Aristotle is one of the most influential philosophers of all time and had a remarkable way of understanding
what it means to live well or flourish, and by extension, what it means to have a virtuous
character.
Aristotle believed that people can choose whether to live an optimal, the best, the
most favorable quality of life or sub-optimal life, a less than the highest standard of
quality of life.
However, we can’t just wake up one day and choose to live a good, virtuous life.
Becoming virtuous is a process and it requires us to exercise our capacity of reasoning on
a daily basis.
Aristotle is a Promethean figure in the history of the world, who lived between 384-322 B.C.E.
He was first a student of Plato, then, when Plato retired, he left the Academia which
Plato founded, and he became the tutor of Alexander The Great, and of two other future
kings: Ptolemy and Cassander.
He established a library in the Lyceum and produced over two hundred treatises, of which
only about thirty-one still exist.
His writing and reflections explored a wide range of disciplines; some of these include
accounts within areas of logic, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, ethics, and political
theory, among others.
Some of his surviving work like “treatises”, “Physics”, “Metaphysics”, “Nicomachean
Ethics”, “Politics”, “On the Soul'' and “Poetics” is relevant even today,
influenicing more than two millennia of scientists and theologians alike, both fascinated by
his ideas.
One of Aristotle’s concepts was eudaimonia which is also rendered as ‘happiness,’
‘flourishing’ or ‘living well’, which conceptualizes that happiness is best achieved
through developing virtuous character and by living to our highest degree of human capacity.
Aristotle defined virtues as dispositions to choose good actions and passions, informed
by moral knowledge of several sorts.
For Aristotle, virtues can be intellectual or moral, the intellectual ones are learned
by instruction or education, the moral ones are developed by habits.
Performing virtuous acts can be motivated by having a practical purpose or by the desire
to act in a virtuous way or by both.
In this video, we will explore what one might need to develop virtuous character in accordance
with Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics Theory.
Adopt a Virtuous Mindset Aristotle says “Virtue lies in our power,
and similarly so does vice; because where it is in our power to act, it is also in our
power not to act …”
Aristotle’s focus on character education is based on virtue.
Aristotle distinguishes between two types of virtue: moral virtue and intellectual virtue;
thinking virtuously requires the intellectual virtues, and acting virtuously requires our
moral virtues.
Some intellectual virtues include scientific knowledge known as episteme, artistic or technical
knowledge known as techne, reason known as nous, practical wisdom known as phronesis,
and philosophical wisdom known as sophia.
On the other hand moral virtues are not innate, but acquired by developing the habit of practice
and exercising these virtues.
For example, one only becomes truthful by acting truthfully.
Moral virtues may also be combined with intellectual virtues.
Some examples of the moral virtues are: courage, temperance, modesty, friendliness, truthfulness.
All these moral virtues are a ‘mean’ or ‘intermediate’ between two extremes; one
of excess and one of deficiency.
On the deficiency side, the moral vices include cowardice, insensibility, shamelessness, cantankerousness,
and understatement.
On the excessive side, we have: rashness, licentiousness, shyness, obsequiousness or
flattery, and boastfulness.
Aristotle talks of ‘striking the mean between extremes’ when illustrating his virtue ethics
theory.
For example, if we find ourselves in a situation where we are threatened by a colleague at
work, we can evaluate whether we will respond to this threat with cowardice, courage, or
rashness.
Cowardice and rashness are both classified as ‘extremes’ in this case, however courage
allows us to act out of virtue in a fitting, appropriate way.
In cowardice or rashness, we are not acting virtuously.
By having courage, we can stand up for ourselves, express our concerns about this threat, whilst
still maintaining the right spirit in terms of virtue.
For Aristotle, true courage is a disposition where fears and confidences are balanced and
mastered “for the sake of the noble”.
This essentially means that we can miss the mark by being too confident, or not confident
enough; fearing too much, or not enough, or fearing the wrong things, or fearing them
in inappropriate ways.
Therefore, we must act for the sake of nobility and appropriateness.
True courage expressed by a virtuous character thereby involves fearing the right things,
in the right ways, on the right occasions.
Forming a virtuous character would thereby involve summing up these sets of interdependent
virtues throughout our lifetime in which we would have hit the mean between extremes in
our experiences, thoughts, beliefs and responses, which allows us to live in harmony with our
reason and rationality, therefore in pursuit of eudaimonia.
Acts of virtue bring honor to an individual, while acts of vice bring dishonor.
In consideration of the current stresses we experience in our day to day lives, we might
find ourselves struggling to act in line with our virtues.
Often, we respond to our friends, loved ones and acquaintances in anger instead of courage
when we feel threatened; rashness instead of bravery when we are challenged; or unpleasantness
instead of friendliness when we are approached.
We may act this way because we had a rough morning, we didn’t sleep enough, or perhaps
we have pent up aggression.
Regardless of the cause, the more we act this way, the further we get from developing a
virtuous character.
If we were to adopt a mindset that allows us to evaluate the extremes and strike the
mean in every altercation, situation or occurrence, then we would be acting virtuously.
By acting virtuously and exercising this virtue over time and practice, we can familiarize
ourselves with the processes of selecting appropriate responses.
Thus the practice and familiarization therefore leads us to develop and refine a character
that acts, responds, thinks and believes in line with the virtues.
Or in other words, a virtuous character.
Because, as we mentioned earlier, one cannot be truthful without acting truthfully.
2.
Practice Practical Wisdom
According to Aristotle “Virtue makes us aim at the right end, and practical wisdom
makes us take the right means.”
According to Aristotle, one acquires good character the way one learns to play a musical
instrument; initially, you may be under some pressure to practice, but eventually you come
to enjoy playing with both skill and understanding.
Aristotle claims that full development of character apart from developing a virtuous
mindset, requires practical wisdom and rational reflection.
Eudaimonia, i.e. living well or flourishing, is thereby reached by living virtuously and
building up your character traits until you don’t have to think about your choices before
making the right one that strikes the mean between extremes.
Hence, to develop virtuous character, we must understand and appreciate the value of practical
wisdom, then proceed to practice it to build up our character traits.
Practical wisdom, i.e. phronesis, provides us with the ability to make judgements that
facilitate us in discovering the mean between two extremes, which thereby guides our moral
virtues.
Aristotle defines phronesis as the ‘eye of the soul’.
Having phronesis allows us to critically evaluate our situations, and therefore finely deliberate
about the weight of competing values, actions and emotions.
With this, we can formulate and reach informed decisions about the best course of action
that stem from virtue and virtuous character, and become the Phronimos.
The Phronimos is the person whose life is characterized by applications of phronesis
and who, as a result, tends to flourish throughout his life.
Such a person is said to be eudaimon, or “happy.”
Gaining phronesis requires experience.
Phronesis is concerned with particulars, because it is concerned with how to act in particular
situations, and which situations to act upon.
One must learn the principles and virtues, but for one to apply these in their lives,
one must have experience of the world.
If you know you should be honest, for example, you might act in certain situations in ways
that cause pain and offense; knowing how to apply honesty in balance with other considerations
and in specific contexts requires social interaction and real life experience of the world.
If you had some bad news to share with a friend, would you share it before or after a major
university exam?
Knowing how to apply honesty in balance, at the right time, and in an appropriate way
reflects a virtuous character.
According to Aristotle, “having one’s heart in the right place is not good enough:
being a good person requires a kind of practical intelligence as well as a good disposition.”
Additionally, he contends that “practical wisdom is a true characteristic that is bound
up with action, accompanied by reason, and concerned with things good and bad for a human
being.”
Having phronesis is therefore both necessary and sufficient for being virtuous.
Upon understanding the essence of phronesis and its connection with virtuous character
and, in the end, eudaimonia, we can proceed to explore how we may develop phronesis in
our daily lives.
We can do so directly, or indirectly.
Developing phronesis directly is done through daily mindfulness practice which involves
learning how to pay attention to what is going on within and around us as we go about our
daily life.
This can be done through mindful walking, driving, eating and self-kindness; practicing
each activity with mindful awareness.
Mindfulness can be practiced as simply as by eating slowly, eliminating distractions,
exercising awareness of the nutrients you are feeding your body, and focussing how the
food makes you feel.
The indirect development of phronesis is done as a form of reflection at the end of your
day or beginning of another.
One example includes spending 5 minutes in silence each morning preparing yourself for
the day ahead by visualizing the goals you would like to achieve, and then 5 minutes
each evening reflecting on what you may have learned during the day, or practicing gratitude
for things you might have noticed that made you feel good.
By sifting through and evaluating what is going on in our minds, which often involves
a collection of thoughts and feelings associated with past experiences, we are able to uncover
useful insights that allows us to develop the quality of our practical wisdom.
This includes more formal practices and reflection, such as quiet mindfulness meditation, which
allows us to gain practical insights that represent phronesis.
Doing so in our daily practices allows our virtuous character traits to flourish, and
as a result we learn to ‘live well’ or - as some may say - ‘eudaimoniously.’
3.
Contemplate and Reflect
In our third and final quote for this video, Aristotle says “Happiness, then, is co-extensive
with contemplation, and the more people contemplate, the happier they are; not incidentally, but
in virtue of their contemplation, because it is in itself precious.
Thus happiness is a form of contemplation.”
Aristotle asserts that a life of pleasant, vigorous philosophical contemplation is one
of a superior kind of eudaimonia, and therefore is the best kind of life to have.
He praises the other virtues of course, but maintains that these virtues require practice
when opportunities arise, but you don’t need the right opportunity to practice reflection
and philosophical contemplation.
Instead, all you need is a quiet space to breathe and think.
Reflection is, simply, serious thought or consideration.
In a more philosophical context, reflection is a component of reason that influences our
experiential learning and primarily involves critical awareness, contemplation, and careful
consideration of the ‘self.’
An example involves how you might reflect on a situation where you acted out of anger
instead of grace with a loved one.
Reflecting upon such a time allows you to realize the cause of your actions, realize
the effects and consequences caused by your anger, and contemplate the right course of
action.
More simply, it allows us to see what we would do differently if we had another chance, and
learn from it.
Philosophical contemplation allows us to construct knowledge and constantly evaluate whether
we are living well.
Aristotle went on to present an additional argument for why a life of philosophical contemplation
must be the most perfect state of eudaimonia.
He says that we can all agree that the Gods are above mortals, and experience a different
sort of life than we do.
Now, when we consider human beings, we understand the importance of virtues like justice because
we follow a system of law, courage because we need to stand up for ourselves in situations,
liberality because we fight for our freedom and our rights, and temperance because moderation
and restraint allows us to follow our goals.
Aristotle then asks “Would the Gods be interested in such virtues, or even have reason to apply
them?
He answers “No, these are trivial and ridiculous” among the Gods as they are not striving for
anything, or looking to set anything right.
The only activity that is worthy for the Gods is contemplation, and this is essentially
the virtue that is most valued as a pivotal aspect of human flourishing; a virtue of the
Gods”.
Thus, eudaimonia is connected with the activity of contemplating reality through reason.
It can be said as well that by repeating this activity of contemplation, we make use of
our practical wisdom which further increases our capacity for rational reflection and philosophical
contemplation, and, by extension, also enhances eudaimonia.
Upon illustrating Aristotle’s argument regarding the importance of philosophical contemplation,
as well as explaining the value of reflection in developing virtuous character, we can now
explore how we may apply these profound teachings in our daily lives.
As philosophers, we already live our daily lives beyond the practical realm; we live
our daily lives in the realm of ideas.
This realm of ideas, refers to an active stream of consciousness that consists of an inner
reflective monologue constantly analyzing issues, concepts, speculations and ideas.
Philosophical contemplation doesn’t require an opportunity; it can be done constantly
and continuously, like a voice inside our heads.
But this voice is often muffled by thoughts, moods, and distractions.
To best exercise our capacity for contemplation to develop virtuous character, set aside some
time each week for quiet, mindful meditation.
Meditation provides a sense of awareness of your thoughts, and serves as a platform to
evaluate the good in human life.
Find a quiet spot.
Take a deep breath.
Close your eyes.
Reflect.
We can embody a life of contemplation in several other ways.
Since true virtue cannot be attained without a certain degree of contemplation, exercise
awareness throughout your daily lives.
Take a moment to evaluate why you made a particular choice, notice how you feel after a certain
interaction, and consider the consequences of your actions.
If for example, you had a fight with somebody close to you, take a deep breath and think
if you applied any of the moral virtues we discussed earlier, in excess or in deficiency.
Perhaps you find that you hid something essential from that person, you had used truthfulness
in deficiency and this caused that person to be angry with you.
Or, by contrast, maybe you find that you shared too much with that person, you said some truth
that hurt them.
In this case, perhaps you should have given less painful details or framed the issue in
a kinder way.
For most of our life problems, the causes are the excessive or deficient application
of moral virtues.
If we take the necessary time to contemplate and reflect on our lives, we can learn to
not repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
Exercising awareness in your day-to-day situations feeds valuable insight into your reflections
and contemplation.
Contemplation can help reveal the ways in which you - or any human - can flourish with
respect to Aristotelian virtues.
Therefore, for one to be truly eudaimonic, one must exercise virtue by exercising contemplation.
Aristotle conveys an important connection between virtuous character and living well
or flourishing throughout his works, which also prove to be very relevant in our modern
day setting.
First, we investigated Aristotle’s notion of virtuous character, and how one must approach
character education with a virtuous mindset.
Adopting a virtuous mindset thereby allows us to actualise virtues in our daily lives
.
Secondly, we discussed the value of practical wisdom, or phronesis, and how that applies
to the achievement of a virtuous character.
With phronesis, we can facilitate making the right judgements that strike the mean between
extremes and guide us in practicing our virtues in a practical, habitual sense.
Aristotle places great value on the connection between embodying a virtuous mindset and practicing
phronesis when striving for eudaimonia.
Only with practical wisdom can humans gain the practical intelligence to act virtuously
at the right time, in the right way.
Finally, we addressed the importance of philosophical contemplation and reflection.
Aristotle recognises contemplation as the most perfect form of eudaimonia; a virtue
of the Gods.
By living an examined life, we are therefore able to construct knowledge and consistently
evaluate our thoughts, beliefs, actions and judgements in order to exercise virtue and
develop virtuous character.
To become a virtuous person and to develop virtuous character, combining the three notions
illustrated in this video are essential.
We must repeat and practice elements of virtue to form the habit of embedding our virtues
into our daily actions; once we form habitual practices through adopting a virtuous mindset,
consciously exercise practical wisdom in our judgements, and ensure we take time to reflect
on our activities, we can develop virtuous character.
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Thanks so much for watching.