Ethical Perspective
Prof. Kumar Neeraj Sachdev
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
General Philosophical Perspectives
• From Substance to Human Existence (Thales
to Sartre)
Particular Philosophical Perspectives
• Ethical Perspective - Values
• Logical Perspective - Reasoning
• Epistemological Perspective -
Knowledge
• Metaphysical Perspective - Reality
Ethical Perspective
• A rational ethical inquiry begins in response to
questions such as the following:
– How should I live (a good human life)?
• I should cultivate virtues for living a Good Human Life.
(Aristotle’s ethics)
– What should I do (in a particular moral situation)?
• I should comply with the Fundamental Moral Principle of
Conduct. (Utilitarian or Kantian, for example)
Ethical Perspectives of Thinkers
• Aristotle – Virtue
• John Stuart Mill – Happiness
• Immanuel Kant – Duty
Quotes
• Happiness is an activity of the rational part of the
soul in accordance with virtue.
• Virtue or excellence comes about as a result of habit.
We become just by doing just acts, temperate by
doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.
• Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be
angry with the right person and to the right degree
and at the right time and for the right purpose, and
in the right way - that is not within everybody's
power and is not easy. - Aristotle
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Aristotle – Virtue Ethics
• Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC)
• Teleological Approach - Telos – Purpose or
Goal - Goal is good human life
• Good life is a life of Eudaimonia or Happiness
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The Questions
• How should I live a good human life?
–What does it mean to be good?
–What the function of a human being is
supposed to be?
–How are human beings supposed to
use their rationality?
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The Basic Idea
• Goodness is assessed in function—for example, a
good knife, a good car, or a good carpenter.
• A human being is good if he performs his function
well as a human being, and that depends upon his
distinguishing feature as a human being, that is
rationality – the ability to use reason and to make
crucial decisions through the use of reason instead of
instincts, emotions and the like.
• This feature enables humans to pursue the highest
form of life, “the good life” – a life of eudaimonia or
happiness.
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Human Function
• A good human being performs his function
well: to strive for the good life by exercising
his rationality in accordance with virtue -
which is identical to living happily.
Virtues
• Aristotle says that we are to act according to
virtues. By doing so, we will work virtuously
and become virtuous ourselves; that is to say,
we will be fulfilling our function as humans
and thus acquire good character.
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Virtues (contd.)
• Virtues are good qualities, excellences of character,
dispositions, or habits. Examples may include
generosity, wisdom, justice, courage, honesty, etc.
• A generous human being, for example, is someone
who acts generously and who has gotten to the point
where being generous is a habit.
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Doctrine of Mean
• The Doctrine of Mean (Moderation) – virtues are good
qualities or excellences of character about feelings or
actions of a human being; a human being who can
cultivate these qualities to habitually feel or act
between the two extremes of deficiency and excess.
• The virtue of courage, for example, lies in a mean
between the extremes of cowardice (deficiency) and
foolhardiness (excess).
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Doctrine of Mean (contd.)
• Aristotle’s instruction to strive for the mean is the
instruction to avoid the extremes since acting in
extreme ways will not help one to live a good human
life.
• It takes practice, but with dedication, one can acquire
the habit of acting in the mean and avoiding the
extremes, and can thus live a good human life.
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Criticisms
• A human being faced with a conflict in
virtues may find it challenging to resolve.
• Virtue Ethics is about the character of a
human being and not his action(s).
• Virtue Ethics is not good at the
evaluation of rules or policies.
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Concluding Remarks
• Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics is a
justification for a good life to live a
virtuous life. And a virtuous life is
claimed to be co-extensive with living
a happy life.
• However, critics claim that it doesn’t
help much in evaluating actions, rules
or policies.
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Thank You.
