3. Virtues are thought to be closely
connected with our moral characters.
They are the sorts of dispositions we
have towards our emotions and desires,
such as, self-control in regard to
pleasures and passions, fear, and anger.
They also concern proper social relations,
that is, questions of fairness, honesty,
and respect.
4. Traditionally, there are thought
to be 4 cardinal/ key virtues:
Temperance
self-control of
pleasures.
Courage
self-abnegation and
control of fear.
Fairness or justice
giving others what is
their due.
Prudence or wisdom
good moral decision
making.
5. It can be shown that in some respects,
the three cardinal character virtues
form a certain dependence.
Temperance teaches self-control of
one’s pleasures and desires. Without
such an ability, it would be difficult
to be fair to others. Greed, and desires
for pleasures for oneself can be
a significant inhibitor of fairness.
6. Courage encourages nobility, that is,
denial of self-interest for the sake of
something larger than one’s own
interest or self.
Courage lends itself to fairness,
since fairness requires looking
at what is in the common good,
and not just what is one’s own
good.
8. Since fair-mindedness or justice
is a paramount social virtue, it
is the virtue that holds societies
together and allows them to
flourish. It is clear how important
the virtues of temperance and
courage are for fairness.
9. Virtues can be viewed as a
mean between two extremes.
This is called Aristotle’s golden mean.
A virtue such as temperance is a mean
between two extremes in regard to the
sensation of pleasure.
10. Those who enjoy too much
pleasures, or the wrong sorts
of pleasures, are called
self-indulgent.
Those who don’t enjoy proper
pleasures, or lead too austere
of a life are called insensitive.
11. All the virtues and vices can
be organized as means and
extremes in regard to a certain
pleasure, feeling or emotion.
12. The cardinal virtue of self-control.
The ability to modulate the
desire for pleasure; to forego
immediate pleasures for long-term ones.
TEMPERANCE
13. COURAGE
The cardinal virtue of self-efficacy.
Behavior which involves, risk, harm
or suffering for the sake of
something greater than oneself.
15. Virtuous Act
An action that has a virtuous character;
may be occasional.
Virtuous Disposition or Module
A tendency to act with regard to a certain
virtue in the context of some practice..
Virtuous behavior that is part of one’s
personality.
16. If someone had an honesty trait,
he or she would act honestly in
all her dealings.
If honesty is a disposition, on the
other hand, there might be kinds
of situations in which a person did
not act honestly.
19. The inability to control desire for pleasure
is the vice of self-indulgence.
The inability to enjoy even proper pleasures
is the vice of insensitivity.
Temperance is associated with two vices:
20. Many psychologists claim that there are
two sorts of Pleasures:
Consummatory: pleasure derived from
satisfaction of a desire; satiation.
Appetitive: pleasure derived from the
pursuit of a pleasure; anticipation.
Characteristics of Pleasure:
21. Enjoyment is sometimes distinguished
from pleasure.
The satisfaction of pleasure is often
restorative and replenishing—it
maintains us where we should be.
Enjoyments add to our pleasure, and
often engage us more intensely in the
activities that generate it.
22. In any case, pleasure and enjoyment
is a powerful motivator and
attraction in our lives.
It is hard to imagine living without
some modicum of pleasure.
23. In the history of ethics, we find
a great deal of discussion about
the proper role of pleasure in
our lives.
24. There are several views concerning
the proper relation between pleasure
and the good life.
Hedonism
Sybaritism
Epicureanism
Eudaimonism
Stoicism
Asceticism
25. SYBARITISM
Unbridled pursuit of pleasure. “Eat,
drink, and be merry.” “If it feels good, do it.”
HEDONISM claims that
Pleasure is the goal of life.
EPICUREANISM
The pursuit of only highly qualitative
pleasures. The search is for the kind
of life of high quality and enduring pleasures.
There are two versions of hedonism:
27. ASCETICISMASCETICISM
A radical denial of pleasure, in favorA radical denial of pleasure, in favor
of the spiritual or ethical.of the spiritual or ethical.
STOICISM is that neither pleasure nor
pain ought to be a factor in the
determination of the best life---only
what is good and right.
28. sybaritism is a difficult philosophy to
support.
A life in the indiscriminate pursuit
of pleasure is difficult to maintain,
and to support financially.
The insistent pursuit of pleasure,
as the Hollywood lifestyle, illustrates,
often leads to addiction, disease, and
the destruction of talent and opportunity.
29. Epicureanism
1. pleasure is the end of life.
One should choose only those pleasures
that lead to greater pleasures; and
avoid those that eventually incur pain.
Epicurus (341-270 B.C.E.)
is considered to be the classic
philosopher of hedonism.
30. the ultimate goal of the hedonist, according
to Epicurus, is a peace of
mind.
To attain a peace of mind, the body must aim
for a state of repose
A person should also avoid
heavy responsibilities, ambitions and
serious involvements
The mind must also be put in a state of repose
31. Criticisms of epicureanism:
1. promotes an egocentric ethic; both familial
and civic connections are discouraged.
2. subordinates virtue to pleasure; the only
reason to act virtuously is if it brings pleasure.
33. Eudaimonism argues that pleasure
ought not to be the ultimate goal
of our activities and pursuits, although
a pleasurable life is certainly desirable.
Instead pleasure ought to seen in its
proper place as the result of activities
and practices done excellently and
virtuously.
To do something for the sake of pleasure
is to chance corrupting the good of
the activity.
34. Eudaimonism
1. flourishing is the goal in life.
2. flourishing is the result of the virtuous
exercise of good practices, which results in
a certain sort of pleasure.
3. this pleasure completes the good life, but is
not its goal.
35. Criticism of Eudaimonism
Even though, it does not make pleasure
the paramount in pursuit in life, still
pleasure is a vital component of
Eudaimonism.
The same criticism of hedonism, then,
may be made of Eudaimonism. It would
seem that since the expectation of the
good life is a pleasurable one, if that
does not happen, then the life of virtue
and excellence might be questioned.
37. Stoicism argues that pleasure or pain
ought not to be a factor in living the
good life and doing the right thing.
The motivation for doing the right
thing ought to be that it is the right
thing to do, not because of some
pleasure or peace of mind it might
bring.
38. Consequently, for the Stoics, one
has to grow indifferent to
pleasure and pain, and find a
purer motive for the right thing.
Duty becomes a paradigm of proper
moral behavior for the Stoics. One
does your duty simply because
duty commands you do it, not
because of the consequences it
might bring.
39. However, despite the emphasis on
duty, and the stress on indifference
to pleasure and pain, the Stoics
do seem to argue that there is a
certain enjoyable quality to life
that results from the exercise of
duty, and the indifference to pleasure.
40. Epictetus argues that the life of
duty and virtue leads to a sort
of tranquility, which he calls
Euthymia.
41. Criticisms of Stoicism
1. Indifference to pleasure and pain undermines
that which engages us in life. The passions, joy
and suffering is what ties us to this life.
3. still suggests that pleasure (in the form
of
tranquility (euthymia) is the goal in life.
2. Indifference to pain, may also lead to
the indifference to the suffering of others.
43. Good temper is a species
of temperance.
Temperance is generally the
ability to control or temper
pleasure and enjoyment.
44. The release or expression of
anger is often felt as pleasurable,
even though it may be considered
a negative emotion when it leads
to violence or hatred.
For this reason, good-temper
is the control of something
that is pleasurable for the
person, but may be harmful
to others.
45. The expression of anger is
not always a vice. Sometimes
it is completely appropriate
to be angry.
Anger can express a legitimate
complaint against another
who has done you harm.
It is a way of warning others
that you are aware of the
harm they have done you.
46. GOOD-TEMPER
Self-control in regard to anger.
The inability to control one’s anger is the
vice of bad-temper.
The inability to become angry at the
proper
time is the vice of apathy.
47. Hot-tempered
Gets angry easily and with the wrong
persons and at the wrong things.
Choleric
Quick-tempered and seem to be angry
at everything.
Sulky
Hard to appease and retain their anger long.
Bad-tempered
Combine the worst of the other types;
often vengeful.
The varieties of bad-temper
48. The “work ethic,” sometimes called the
“Protestant work ethic” is thought to
be composed a systematic combination
of certain virtues:
INDUSTRY
CONTENTMENT
FRUGALITY
THE WORK ETHIC
49. INDUSTRY: the ability to
work despite fatigue
or lack of desire; placing
priority of work
over leisure or entertainment.
51. CONTENTMENT: the ability to curb
desire for more goods; being satisfied
with a certain level of material and social
goods.
52. Industry promotes good work habits;
frugality allows one to save money;
while contentment curbs desire for goods.
It is claimed that, when these work in
unison, they can allow a person to
produce and accumulate wealth, and
avoid the pitfalls of rabid consumerism.
