PHIL 3000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Nicomachean Ethics, Intellectual Virtue, Distributive Justice
3 May 2018
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Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Part III
Virtue, Responsibility, and Volition
• Virtuous & vicious acts are chosen, & chosen actions are voluntary; thus, virtuous & vicious
acts are voluntary
• One is morally for voluntary actions; thus, one is morally responsible for virtuous & vicious
actions
o “Therefore virtue also is in our own power, and so too vice” (Aristotle, Nicomachean
Ethics)
o One is responsible not just for acting virtuously/viciously, but also for being
virtuous/vicious
• However, one can be responsible & unable to do otherwise than one does
o One who has cultivated a certain virtue/vice over a long period of time might be
unable to act “out of character”
▪ Ex: a nurturing person might be unable to harm his/her own child & a jealous
person might be unable to pay a compliment
o That one is unable to do otherwise doesn’t make one’s actions any less voluntary, for
one is responsible for actions that helped cultivate one’s virtues/vices; & so, by
extension, one is responsible for having & demonstrating those virtues & vices
• We have control over both our actions & our virtues/vices, though the way we exercise
control over the former is different from the way we exercise control over the latter
• Synchronic volition—volition at an instant
• Diachronic volition—volition over time
Justice: The Greatest Moral Virtue
• Universal justice: lawfulness
o A lawful act is that which a just legislator would prescribe
o A just legislator prescribes laws that conduce to virtue, which ultimately conduces to
eudaimonia for both the individual & society
o “This form of justice, then, is complete virtue…in relation to our neighbor. And
therefore, justice is often thought to be the greatest of virtues…Justice in this sense,
then is not part of virtue but virtue entire” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics)
• Particular justice: fairness
o Distributive justice: fairness w/ respect to the distribution & possession of goods
o Rectificatory justice: fairness w/ respect to the rectification of unjust transactions
Intellectual Virtue
• Intellectual virtue: virtue of the mind
• 2 parts of the intellect
o Contemplative part: part “by which we contemplate the kind of things whose
originative causes are invariable” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics)
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▪ Ex: when one considers arguments for the existence of God, the contemplative
part of one’s intellect is active
▪ Good of the contemplative part is truth
▪ Associated intellectual virtues are scientific knowledge, intuitive reason &
philosophic wisdom
o Calculative part: part “by which we contemplate variable things” (Aristotle,
Nicomachean Ethics)
▪ Ex: when one considers the best way to stop Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl, the
calculative part of one’s intellect is active
▪ Good of the calculative part is “truth in agreement with right desire”
(Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics)
▪ Associated intellectual virtues are practical wisdom & political wisdom
• Contemplation is truth-directed; calculation is action-directed
The Chief Intellectual Virtues
• Scientific knowledge: “a state of capacity to demonstrate [necessary truths]” (Aristotle,
Nicomachean Ethics)
o Scientific knowledge proceeds from 1st principles (necessarily true principles that
aren’t proven by the science in question
• Practical wisdom: “a reasoned and true state of capacity to act with regard to human goods”
(Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics)
o Practical wisdom consists of 1) knowledge of good ends & 2) knowledge of how to
achieve good ends (knowledge of the most effective means to good ends)
o Practical wisdom aims at the good of oneself & the good of humanity in general
o Practical wisdom involves excellence in deliberation
• Intuitive reason: a state of capacity to intuit 1st principles
• Philosophic wisdom: intuitive reason & scientific knowledge
o Number 1 virtue
o Achieve eudaimonia when achieve philosophical wisdom
• Political wisdom: practical wisdom directed @ the good of the state
More on Practical Wisdom
• Practical wisdom is virtuous even if it doesn’t ultimately produce action, since practical
wisdom is the perfection of the calculative part of the intellect
• Practical wisdom perfects moral virtue
o “…the work of man is achieved only in accordance with practical wisdom as well as
with moral virtue; for virtue makes us aim at the right mark, and practical wisdom
makes us take the right means” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics)
o Ex: while one may have the virtue of generosity, one’s virtue is imperfect if one
doesn’t know the best way to exercise one’s virtue
• Practical wisdom is distinct from cleverness
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