Applied Definition: Virtue Ethics

1. In what ways did the historical context from which virtue ethics emerged shape its basic principles? Presocratics, regarded as the first philosophers, brought the term logos to philosophy (literal translation: ‘word’; also denotes ‘logic’, ‘argument’, ‘reason’. Aristotle’s concept of Virtue Ethics regards humans as rational animals, implying that ‘logos’ is purely a human trait. Known as Plato’s most gifted student, Aristotle disagreed with his teacher’s view that the “essence of reality lies in some abstract world of Forms or Ideas” (Brannigan, 2005:60). Aristotle’s point of view directly contrasts his teacher’s, stating that the “source of meaning comes from concrete, physical reality” (Brannigan, 2005:60). This direct contrast with Plato leads to Aristotle opening his own school, which he called the Lyceum. Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics is his literary formation of his ethical theories. Aristotle believes that ethics originate from real world experiences, that there is not a set of rules to apply to life that will mold us into ethical beings, but rather the “individual exists in relationship with others” (Brannigan, 2005:61). Thus, ethics is based upon how the individuals relate to each other and the cultivation of good character. How do we cultivate good character? Aristotle states we must fulfill our human nature. He tells us that all things existing in nature have their own specific end purpose, which he refers to as telos (Greek term for specific end). For example, an apple seed’s telos would be to grow into an apple tree and produce apples. Aristotle tells us that only humans are capable of using logos as a form of thought, and that all humans are, by nature, rational animals. Therefore, the human’s end purpose is to “fulfill our human nature as rational animals by properly exercising our reason” and he also asserts that, “only in this way can we be genuinely happy” (Brannigan, 2005:62). Furthermore, Aristotle states that all