Aristotle\'s Virtue Ethics the Question

Aristotle's Virtue Ethics

The question of what makes something "good" or "bad," and even the question of whether these two concepts exist anywhere but in our own heads, has been a subject of philosophical debate since man first began to ponder his place in the universe. Ethical theories have been put forth by some of the greatest mind the human species has ever produced, and yet the debate wages on today. One of the earliest formulators of a theory of ethics was Aristotle, who among many other contributions to the philosophy and science of his day that have been passed down over the ensuing millennia popularized one of the earliest -- and still viable -- system of ethics built on virtue. In any system of virtue ethics -- and there are many -- it is the qualities a person cultivates rather than their individual actions that defines ethical behavior. Of course, one who cultivates ethical qualities, or virtues, will behave in a virtuous manner, so of course actions are linked to the ethics of this system, they are simply not seen as the measure of ethical behavior, but rather as the result.

For Aristotle, there were many virtues that were to be cultivated by the individual, and this cultivation required virtuous acts. That is, one could not simply study about virtue to become virtuous one first had to experience and then emulate virtue while at the same time coming to understand it. But before establishing exactly what was virtuous, Aristotle had to determine what virtue's goal was. Everything, according to Aristotle, had the same goal, and this goal was inherently good. But each good had another goal, which was also good, which led to another good goal, and son. For instance, one works to make money -- the first good goal. This money is spent on a college education -- good goal number two. This education is used to find a job to make more money -- goal three. This money is used to buy a house, a car, attract a spouse, etc., etc., etc. Though these goals are somewhat cynical, and the inherent "goodness" of them is debatable, they are a useful illustration of this point.

What eventually stops this chain, then, is what Aristotle termed eudaemonia, which can be translated as loosely as "happiness," "fulfillment" or "flourishing." This is the highest good; it is desirable for itself and not for any subsequent good, and all other goods lead to it. Aristotle also outlined the virtues he perceived to exist which would lead to eudaemonia, but though these have also found some echoes in modern times, it is more the basic precepts of his virtue ethics and less the specifics that have been passed down through history. Other modern philosophical theories of ethics have taken other pieces of Aristotle's virtue ethics, or arrived at similar conclusions themselves, but changed -- at times drastically -- other portions of the theory that seemed to them incorrect.

One of the most well-known and perhaps misunderstood theories of ethics is utilitarianism, whose main maxim might be and often is stated, "the greatest good for the greatest number," or sometimes just "the greatest good," though some would argue that this is an oversimplification. Like Aristotle's virtue-based ethics, utilitarians believe that happiness is the ultimate goal of human life and therefore of any ethical system that can be devised. Also like Aristotle, they perceived that to be virtuous required society; being virtuous when completely alone is impossible, as there is no one to be un-virtuous towards. This also means that individual happiness cannot be the only consideration in utilitarian ethics, but that the happiness or pleasure of the society must be measured to determine an act's ethical quality. Those acts which increased pleasure, or utility, were good; those which diminished utility, bad.

In this way, the utilitarian view of achieving happiness departed widely from Aristotle's. For him, happiness was a matter of personal fulfillment through the cultivation of virtues -- internal personal characteristics, not the act itself or its consequences, were the determiners of ethical behavior. In this way, Aristotle's system of virtue ethics was actually more similar to the ethics devised by Immanuel Kant.