Aristotle's Ethical Theory: Aristotelian Virtue Ethics

“One swallow does not make a summer, neither does one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy.” Whether or not you agree with the writing and the ideas of Aristotle, he was a great thinker, and his work is foundational in the world of philosophy. Aristotle’s ideas in the different disciplines of philosophy all overlap. His view of the four causes and his view of psuche both play an important role in developing his ethical theory. Although Aristotelian virtue ethics has been scrutinized for thousands of years, its adaptive nature has kept it a prevalent ethical theory, even in contemporary philosophy. What stands out from other ethical theories and is the most crucial element of Aristotle’s …show more content…
It is commonly held that the most crucial elements of Aristotelian virtue ethics are the elements of teleology (telos) and virtue (hexis). The element of hexis, or disposition, is not specific to Aristotelian virtue ethics. Disposition overlaps with deontological ethical theories; however, the element of telos is specific to virtue ethics and, therefore, is more necessary for the success of the theory. From this we can infer the teleological element is the most crucial in Aristotelian virtue ethics. Aristotle’s ethics relate to his four causes through the fourth, or final, cause which is the end for which the object is intended. This final cause is the telos. Every “this” or “that” has a final cause, including man. Aristotle presents an ethical theory where, at its center, the subject is focused on obtaining the end or telos of man, a fully functioning soul. The role of the soul (psuche) in Aristotle’s ethics plays into the hexis of man. The psuche, in Aristotle’s view, is the “what-it-is-to-be,” or the form of man. This is not man …show more content…
Our “rational soul” is our psuche in accordance with virtue. When keeping in mind our telos as persons, we build “good habits,” or virtues. Our psuche ought to mirror that of a perfectly virtuous man. After we achieve the most virtuous disposition, we will have the right decision making process for the rest of our lives, assuming we act on our virtuous disposition. An application of Aristotelian virtue ethics in more contemporary issues is its role in the abortion debate. One may think of a conceived fetus as a person because of the fetus’s telos qua fully human, just as a human qua fully human. A fetus may not have a significantly developed psuche; however, in performing an abortion, just as murder interferes with a human developing a virtuous disposition, abortion prevents that of a conceived fetus. Through the lens of an Aristotelian virtue ethicist, abortion is the same as murder. This is because abortion cuts fetuses off from ever reaching their