Ethics Discussion Project Virtues
and Vices
Each group will be assigned
a hypothetical case. Try to agree on
answers to the following questions:
1. What
virtues and vices might be relevant to the decision being contemplated in your
case? For each virtue that you
identify, try to identify two corresponding vices, one a 'deficiency' and the
other an 'excess'.
2. Try to
explain how these virtues and vices would apply to the specific situation
described in your case. That is, for
each virtue, say what sort of response would be 'too much', what would be 'not
enough' and what would be 'just right'.
For example, if your case presented a situation which called for
courage, your job would be to say what sort of response would be cowardly, what
sort of response would be foolhardy, and what sort of response would be a
courageous one, in this particular situation.
(Does it seem to be possible to consider the virtues one at a time? Or does identifying the courageous response
require you to consider what would be compassionate, or honest, or fair or
whatever, at the same time?)
3. Do these
virtues all tend to call for the same decision? Or are they in conflict with one another? If they are in conflict, how would you be
inclined to resolve the conflict? Does
one decision seem to be the more 'virtuous' one, overall?
4. We have
talked about the way that Aristotle insists that ethics is about ‘particulars’
and cannot be understood in terms of general rules. Does it seem plausible to you that there is a general principle
which applies to your case and to all relevantly similar cases? Or can you imagine factors that would so
alter the moral balance of your case that, if they were present, but everything
was still as it is described on the handout, a different decision would be
called for? (Try to give at least one
compelling example of such a factor.)