Existentialism and Virtue Ethics Existentialism

Existentialism and Virtue Ethics

Existentialism is a term in literary, philosophical and psychological history. Jean-Paul Sartre coined the term and through his literature and the stories and writings of his associates, such as Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Albert Camus, the term came to mean the philosophy associated with Human Existence and what humans should do with it moment by moment. Sartre was influenced by Martin Heidegger. Heidegger wrote Being and Time in 1927 as an inquiry into the "being that we ourselves are." Sartre asked his readers to ask this question not as an exercise, but as a concrete question of what it means "for me to be." (Sartre 1968)

Kierkegaard carried this further by applying the question to the Christian faith. Nietzsche also did this and theorized that God was dead, as an atheist. But both were interested in what Kierkegaard termed "the single individual." Their conclusions, rather their ways of inquiry led them to unique language that is rather alien to our ears. (Kierkegaard 1983)

Today we take an approach more attuned to Sartre, who said that "existence precedes essence," or existence is the making of oneself, or the state of coming into being. The fundamental existential thought lies in one's identity, which is determined not by nature or culture, but by what one is becoming. So existence is not static, but fluid, and ever-changing, never completed.

Existentialism has continued to play an important role in contemporary thought and runs through the foundations of many modern works. The societies devoted to the existential philosophers fund and provide forums for ongoing work, though it also finds conflicts within other rising philosophies, such as structuralism, deconstruction, hermeneutics and feminism. (Crowell 2004, 5)

Still, race theory, self-identity (Charles Taylor, 1999), artificial intelligence (Dreyfus, 1979), and "new existentialism" (Haugeland 1998) have found their roots in the theories of the existential philosophers. The "new existentialism" explores the role of existential commitment as truth tracking practices in scientific studies. A rise in moral psychology has many writers asking the questions of the existentialists and utilizing these in themes of remaking one's self and choice. Christine Korsgaard appeals to "self-creation" and "practical identity." (1996) the consciousness of death is explored by Thomas Nagel. Existential philosophy has made its appearance in the writings of many rising philosophers in the United States and overseas, after having been out of fashion for awhile.

Virtue Ethics is the viewpoint I prefer of the human experience and predicament. It tends to be closer to the contemporary ethical ethos. It embodies a normative ethics approach and is identified as the ethic that emphasizes virtues and moral character, rather than duty or rules (deontology), or consequences arising from actions (consequentialism). The three approaches to ethics today involve whether one does good out of (1) the need to maximize the well-being of the human race, (2) the need to live according to a moral rule ("Do unto others as you would have others do unto you") or (3) the belief that helping people is charitable and benevolent (virtue ethics). The Virtue Ethicists' central concepts are virtue, practical wisdom and eudaimonia.

A virtue, such as honesty, generosity, caring and helping, is not something learned or practiced until it becomes a habit. It is a disposition that comes from a mindset that cannot be observed by others in a single act. A virtuous person has thought about why it is valuable to be honest and caring and has taken it to be part of their disposition. They do not find otherwise in their life and are shocked whenever they do not find it in the lives of others. It is displayed in acts, not words and is not found in a single act, but in a life-style that practices many acts of kindness day after day.

The qualities of virtue have been discussed in many philosophies, beginning with Aristotle, who spoke about phronesis, and eudaimonia. Eudaimonia is a key to the new virtue ethic, being the final area that is usually discussed. It is an Aristotelian term meaning "happiness" or "flourishing," or "well-being." Only a rational being can experience eudaimonia, the state of being satisfied with oneself because one is virtuous. It denotes one who is living well as a human being, believing that virtue is necessary but not sufficient, as the good life is also part of it (Annas 1993). The good life is the morally meritorious life, responding to the demands of the world, being a good human being with virtues that enable them to live a whole life. (Swanton 2003)