PHIL 120W Lecture Notes - Virtue Ethics, Kantianism
1 Oct 2012
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Aristotle: a person who is virtuous is disposed, consistent (honest all the time), and because you do these over and over again, you actually end up enjoying it. A virtue is something earned, not a given like beauty. Focus of virtue ethics is: what kind of person do we want to be, what character do we want to develop: character-centered ethics. Focus of utilitarianism and kantianism: actions: act-centred ethics. Virtue ethics = looking at nature of peoples moral characters, if they have a flawed character. Some say all the virtues depend on each other. To evaluate morality via virtue ethics: look at character, then at the actions that flow from that character. Plato the gorgias chasing insatiable desires; if you do one bad thing, you"ll probably do it again and again and again; vice/excess/greed vs. virtue. Plato thought we had a soul made of three parts. Spirited/desires should be kept at bay and should not flood our reason.
