PHIL 1200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 64: Habituation
15 May 2017
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Document Summary
Moral virtue, for aristotle, comes about through habituation/moral education (not through nature). People are educated/trained to be brave or just, and need to practice repeatedly these virtues to perfect them (this does not happen in the case of natural abilities, such a seeing or hearing). Legislation also aims at such a habituation of the citizens. The virtues that arise from such practice must in a way be beneficial. In the case of bodily goods, such as health, one must avoid both deficiency and excessiveness (of exercise, for example). The same seems to be the case for the virtues (for example, bravery is the state of neither being afraid of everything nor being too rash and reckless). Moral virtue, therefore, is preserved by the mean. Moreover, virtue is concerned with pleasures and pains. The virtuous person finds pleasure in the right sort of things (moderation, helping others, being just, etc. This is something that needs to be learnt.
