PHIL 201STUDY GUIDE: LESSON 24Virtue EthicsLesson Overview:Up until now, we have been concentrating on actions. What is the right thing to do? Consequentialists say the right thing to do is that which produces the best consequences. Deontologists say the right thing to do is that which fulfillsour moral obligations. However, many ethicists believe that we are asking the wrong question. The question we should be asking is, “What kind of person do I want to be?” Rather than concentrating on the right thing to do, we should be concentrating on becoming virtuous people. Virtuous people are those who have developed moral characteristics as part of the fabric of their being and therefore consistently live morally upright lives. In our final lesson in this unit, we will explore the tradition of virtue ethics.Tasks:Read Chapter 14 of Ethics: Approaching Moral Decisions, “Virtue Ethics” and Chapter 13 (just the section “Our Telos: The Highest Good”). As you read, make sure you understand and can explain the following points and questions:- List and explain Alasdair MacIntyre’s three objections to the 19th (and 20th) century conception of “moral science” (From Chapter 13).1. morality has been reduced to following an array of rules without any overall goal for one's life2. moral science treats ethics as a freestanding discipline independent from its social context. morality is embedded in social structures, traditions, and history3. ethics produce a lot of disagreements w/o any standard; moral ethics produced a lot of disagreements and conflicting theories, with no independent rational basis for judging how I should decide or act or which conceptual scheme is correct (pg 127-129)- Explain Aristotle’s concept of relating the moral life to a goal (telos) and how it relates to Christianity (this is important to understanding the basis for virtue ethics).He grounded his teleological ethic into teleological psychology, which depended in turn on a teleological biology that was part of his overall metaphysics: every natural process has its final cause.- Explain how virtue ethics allows a place for motives and intentions to play a part in morality that deontology may ignore.It shapes the conscience.Motives and intentions as well as actions are morally significant. They reflex the kind of person I am, my inner disposition and character. (pg. 131)- How are virtues acquired, and how do they affect our moral decision making and behavior?They are acquired by practice and habits of the mind that are cultivated. they influence moral reasoning, the considerations we take into account, the options we consider, the care in which we seek information or rules we follow.Virtue is a habit of mind, requires discipline of mind & body. Consistency is essential to being really good. Virtues influence moral reasoning, the options we consider, care with which we seek advice, rules we follow, what we do and how we do it. (pg. 133)Page 1 of 3PHIL 201- How do virtues relate to God?Loving God means desiring to be like him, the exemplar of goodness, and the desire for virtue both nourished and was nourished by the desire for God.Desiring the Good means desiring God and wanting to be like him. If God is the epitome of every kind of goodness, then desiring truth and beauty as well as moral character is tacitly a desire for God. (pg. 134)- How does Holmes answer the question of the relativity or diversity of different virtues within different communities or traditions?Diversity does not prove that all moral ideals either are or should be completely relative.A good disposition is simply a fact about a certain kind of human life, and moral evil is a kind of human defect.- Explain Aristotle’s concept of virtue as a means between excess and deficiency."In the face of danger, courage lies between the excess of foolhardiness and deficiencies of cowardice." Such virtues are about acting in a morally responsible way, the vices in an irresponsible manner.Virtues often lie between 2 extremes, excel & deficiency of some human characteristic. In the face of danger, for example, courage lies between the excess of foolhardiness and the deficiencies of cowardice. (pg. 136)- How does Aristotle view character development?Virtues can be cultivated and do not occur naturally. They develop as a result of deliberation about the choices we constantly make and the end we desire.Saw virtues as habits of mind that can be cultivated. They do not emerge naturally over time and sometimes run counter to our natural tendencies. Nor are they due to just formalinstruction. Choices we constantly make & the ends we desire. (pg. 137)- Contrast the 2 views of character development that arose in the 19th century: rational vs. passions and desire. Why does Holmes favor the latter?Rational in which clear and distinct understanding has the power to overrule and subdue out passions and desire. Reason prevails over immediate self interest. Seem to underlie Kohlberg's appeal to cognitive moral development as the key to moral formation.David Hume Passion:- What is the main problem with Freud’s deterministic view of character development?Determinism is not a view we can hold "responsibly" nor are we free to either accept or reject it. The determinist's acceptance of it is itself determined, so that he cannot meaningfully say it is true independently of what he or we may think.Hasty generalization(pg. 139)- What does Aquinas say we need along with habituation of the virtues?Habituation is not enough without "infusion" Three values: Faith, hope and loveHoly Spirit infuses the theological virtues of faith, hope and love which go beyond natural potential. (pg. 139)Page 2 of 3PHIL 201- Explain Stanley Hauerwas’ emphasis on the need for community in character development.Watch their lives and adopt their practices, I sense their ideals are becoming my own. I am apart of a moral culture. Bernard of Clairvaux was praised for teaching through his physical presence, students learned by reading his attitudes, habits and character.Christian community forms morals. There I find my identity, respected people. I hear stories about people of character & vision, watched their lives and adopted their practices. Their ideals become my own. I become part of a moral culture. (pg. 140)Terms:Make sure you fully understand the following terms and concepts:- Telos (See page 128)Our hightest good. This is the basis for Christian ethics. - Eudiamonia (See page