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2024, Can virtue be taught?
In the history of philosophy there have been many attempts to define virtues and answer the fa-mous question if virtue can be taught or not. The ancient Greek philosophers struggled with this question in the same manner as we struggle with it today. The problem is the definition of virtues and their complex development. Nonetheless is there an importance to the ability to teach vir-tues, even though nobody can define what a school of virtues could look like. In this essay we are going to look at the different arguments and try to get as near as possible to an answer to the question “Can virtue be taught?”.
2015
Each human being comes into the world with natural properties that may be described as the state of natural characterlessness. This is why the educational process should lead to the situation where these diverse and individualized predispositions work as a homogenous and harmonized prime mover of man. The way to achieve this state is through forming moral character which may be understood as the development of individual moral virtues. The origin of ‘virtue’ is Latin ‘virtus’ which means ‘strength’ or ‘skill’. This potential of the virtues is necessary for man because he constantly struggles with imperfection of his nature. In this case we talk not only about natural virtues (intellectual and moral) since the true and full dimension of human character may be formed only in the light of the supernatural virtues. This is why we should take these two categories of virtues into account: natural (attainable by human natural powers) and supernatural (which exceed the capacity of unaided human nature). Regrettably, the idea of virtue and character is underestimated or even intentionally ignored in contemporary education. This could be the result of mental laziness of certain educators or intellectual currents in philosophy. Still there is hope for change in this area since present-day education theorists call for the return to classical methods of education.
Meno is a Platonic dialogue in which Socrates, Meno, one of the slave-boys and Anytus inquire into the nature of virtue (areté-excellence) in relation to knowledge (ἐπιστήμη, epistēmē). Meno, a young aristocrat from Thessaly, asks Socrates how virtue is acquired, a question with presumed answers (a) Teaching (b) Learning (c) Practice (d) Nature(e) Any other way. However, Socrates is not used to such questions with ready-made answers, instead, in his Socratic astuteness, he changes the question from the ‘How’ to the ‘What’ of virtue. Within the Meno-Socratic definition struggle, Plato embraces the elenchus not as a negative tool to paralyze typical Socratic interlocutors, but as a positive tool that works in the framework of the hypothesis to stimulate rational inquiry. In this paper I discuss, (a)Virtue & Knowledge; (b) Paradox, Recollection & Immortal Soul; (c) teachability of virtue, and (d) I conclude by arguing that despite a deadlock in defining 'virtue', Socrates identifies it with a kind of knowledge as opposed to opinion.
In the Protagoras, Socrates responds to Protagoras' claim that he teaches young men the art of citizenship by saying the following; "The truth is, Protagoras, I have never thought that this could be taught…" (319b). In this paper I examine what each thinker has in mind regarding the nature of virtue and its attainability. I
Argument: Biannual Philosophical Journal, 2021
In this article I will discuss employing the classical prescripts of Aristotle’s virtue ethics in education as a guide for youth education. For Aristotle, the practice of virtues was not a goal in itself, since virtues are dispositions which may be revealed in various acts reflecting human perfection. Virtues tell us how to act to achieve a particular goal. The ethics of virtue highlights the love of good and perfection. The attitude of a justly proud man consists, among other things, in approving of what is good; at the same time, however, he strives towards selfsufficiency. Self-improvement, which emphasises self-sufficiency, often becomes behaviour that can, unfortunately, generate standoffishness, arrogance, and egotism.
Journal of Philosophy of Education, 1997
The politics and pedagogy of schooling are becoming more authoritarian, coercive and utilitarian. Reactionary ideologies dressed and patched up with new managerialism (already moribund in the market place) are supplanting progessivist ideas. Even in its own cramped terms the new model will not work. But educationalists should not be content to oppose it with nostalgic stories. Progressivism was always at a loss to cram its ideals within the geography, architecture and timetable of a school day. It is the very structure and context of schooling that needs overhaul.. .. Hence appear the many mistakes which have made learning so unpleasing and so unsuccessful F F F. (Milton, Of Education) Socrates puts his questionÐcan virtue be taught?Ðto Protagoras, and not the least of that dialogue's virtues is its lively portrait of the moral and sophistic climate of those days. So it is without apology that I introduce my topic with a letter that we received at home last November: Dear Parents, Children should enjoy coming to school; they should enjoy learning and playing together. They should share, help and care for each other. Good behaviour in school is essential for learning to take place; bad behaviour disrupts learning. Because we wish to create the optimum learning environment for your child we are introducing a new positive discipline policy within school. As in all areas of education, school and home must work as a partnership, and we know we can rely on you, as always, to support us in this policy. The new system will work on Rewards and Praise. In school we will recognise, reward and reinforce Good Work, Good Behaviour and Good Manners. The praise and rewards will include the followingÐ 1. Lots of praise and encouragement. 2. House points. 3. A visit to the head teacher for praise and a sticker. 4. Special stickers for good behaviour in the infants.
Studia Gilsoniana, 2018
To have a virtue is to possess a certain kind of trait of character that is appropriate in pursuing the moral good at which the virtue aims. Human beings are assumed to be capable of attaining those traits. Yet, a number of scholars are skeptical about the very existence of such character traits. They claim a sizable amount of empirical evidence in their support. This article is concerned with the existence and explanatory power of character as a way to assess the possibility of achieving moral virtue, with particular attention paid to business context. I aim to unsettle the so-called situationist challenge to virtue ethics. In the course of this article, I shall defend four claims, namely, that virtues are more than just behavioral dispositions, that at least some virtues may not be unitary traits, that psychologists cannot infer virtues from overt behavior, and that the situationist data do not account for the observational equivalence of traits. Since it rests on a misconception of what virtue is, the situationist objection remains unconvincing.
The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 1994
In contemporary ethical theory there has been a resurgence of interest in moral character and the virtues. Along with this resurgent interest in questions of character and the virtues, there has been some resurgent interest in the ancient doctrine of the unity of the virtues (W). W is the view that possession of any single virtue is sufficient for having them all. In the recent literature there have been a couple of defenses of UV put forward by philosophers, such as Gary Watson, Jonathan Jacobs, and Jonathan Zeis.' In recent years there have also been a couple of defenses of a view called "the unity of the ideal virtues" (UIV), which says that possession of any single ideal virtue is suffkient for having them all. J. L. Ackrill and, more recently, Elizabeth Telfer have defended this view, while rejecting W.2 It is my view that neither UV nor UIV is true. In this paper I will provide brief outlines of the arguments that have recently been made in defense of W and UIV, and I will show why these argumemts are not sound. I will begin by explaining the sort of argument for UV that Watson, Jacobs, and Zeis present, After giving it a thorough critical examination, I will consider the sort of argument for UIV that is endorsed by Ackrill and Telfer. A consideration of the truth of views like W and the arguments for them are not of mere academic interest. Rather, how we ought to proceed in the task of moral education hangs in the balance. In concluding, I will briefly consider what significance my arguments in this article might have for the practice of moral education. MOTIVATING A DISCUSSION OF THE UNITY OF THE VIRTUES Before presenting the main argument for W, I want to take a couple of moments to provide some motivation for con-John Lemos is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He recently received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Duke Univerrity. He is interested primarily in virtue ethicr and the history of ethics.
2019
What does it mean to be a good person? According to virtue ethics, being a good person is to possess the moral character traits we call virtues, such as justice, honesty and generosity. These character traits are often compared to practical skills, in the sense that they are acquired competencies that require training and result in an ability to make good judgments. This thesis explores the relationship between virtuous dispositions and practical skills in the works of Aristotle, Annas and Stichter. The first three chapters present how each philosopher conceives of this relationship. In the first chapter, I will explore Aristotle's notion of virtue and skill. We will see that while they share some features, they are treated as two different kinds of dispositions. I identify six arguments against virtue being a skill and argue that any contemporary philosopher attempting to model virtue on skill today should pay attention to these arguments. I move on to present how Annas and Stichter conceive of the relationship between virtue and skill, and consider how they respond to the Aristotelian arguments presented in the first chapter. We will see that Annas views the relationship between virtue and skill as analogical, claiming that certain aspects of skill can illuminate certain aspects of virtue. I call this the 'illumination-thesis'. Stichter, on the other hand, argues that virtues are skills. I call this the 'identification-thesis'. Analyzing Annas and Stichter in light of Aristotle allows us to identify the analogous and disanalogous features of virtue and skill in each philosopher. In the fourth and final chapter, I identify three major disagreements between Annas and Stichter and consider which theory we should prefer concerning each disagreement. This leads me to defend the following three claims. I argue that we have good empirical reasons to doubt the articulacy requirement for skill in general, but that at the same time we have good philosophical reasons to require at least some degree of articulacy in virtue. I move on to argue that the relationship between virtues and skills should be conceived as analogical, due to the number of issues I identify with the identification-thesis. And finally, I argue that self-control should not be conceived as a virtue, as Stichter's view entails, since the need to exercise self-control reflects a conflict of desire and reason.
This paper argues that teachers should reflect on the technical, ethical and intellectual dimensions of their experiences. Virtue theory is used to conceptualise this process, drawing on classical and contemporary philosophers to offer new insights into: the relationship between skills and virtues; the intellectual element of practical reflection.
Handbook of Virtue Ethics, 2014
In this chapter I want to offer an outline of a moral educational system that is neither problematically tied to a specific moral content that might be objectionable to some, nor does it embrace moral diversity in such a way that moral education becomes meaningless. In order to do this I will rely on Aristotelian ideas for educating for virtue. I will set out an Aristotelian account of moral character to clarify what it is that we are aiming at when we engage in character education and then I will pick up three themes: the role of the virtuous person in moral education and the significance of the orthos logos; the move from knowing ‘the that’ to understanding ‘the because’; and finally the importance of emotional moral education. The result is an educational system that encourages pupils to search for their own answers and gives them the means to develop, defend and even question these answers.
Topoi
Character education is an increasingly discussed topic drawing upon virtue ethics as a moral theory. Scholars have predominantly understood educating character as a process that entails the formation of certain distinct character traits or functions through practice and habituation. However, these approaches present some problems. This paper explores the educational implications of various accounts focusing on the relationship between phronesis and other virtues. In particular, our focus will be on those that Miller (2023) has classified as Standard Model and Eliminativist Model of practical wisdom. Starting from these accounts, we will outline three specific problems that the latter models appear to generate at a theoretical level in character education. Finally, we will address the task of demonstrating why the monist account of moral virtue recently proposed by the Aretai group—which conceives being virtuous in possessing phronesis understood as ethical expertise—might offer a refined response to these challenges. In addition, we will illustrate three educational pathways that can emerge from the same model.
The Theory and Practice of Virtue Education, 2018
Virtue Ethics and Education from Late Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century
This series focuses on innovative scholarship in the areas of intellectual history and the history of ideas, particularly as they relate to the communication of knowledge within and among diverse scholarly, literary, religious, and social communities across Western Europe. Interdisciplinary in nature, the series especially encourages new methodological outlooks that draw on the disciplines of philosophy, theology, musicology, anthropology, paleography, and codicology. Knowledge Communities addresses the myriad ways in which knowledge was expressed and inculcated, not only focusing upon scholarly texts from the period but also emphasizing the importance of emotions, ritual, performance, images, and gestures as modalities that communicate and acculturate ideas. The series publishes cutting-edge work that explores the nexus between ideas, communities and individuals in medieval and early modern Europe.
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