Transcript
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Introduces Aristotle’s idea of virtue as character rather than a list of rules. Explains that becoming a good person is meant to lead naturally to good actions.
imagine a person who always knows what to say who can diffuse a tense situation deliver tough news gracefully is confident without being arrogant brave but not Reckless generous but never extravagant this is the type of person that everybodywants to be around and to be like someone who seems to have mastered the art of being a person this may sound like an impossible feat but Aristotle believed that while rare these people do exist and they arewhat we should all ired to be virtuous and there's a whole moral theory based on this idea of virtue but unlike most of the moral theories we've discussed virtue Theory doesn't spend a lot of time telling you whatto do there's no categorical imperative or principle of utility instead virtue theory is all about character rather than saying follow these rules so that you could be a good person Aristotle and other virtue theorists reasoned that if we
can just focus on being good people the right actions will follow effortlessly become a good person and you will do good things no rule book needed so why should you become a virtuous person because
Explains Aristotle’s view that humans have a proper function tied to flourishing and rational social life. Defines virtue as the midpoint between excess and deficiency, known as the golden mean.
udonia virtue Theory reflect the ancient assumption that humans have a fixed nature an Essence and that the way we flourish is by adhering to that nature Aristotle described this in terms of what he called proper functioning everything hasaun function and a thing is good to the extent that it fulfills its function and bad to the extent that it doesn't this is easy to see in objects created by humans a function of a knife is tocut so a Dull Knife is a bad knife and a function of a flower is to grow and reproduce so a flower that doesn't grow is just bad at being a flower and the same goes for humans we'reanimals so all the stuff that would indicate proper functioning for an animal holds true for us as well we need to grow and be healthy and fertile but we're also the rational animal and a social animal so our
function also involves using reason and getting along with our pack now you might notice that some of this sounds a lot like parts of natural law theory aquinus is theory that God made us with the tools we needto know what's good well Aristotle had a strong influence on Thomas aquinus so part of Aristotle's thoughts on virtue Theory ended up in natural law theory but for Aristotle this isn't about God's plan it's just about nature Aristotleargued that nature has built into us the desire to be virtuous in the same way that acorns are built with a drive to become oak trees but what exactly does it mean to be virtuous Aristotle said that havingvirtue just means doing the right thing at the right time in the right way and the right amount toward the right people which sort of sounds like Aristotle saying exactly nothing I mean how vague can you be but
according to Aristotle there's no need to be specific because if you're virtuous you know what to do all the time you know how to handle yourself and how to get along with others you have good judgment you canread a room and you know what's right and when Aristotle understood virtue as a set of robust character traits that once developed will lead to predictably good behavior you can think of virtue as the midpoint between two extremeswhich Aristotle called vices virtue is just the right amount The Sweet Spot between the extreme of excess and the extreme of deficiency and this sweet spot is known as the golden mean so let's take a look at some
Uses courage, honesty, and generosity to show how virtue depends on context and finding the right amount. Each virtue is presented as a balanced response between two harmful extremes.
particular virtues starting with courage what is courage to take a closer look at this let's head to the thought bubble for some flash philosophy walking home from a movie you see a person being mugged what is the courageousaction for you to take your impulse might be to say that a courageous person would run over there and stop the mugging because courage means putting yourself In Harm's Way for a good cause right well no a virtuousperson in the Aristotelian sense would First Take stock of the situation if you size up the mugger and have a good reason to believe that you could safely intervene then that's probably the courageous choice but if you assessthe situation and recognize that intervention is likely to mean that both you and the victim will be in danger the courageous choice is not to intervene but to call for help instead According to Aristotle courage is the midpoint
between the extremes of cowardice and recklessness cowardice is a deficiency of Courage while recklessness is an excess of courage and both are bad Aristotle said that you definitely can have too much of a good thing so being courageousdoesn't mean rushing headlong into danger a courageous person will assess the situation they'll know their own abilities and they'll take action that is right in the particular situation part of having courage he argu argued is being able torecognize when rather than stepping in you need to find an authority who can handle a situation that's too big for you to tackle alone basically courage is finding the right way to act and a lot of the timebut not all of the time that means doing a thing that you know you're capable of even if doing it scares the pants off of you thanks thought bubble Aristotle thought all virtue works like this the right action
is always a midpoint between extremes so there's no All or Nothing in This Theory even honesty in this view honesty is the perfect midpoint between brutal honesty and failing to say things that need to be said like noone needs to be told that they have a big zit on their face they already know the virtue of honesty means knowing what needs to be put out there and what you should keep quiet about and it alsomeans knowing how to deliver hard truths gracefully how to break bad news gently or to offer criticism in a way that's constructive rather than Soul crushing the virtue of generosity works the same way it avoids the obvious Viceof stinginess but also doesn't give too much it's not generous to give drugs to an addict or to buy a round of drinks for everyone in the bar when you need that money for rent the right amount of
generosity means giving when you have it to those who need it it can mean having the disposition to give just for the heck of it but it also means realizing when you can't or shouldn't give so now you
Discusses why virtue is hard to define in advance and how it is learned through experience, practice, and moral exemplars. Ends by connecting virtue to practical wisdom and the goal of eudonia, or human flourishing.
can see why Aristotle's definition of virtue was totally vague where that golden mean is depends on the situation but if you have to figure out what virtue is in every situation how can you possibly ever learn to bevirtuous Aristotle thought there was a lot that you could learn from books but how to be a good person was not one of them he said that virtue is a skill a way of living and that's something thatcan only really be learned through experience virtue is a kind of knowledge that he called practical wisdom you might think of it as kind of like Street smarts and the thing about Street smarts is that you got tolearn them on the street but the good news is you don't have to do it alone Aristotle said your character is developed through habituation if you do a virtuous thing over and over again eventually it will become part
of your character but the way you know what the right thing to do is in the first place is by finding someone who already knows and emulating them these people who already possess virtue are moral exemplars and accordingto this Theory we are built with the ability to recognize them and the desire to emulate them so you learn virtue by watching it and then doing it in the beginning it'll be hard and maybe it'll feel fakebecause you're just copying someone who's better than you at being a good person but over time these actions will become an ingrained part of your character and eventually it becomes that robust trait that Aristotle was talking about it'lljust manifest every time you need it that's when you know you have virtue fully realized it becomes effortless okay but why what's your motivation what if you have no desire to be the guy who always says the right
thing or the lady who always finds the courage when it's needed virtue Theory says that you should become virtuous because if you are then you can attain the Pinnacle of humanity it allows you to achieve what's known asudonia this is a cool Greek word that doesn't have a simple English translation you might say it means a life well- lived it's sometimes translated as human flourish and a life of udonia is a life of striving it'sa life of pushing yourself to your limits and finding success a Udonis life will be full of the happiness that comes from achieving something really difficult rather than just having it handed to you but choosing to live aUdonis life means that you're never done improving you're never to a point where you can just Coast you're constantly setting new goals and working to develop new muscles choosing to live life in this way also means you'll face
disappointments and failures udonia doesn't mean a life of cupcake and rainbows it means the sweet pleasure of sinking into bed at the end of an absolutely exhausting day it's the satisfaction of knowing you've accomplished a lot and thatyou've pushed yourself to be the very best person you could be this is morality for Aristotle it's being the best person you can be honing your strengths while working on your weaknesses and for Aristotle the kind of person
Summarizes the main ideas from the episode, including the golden mean, moral exemplars, and eudonia. Wraps up with a preview of the next topic in ethics.
who lives like this is the kind of person who will do good things today we learned about virtue Theory we studied the golden mean and how it exists as a midpoint between the viic of excess and deficiency wetalked about moral exemplars and the life of udonia that comes with virtuousness next time we're going to consider a tricky little problem in ethics known as moral luck crash course's philosophy is produced in association with PBS digital Studiosyou can head over to their channel to check out a playlist of the latest episodes from shows like PBS SpaceTime barbecue with Franklin and PBS off book this episode of Crash Course was filmed in the Dr Cheryl CKenny crash course studio with the help of all of these awesome people and our equally fantastic graphics team is thought Cafe