Deck 6: Virtue Ethics

Question 1

For Aristotle, virtues are

A) moral states.
B) emotions.
C) faculties.
D) physical conditions.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

According to Aristotle, a person living a virtuous life is living a life of

A) reason.
B) pleasure.
C) privilege.
D) pain.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Virtue ethics emphasizes

A) living according to moral rules.
B) living a life without moral values.
C) being a good person.
D) deontological laws.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

For MacIntyre, virtues are relative to

A) moral principles.
B) imperatives.
C) traditions.
D) universal morality.

Question 5

Frankena insists that traits without principles are

A) self-sufficient.
B) strong.
C) weak.
D) blind.

Question 6

Frankena argues that an action is to be judged right or wrong by reference to a

A) set of character traits.
B) principle or set of principles.
C) motivation or intention.
D) only the best virtues.

Question 7

According to Aristotle, nature gives us the capacity to receive virtues, and that capacity is perfected by

A) philosophy.
B) study.
C) habit.
D) obedience.

Question 8

Aristotle declares that people become just by

A) meditating on justice.
B) understanding justice.
C) observing those who are just.
D) doing what is just.

Question 9

Aristotle tells us that virtues are

A) faculties.
B) emotions.
C) moral states.
D) internal rules.

Question 10

Aristotle says that virtue aims at the

A) extreme.
B) mean.
C) center.
D) other.

Question 11

According to Epictetus, it is not things that upset people, but rather

A) the gods.
B) power behind the things.
C) the reality behind the things.
D) ideas about things.

Question 12

According to Epictetus, if you want what is not up to you to be up to you and what is not yours to be yours, then you are

A) on the path to serenity.
B) a fool.
C) an optimist.
D) master of your will.

Question 13

According to Epictetus, you are an actor in a drama, and your job is to

A) resent the playwright.
B) desire an alternate role.
C) play your assigned role well.
D) pray for a better role.

Question 14

According to Epictetus, nothing in the world is

A) intrinsically evil.
B) outside your control.
C) to be desired.
D) real.

Question 15

MacIntyre says that virtues arise from

A) the Bible.
B) coherent social practice.
C) the categorical imperative.
D) natural law.

Question 16

The Greek word arete means

A) excellence.
B) ordinary.
C) utilitarian.
D) evil.

Question 17

Action-based ethics emphasizes doing, while virtue-based ethics emphasizes

A) being.
B) achieving.
C) responsibility.
D) duty.

Question 18

Aristotle thinks that it is easy to be good because it is easy to find the mean in anything.

Question 19

According to virtue ethics, the central task in morality is knowing and applying principles.

Question 20

MacIntyre argues that virtues arise from and are defined by a coherent social practice.

Question 21

In "The Great Stone Face," Hawthorne suggests that to develop into good people, we must have good role models.

Question 22

Frankena argues that all the virtues can be derived from principles.

Question 23

Virtue ethics focuses on the heart and personality of the agent.

Question 24

Aristotle makes a distinction between moral and intellectual goods.

Question 25

According to Aristotle, only divine activities aim at the good.

Question 26

Aristotle says that a good person chooses to do what is noble and right for its own sake.

Question 27

The Stoics believed that things upset people, not ideas about things.

Question 28

Epictetus declares that some things are up to us, and some are not up to us.

Question 29

Stockdale learned that if you don't lose integrity you can't be had and you can't be hurt.

Question 30

Stockdale was an admirer of Marx and Lenin.

Question 31

Epictetus insists that nothing in the world is intrinsically evil.

Question 32

Action-based ethics emphasizes doing, while virtue-based ethics emphasizes being.

Question 33

What is Alasdair MacIntyre's concept of virtues? Do you agree with his view? Why or why not?

Question 34

Some have charged MacIntyre's ethical theory with being a form of traditionrelativism, the notion that morality is relative to particular traditions. Is this criticism accurate? Could the typical criticisms of cultural relativism also apply to tradition relativism? Explain.

Question 35

Is Aristotle's concept of happiness clear? Is it a subjective or objective notion? That is, is it subjective, in the mind of the beholder, so one is just as happy as one feels oneself to be; or is it objective, defined by a state of being, and having certain characteristics regardless of how one feels? According to Aristotle, could a criminal be happy?

Question 36

Is Aristotle's ethics sufficiently action guiding? Does it help us make decisions? If I ask what should I do in situation X, Aristotle would seem to say, "Do what the virtuous person would do." But if I ask how I am to recognize the virtuous person, he would seem to say, "He is one who acts justly." Is there something circular about this reasoning? Does virtue ethics need supplementation from other ethical systems, or can it solve this problem?

Question 37

What are the advantages and what are the weaknesses of virtue ethics?

Question 38

Some critics contend that virtue ethics is relativistic-since what is considered virtuous differs from culture to culture. Do you agree? How would a virtue ethicist respond to this charge?

Question 39

What is a supererogatory action?

Question 40

Do you think that a moral theory that denies the significance of supererogatory actions is seriously flawed? Explain.

Question 41

What is the significance of the Great Stone Face? Many people think that we must have good role models in order to develop into good people, but this story suggests that we need not have great people, but simply great ideas and ideals. Is this plausible?

Question 42

Explain how the Great Stone Face affects the values and virtues of the people of the valley, especially Ernest. What virtues does Ernest manifest?

Question 43

What are William Frankena's main criticisms of virtue ethics? Are you convinced by them?

Question 44

What does he propose in place of contrasting the ethics of doing with the ethics of being? How cogent are his arguments?

Question 45

What does Frankena think the two cardinal virtues are?

Question 46

Do you agree with Frankena that a moral person must want to do the right thing just because it is right? What if I think that I must have a self-interested reason for being moral? We will look at this issue more fully in chapter 8, but start thinking about it.

Question 47

What is the main point of Tolstoy's parable about greed?

Question 48

Do you agree with Tolstoy's perspective on greed?

Question 49

Why does Susan Wolf believe that moral perfection in the form of moral saintliness is not something that people should aspire to?

Question 50

What does Wolf mean by her remark that "there seems to be a limit to how much morality we can stand"?

Question 51

Consider Jesus' pronouncements on moral virtue. Taken together, do they amount to an easily achievable ideal, or are they much more demanding than that?

Question 52

Do any of Jesus' injunctions conflict with contemporary moral theories-utilitarianism, for example? If so, how?