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Aristotle's Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics denies that any ethical theories or systems are valid, relevant, adequate or helpful. It is not a normative branch of philosophy, like Utilitarian or Kantian ethics. As its name suggests, it calls upon the character of a person (moral agent) to deal with the moral problem instead of applying some fixed set of codes or theories. Hence, if a person lies, you cannot deem his action as right or wrong. He is just dishonest, which is his character. An ethical person is thus, an individual who is able to develop a desirable character. Which leads us to the next question...what virtues are desirable?

Before answering the question above, it seems we have to define what virtue is. Over the years people have suggested various cardinal virtues, but I do not think there is a set of virtues we must follow and find the Greek philosopher, Aristotle's arguments more convincing. Aristotle believes that; '...every action and pursuit, is considered to aim at some good'. This theory is known as his 'Nichomachean Ethics' or 'Ethics of Eudaimonia'. This 'aim', or telos, mentioned by Aristotle shows us that fundamentally, he is a teleological philosopher, and looks at the consequences of a moral action - the telos. Aristotle makes it clear that he does not just mean psychological pleasure, as he associates 'virtuous' happiness, as it were, with those who 'live do well'; otherwise this virtuous position of being happy could be extended to people who become happy through immoral acts, or those who are stupid and happy, who are completely different cases all together. The main accomplishment in Eudaimonia is gaining a sense of achievement, success and moral excellence; which is an imperative to the hedonistic view of pleasure. Aristotle believes that human beings have a special 'function', the Greek translation being 'ergon'. This function is special in each individual, and is not found in any other being, making them different to animals and basic instinct. He believes that this is their ability to reason, which allows them to function well, which results in a virtuous character.
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The main definition of Virtue Ethics is 'a good action is one performed by a virtuous person'. To understand this we have to first unpack it. In virtue ethics when deciding what is morally right, we have to take the persons emotions into account, as they play a prime role in this theory. We know what is right by educating ourselves of certain feelings and emotions so that we naturally aspire to do goods, which reward us with pleasure. Therefore this idea of doing what is right is dependent on the 'education of character'. An example to show ...

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