Understanding Virtues and Ethical Philosophy
Intellectual Virtues: Theoretical Foundations of Knowledge
Intellectual virtues are theoretical and cannot be learned solely by nature. They can be acquired through explanation and are deeply related to knowledge.
Prudence
Science
Science provides an account of knowledge, specifically the knowledge of universal and permanent things (an opinion is not science because it is changing). If one studies something and gains knowledge, it is related to the good.
Wisdom (Sabiduría)
True knowledge combined with experience. It involves knowing that all knowledge is truth and having clear ideas (e.g., the abolition of slavery in the UK despite general opinion). Experts possess all possible knowledge related to their field.
Understanding
The ability to comprehend a problem and all its surrounding elements and meanings. This requires training and habits of reason and intelligence, as one is usually capable of knowing and studying.
Art
The ability to draw strategies and achieve a purpose. It involves seeing different practical ways to accomplish something, which is only possible with clear ideas of what one is seeking. It is about doing something practical well due to clear ideas.
Cardinal Virtues: Practical Moral Principles
Cardinal virtues are principal moral virtues that represent the foundation of natural morality, directly related to actions.
Prudence
Practical knowledge that allows one to judge correctly what is the best action for a determined problem in a singular circumstance. It consists of considering the consequences of our actions and being able to judge between actions with regard to appropriate actions at a given time. Prudence guides the other virtues by setting rules and measures, and it guides the judgment of conscience.
Justice
A social virtue that concerns right relations with others in society, ensuring everybody gets what they deserve. It involves proper moderation between self-interest and the rights and needs of others.
Positive Law
Human-made laws that obligate or specify our actions, made by the government (e.g., codes, regulations, taxes).
Natural Law
Based on universally accepted moral principles that are part of the very nature of things, which can be understood by reason (e.g., freedom of expression, the right to live).
Fortitude / Courage
Based on justice, it is the willingness to risk one’s life for the sake of what is just. This moral virtue ensures firmness in difficulties and consistency in the pursuit of the good. It helps overcome obstacles in moral life.
Temperance
Restraint from pleasures that are contrary to our reason. It involves training and preparing oneself even when not faced with an immediate temptation. Temperance helps control anger, govern sexual desires, and manage the desire for knowledge. It is practiced through self-control, abstention, and moderation.
Philosophers on Ethics and Morality
Socrates
Emphasized the importance of the soul, believing that something non-material remains forever. He argued that if one acts against justice, their soul becomes corrupted, which is worse than physical pain.
Plato
Teaching Justice
We must learn ethics not out of fear of punishment, but because something is inherently good and just. Moral education involves telling and applying punishment to achieve good behavior, leading to being a better person.
Control Reason
The ability to discern what is good, control negative passions, and strengthen positive desires (the capacity to improve and be more spiritual).
Moral Improvement
Plato’s concept of the “soul with wings” explains human improvement. When we perform good actions, our soul receives wings, and these wings grow in proportion to our improved behavior.
Niccolò Machiavelli
Machiavelli famously argued that “the end justifies the means.” When the final good is important, any means to achieve it is considered valid.
Friendship
Viewed as a mechanism of influence; associating with powerful people to maintain one’s position.
Virtue (Appearance)
A prince should project the appearance of virtue, even if not truly virtuous, to avoid a revolution from citizens.
Immanuel Kant
Kant was convinced that philosophy, particularly ethics, must be a positive science, akin to physics.
Categorical Imperative
Actions are well-done if they can be taken as a model for everyone else. Humans must always be treated as an end in themselves, never merely as a means. One must always act following their sense of duty, not their feelings, preferences, or desires. For Kant, the only moral value is law, and duty is the only way of obeying the law.
David Hume
Causality
Hume explored the concept of causality, where one action is the cause of another.
Moral Sentiment
He proposed that if you feel good doing something, then you are doing it correctly, and if you feel bad doing an action, you are doing it wrong.