Aristotle Virtues

Aristotle sought to amount being ethical to being virtuous; however, in our modern age philosophers of ethics are concerned with assessing the moral value of an act. What is concerning with these other philosophies that focus on the act itself, specifically Kantian school of ethics, is that there seems to be opportunity for inconsistency. If the moral value was in the act itself then one would only be virtuous when doing virtuous action. Under certain moral theory, it is possible for one to be virtuous sometimes and not virtuous at other times. This problem is worrisome, because in order to have a meaning of virtue there must be consistency in ethical value, which these philosophies fail to do.

Aristotle defines virtue as that belonging to

Aristotle says that virtue must be acquired in the same way habits are acquired. Earlier in his theory Aristotle explains that virtue is both thought and character. Further, he writes, “That of thought both comes about and grows mostly as a result of teaching, which is why it requires experience and time” (Aristotle, Book II.1). Concerning character, we are “naturally receptive of them and are brought to completion through habit“ (Aristotle, Book II.1). Virtue is not a natural capacity or tendency, but rather a habitual state that must be practiced regularly. Just as we become a guitar player by playing guitar, ”We become just people by doing just action, temperate people by doing temperate actions…” (Aristotle, Book II.1). Education of our emotional responses is crucial for the development of virtuous character. Virtue is a life long practice not a moment of action. It is the development of our virtuous character that helps us to be virtuous in the

Deontologists, such as Kant, suggest a philosophy where the will is the way of evaluating the morality of our actions. Kant says, “The good will is the will which acts from freedom and respect for the moral law” (Kant, I). The moral theory of Kant and other deontologist is that in order for actions to be morally right in virtue they must be derive from duty and not other inclinations. The Ground Works of The Metaphysics of Morals by Kant is an analysis of the good acts through reason and will. “Reason is the source of moral legislation, not nature, external authorities or revelation. The dignity of man consists in the ability to make a universal law that he himself must obey. And man formulates the universal law by means of reason.” Kant concludes that the principle of morality is a moral law capable of universalization and created through reason, guiding us to the virtuous action in any circumstance. Further, he concludes that virtue comes from good will. Therefore, I am permitted to conclude that a person could perform non-virtuous acts on many occasions but still be considered virtuous when performing virtuous acts. This is the key reason why Kantian ethics fails to accurately explain moral value, because it is not a consistent method.

Morality is not an obligation, which is what Kant suggests, but rather a disposition. Deontologists believe that the end goal of ethical theory is to create a set moral code