charitable person loses in the performance of the virtue. • Virtues are in general beneficial characteristics, and indeed ones that a human being needs to have, for his own sake and that of his fellows.

5. Virtue “Virtue is not, like a skill or an art, a mere capacity: it must actually engage the will. Virtue must be a pursuit. It must be something that you are actively engaged in. You must desire to be virtuous and actively seek that out.

6. Virtue Virtues are beneficial characteristics and things that a human being needs to have. These compliment the physical things they need. There are excellences of body – strength, health There are excellences of will – charity, justice. You can judge somebody by their moral intentions. A scoundrel is still a scoundrel even if he is strong and health.

7. Virtue Virtues relate to a persons inner most desires. They are our intentions and our wish to act. Virtues are a mean between two vices. Deficiency and excess Virtues are a corrective against these temptations. Similarities to other areas of study? What is the presumption?

8. Virtue is in the Will Foot explains that excellences of the mind and body are not what we call virtuous. “It is the will that is good in a man of virtue.” A man may have virtuous qualities but he must have good intentions in order to have a good life. What does this mean?

9. Virtue is in the Will • “It is primarily by his intentions that a man’s moral dispositions are judged.” • In many cases, however, it is not merely intention but performance that is judged. • Virtue may require not only performance but attitude. • “Wisdom, as I see it, has two parts.”

10. Wisdom: the Virtue One of the most important virtues in order to ensure a good life is wisdom. “In the first place the wise man knows the means to certain good ends; and secondly he knows how much particular ends are worth.” He can determine the right thing to do with the end goal in mind.

11. Wisdom: the Virtue • Wisdom is not cleverness, but rather “is related only to good ends and to human life in general.” • Wisdom is available to any person, not just those with special training or innate cleverness. • For the first part of wisdom, “the man who is wise does not merely know how to do good things… but must also want to do them.”

12. Wisdom: the Virtue “What we can see is that one of the things a wise man knows and a foolish man does not is that such things as social position, and wealth, and the good opinion of the world, are too dearly bought at the cost of health or friendship or family ties.” The wise person knows what to do with their life. They are able to discern what the most moral situations are

13. Virtues as Correctives Virtues “are corrective, each one standing at a point at which there is some temptation to be resisted or deficiency of motivation to be made good.” “It is only because fear and the desire for pleasure often operate as temptations that courage and temperance exist as virtues at all. Virtues are a social construct that correct the negative desires of the human pysche

14. Virtues as Correctives •  “If human nature had been different there would have been no need for a corrective disposition in either place, as fear and pleasure would have been good guides to conduct throughout life.” • But we need: • industriousness as against idleness • humility as against the temptation of pride • hope because despair is a temptation

15. Virtues as Correctives • Justice and charity are set over against a deficiency in human character. • If we would love others as ourselves, we would need no virtue of beneficence. • If we would treat our neighbours fairly, we would need no virtue of justice. • “On this view of the virtues and vices everything is seen to depend on what human nature is like.”

16. Virtues as Correctives “The virtues can be seen as correctives in relation to human nature in general but not that each virtue must present a difficulty to each and every man.” It is at this point that we can see how the concept of natural law and natural rights plays into our discussion of virtue.

17. What is more moral? • There is a question posed by Foot. Does the difficulty in carrying out the virtuous act add moral worth to the act itself? • She responds by citing Kant’s philanthropist who though distracted from the purpose of doing charity, nonetheless does it out of duty. • This to Foot increases the moral worth of the act.

18. What is more moral? This contrasts directly with Aristotle’s conception of virtue. For foot it is more moral if a person overcomes a dilemma to be virtuous. For Aristotle the virtuous person should have no moral dilemma.

19. What is more moral? In moral situations being virtuous may be more demanding than in other situations. I have an opportunity to steal and I am tempted to do so. This could shed light on a weakness in my lack of virtue. The more virtuous person would not have been tempted. If I am poor with a starving family I may be sorely tempted to teal if the opportunity arises. In this case resisting the temptation says much more about the strength of my virtue.

20. What is more moral? Because the need for food in the second case is greater – the temptation is greater However I still overcame it. This shows that I was more moral than the first scenario. These examples demonstrate how virtue ethics looks at the heart of the individual rather than the moral situation.

21. Can virtue serve the cause of villainy? Aquinas says no. “Virtues can produce only good actions, and that they are dispositions ‘of which no one can make bad use.” The current opinion is mostly affirmative Outside the unpalatable villain who is courageous in crime, the question of doing an injustice for a friend remains.

22. Can virtue serve the cause of villainy? It does not follow that if one were courageous in a criminal act that the act itself is courageous. “We are inclined to say that it ‘took courage,’ and yet it seems wrong to think of courage as equally connected with good action and bad.”

23. Can virtue serve the cause of villainy? • “One way out of this difficulty might be to say that the man who is ready to pursue bad ends does indeed have courage, and shows courage in his action, but that in him courage is not a virtue.” • The same can be said of someone who is over-industrious or too ready to refuse pleasure. • In him industriousness and moderation are not virtues.

24. Can virtue serve the cause of villainy? “For while wisdom always operates as a virtue, its close relation prudence does not, and it is prudence that inspires many a careful life.” It is this that Kant warned about when he said that “these gifts of nature may also become extremely bad and mischievous if the will that is to make use of them… is not good.”

25. Similarities and differences Virtues are needed for human flourishing Virtues exist in a mean between two vices You can judge someone by their moral character. Intuitive assessment of situation. Virtues are the linked to your desires. Virtues act like a conscience. They correct and help you overcome temptation.

26. Strengths and weaknesses Talks about the moral character of the individual Defines virtues well Relative Guidance on making a moral decision. Virtues act like a separate part of the brain, they act on you not the other way around. No method of development

27. Review What are the Benefits of virtue? What is a virtue? Virtue is located in the will Wisdom is an important virtue for a good life Virtues are corrective to societies ills The most moral person is one who overcomes a dilemma Can a villain be virtuous? Strengths and weaknesses Similarities and differences

28. Activities Who do virtues benefit? Explain your answer.

29. Activities Think of two more moral examples to illustrate how being virtuous may be more or less demanding depending on the situation. Do you think that it is important for ethical theories to be sensitive to the challenge faced by people to be good? If so why/why not?

30. Examiners tip Make sure you understand the differences between Anscombe and Foot, particularly the difference between Macintyre and Aristotle. Write out differences clearly and put them onto different coloured sticky notes. Aristotle and MacIntyre highlighted that there are generally three types of people in society but they each cited three different groups of people. Candidates often confuse which group belonged to which philosopher, and the way in which their list of virtues differed.