VIRTUES AND GOOD LIFE: An introduction to the philosophy of Aristotle.

VIRTUES AND GOOD LIFE:  An introduction to the philosophy of Aristotle

Aristotle was born in 384bce in Stagira in northern Greece. His father was a physician for King Philip of Macedonia. Around age seventeen, he went to study at Plato’s Academy in Athens. Aristotle travelled for several years and then for two or three years was the tutor to Alexander, Philip’s young son who later became known as Alexander the Great. In 335bce, Aristotle returned to Athens and organized his own school, called the Lyceum. There he taught and wrote almost until his death thirteen years later, in322bce. 

Aristotle is known not only for his moral theory but also for writings in logic, biology, physics, metaphysics, art, and politics. The basic notions of his moral theory can be found in his Nicomachean Ethics, named for his son Nicomachus. 

Aristotle was one of the earliest writers to ground morality in nature, and specifically in human nature. His theory of ethics and morality also stressed the notion of virtue. For Aristotle, virtue was an excellence of some sort. Our word virtue originally came from the Latin vir and referred to strength or manliness. In Aristotle’s Greek, the term for virtue was a word that can be translated as “excellence.” 

According to Aristotle, there are two basic types of virtue (or excellence): intellectual virtues and moral virtues. Intellectual virtues are excellences of mind, such as the ability to understand and reason and judge well. Moral virtues, on the other hand, dispose us to act well. These virtues are learned by repetition. For instance, by practicing courage or honesty, we become more courageous and honest. 

Just as repetition in playing a musical instrument makes playing easier, so also repeated acts of honesty make it easier to be honest. The person who has the virtue of honesty finds it easier to be honest than the person who does not have the virtue. It has become habitual or second nature to him or her. The same thing applies to the opposite of virtue, namely, vice. The person who lies and lies again finds that lying is easier and telling the truth more difficult. One can have bad moral habits (vices) as well as good ones (virtues). Just like other bad habits, bad moral habits are difficult to change or break. And like other good habits, good moral habits take practice to develop. 

Virtue as a Mean 

Aristotle’s philosophy outlines a variety of particular virtues including courage, temperance, justice, pride, and magnanimity. However, Aristotle also provides a unifying framework for understanding virtue in general, as a mean between extremes. This idea is occasionally known as the Golden Mean. By saying that virtue is a mean, we are using the word with reference to how it is used in mathematics, where the mean is in the middle, as the average. 

To better understand the idea that virtue is a mean, take the following example. The virtue of courage can be understood as a mean or middle between the two extremes of deficiency and excess. Too little courage is cowardice, and too much is foolhardiness. When facing danger or challenges, we should have neither too much fear—which makes us unable to act—nor too little fear—which makes us take reckless or foolish risks. The virtue of courage is having just the right amount of fear, depending on what is appropriate for us as individuals and for the circumstances we face. 

Nature, Human Nature, and the Human Good 

Aristotle was a close observer of nature. In fact, in his writings he mentions some 500 different kinds of animals. He noticed that seeds of the same sort always grew to the same mature form. He opened developing eggs of various species and noticed that these organisms manifested a pattern in their development even before birth. Tadpoles, he might have said, always follow the same path and become frogs, not turtles. So also with other living things. Acorns always become oak trees, not elms. He concluded that there was an order in nature. It was as if natural beings such as plants and animals had a principle of order within them that directed them toward their goal—their mature final form. This view can be called a teleological view, from the Greek word for goal, telos, because of its emphasis on a goal embedded in natural things. It was from this conclusion that Aristotle developed his notion of the good. 

According to Aristotle, “the good is that at which all things aim.” Good things are things that fulfil some purpose or end or goal. Thus, the good of the shipbuilder is to build ships. The good of the lyre player is to play well. The traits that allow for good shipbuilding or lyre-playing will be somewhat different. But good shipbuilders and good lyre players will share certain virtues such as intelligence and creativity. Aristotle asks whether there is anything that is the good of the human being—not as shipbuilder or lyre player, but simply as human. 

To answer this question, we must first think about what it is to be human. According to Aristotle, natural beings come in kinds or species. From their species flow their essential characteristics and certain key tendencies or capacities. A squirrel, for example, is a kind of animal that is, first of all, a living being. It develops from a young to a mature form. It is a mammal and therefore has other characteristics of mammals. It is bushy-tailed, can run along telephone wires, and gathers and stores nuts for its food. From the characteristics that define a squirrel, we also can know what a good squirrel is. A good specimen of a squirrel is one that is effective, successful, and functions well. It follows the pattern of development and growth it has by nature. A good squirrel does, in fact, have a bushy tail and good balance, and knows how to find and store its food. It would be a bad example of a squirrel if it had no balance, couldn’t find its food, or had no fur and was sickly. It would have been better for the squirrel if its inherent natural tendencies to grow and develop and live as a healthy squirrel had been realized. 

Aristotle thought of human beings as natural beings with a specific human nature. Human beings have certain specific characteristics and abilities that we share as humans. Unlike squirrels and acorns, human beings can choose to act in the service of their good or act against it. But just what is their good? 

Aristotle recognized that a good eye is a healthy eye that sees well. A good horse is a well-functioning horse, one that is healthy and able to run and do what horses do. What about human beings? Is there something comparable for the human being as human? Is there some good for humans as humans? Just as we can tell what the good squirrel is from its own characteristics and abilities as a squirrel, the same should be true for the human being. 

For human beings to function well, they should perfect their human capacities. If they do this, they will be functioning well as human beings. They will also be happy, for a being is happy to the extent that it is functioning well. Aristotle believed that the ultimate good of humans is happiness, blessedness, or prosperity. 

The Greek word for this sort of happiness is eudaimonia. Eudaimonia is not to be confused with pleasure. Indeed, the virtues are often at odds with pleasure. A coward who is afraid of danger is reluctant to experience pain. And a courageous person may have to forgo pleasure and submit to pain— including the pain of being killed. Aristotle warned that pleasure can distract us from what is good. Thus, Aristotle’s account of eudaimonia aims at a kind of happiness that is deeper and longer lasting than mere pleasure. The term eudaimonia gives us a clue about this. The eu- prefix means “good”; and daimonia is related to the Greek word for “spirit” or “soul.” Thus, Aristotle’s idea is that virtue produces the happiness of having a good soul or spirit, which fulfils essential human functions or purposes. Aristotle is thus interested in the question of what our human functions or purposes might be. 

Human beings have much in common with lower forms of beings. We are living, for example, just as plants are. Thus, we take in material from outside us for nourishment, and we grow from an immature to a mature form. We have senses of sight and hearing and so forth, as do the higher animals. We are social animals as well, who must live in groups together with other human beings. Since human beings have various functions or purposes, there are various types of virtue. The virtues of social life, for example, help us fulfil our function as social beings. The moral or social virtues would include honesty, loyalty, and generosity. But is there anything unique to humans, an essentially human function or purpose? 

Aristotle believed that it is our “rational element” that is peculiar to us. The good for humans, then, should consist in their functioning in a way consistent with and guided by this rational element. Our rational element has two different functions: one is to know, and the other is to guide choice and action. We must develop our ability to know the world and the truth. 

We must also choose wisely. In doing this, we will be functioning well specifically as humans. Thus, in addition to social or moral virtues, there are also intellectual virtues, which help us fulfil our function as intelligent animals. These virtues, according to Aristotle, include practical knowledge, scientific knowledge, and practical wisdom. It is not surprising that Aristotle—who was a philosopher and a student of Plato—thought that the intellectual virtues were more important than the other virtues, since they help us fulfil our uniquely human capacities.