for today, 10 Jan 2011

• Theory: Aristotle’s ethics of character

What is arete? mesotes? phronesis? the
virtuous cycle?
• Application discussion points:
• “Why jerks are bad decision-
makers” (Harvard Business Online)

recall: ethics and principles

Ethics offers ways of being and behaving (character

and decision-making principles) that promote flourishing.

but what kind of being? of behaving?

Aristotle offers an ethics of character.

what does virtue mean?

answer: excellence of character
‣ personality versus character
‣ for Aristotle, “virtue” means excellence-in-
action, arete
‣ arete does not refer to an intrinsic capacity or
a hidden competence
‣ Instead: it is in the performance of the
action that the excellence of character
becomes real
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 what is the aim/object of virtue (arete)?

Answer: the mean (mesotes)

• meaning 1: the mesotes is what is between two

extremes, excess and deficiency

excess mean deficiency

Remember: there is self-control
impulsiveness no precise, quantitative test to
indecisiveness
determine virtuous action, no universal test—
recklessness courage but prudential
requires not mathematical cowardice
judgment
workaholic conscientious lazy

Hence it is hard work to be virtuous, since in

each case it is hard work to find what is the
mean [mesotes], e.g., not everyone, but only one
who knows, finds the midpoint in a circle. So
also getting angry, or giving and spending
money, is easy and anyone can do it; but doing
it to the right person, in the right amount, at the
right time, for the right end, and in the right way
is no longer easy, nor can everyone do it. Hence,
[doing these things] well is rare, praiseworthy,
and fine (Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics,
1109a24).
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what is the aim/object of virtue?

Answer: the mean (mesotes)

• meaning 2: the mesotes is the best decision

or action that considers the particular
situation based on excellent judgment
‣ the mesotes is a moving target
‣ it considers the particulars, the opportunities
and constraints in the situation
‣ when consistently attained, the result is
flourishing
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 who finds the mesotes?

• incontinent: has excessive, base appetites and

lacks control or mastery over oneself; actually,
the appetites are in control
• continent: controls oneself, despite excessive,
base appetites
• virtuous person: does not even have to
control oneself because one’s resolution has
been so habituated to always rightly act

who finds the mesotes?

• Answer: the virtuous person (phronimos)

• virtue = excellent character, arete
• virtue is not just a disposition to do the right
thing, virtue is a settled state of character
(hexis)
• this character is achieved through habituation
• note: excessive, base appetites, when they play a
role in decision-making, cause bad decisions
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the mesotes cannot be prescribed

exactly, only in outline

[...] every account of the actions we must do has to be

stated in outline, not exactly [...] the type of accounts we
demand should reflect the subject-matter; and questions
about actions and expediency, like questions about
health, have no fixed [and invariable answers]. And when
our general account is so inexact, the account of
particular cases is all the more inexact. For these fall
under no craft or profession, and the agents themselves
must consider in each case what the opportune action is,
as doctors and navigators do (1104a2).

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 what does it take to find the mesotes?

• Answer: prudential judgment (phronesis)

• Because ethics is not an exact science, it
requires excellent judgment; how do we
describe it?
‣ wisdom, acumen, intelligence, perspective,
discernment, decisiveness, cleverness,
insight, perceptiveness, foresight, astuteness,
et cetera
• it is impossible to find the mesotes when base
appetites/impulses are at play 10

a key characteristic of the phronimos

• a virtuous person can not become

miserable, “For the man who is truly good
and wise, we think, bears all the chances of
life becomingly and always makes the best of
circumstances [...]” (1100b18, Italics mine).
• point of reflection: “fluidity of the will”, or on
being captive to everyday hindrances (i.e.,
stress) and the wisdom to know when to be
and not to be affected in the pursuit of goals
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what motivates the phronimos?

by Julia Annas:
[…] the fully virtuous person not only judges and
does the right thing, but has no motivation not to do it.
He is not, of course, so habituated as to have tunnel
vision when he considers the situation: he is aware of
the factors that can and do tempt people to wrong
action. But he is not himself tempted by them—
otherwise he would be merely continent. And this is
not asceticism—he enjoys what he does, feels positive
about it (from “Aristotle on Virtue and Happiness,” in
Aristotle’s Ethics: Critical Essays, p. 38).

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 what is the virtuous cycle?

to find the mesotes once → hones phronesis

a honed phronesis → helps to find the mesotes again
to find the mesotes more frequently → sharpens phronesis
even more
a well-honed phronesis → consistent attainment of the
mesotes
and so on...
the result? flourishing
what is this process called? habituation
what is attained? a settled state of character
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practically...
The point to reflect on is this:
Aristotle offers us this transformation in our
approach —
no longer: what is right/wrong (not rules!)
but what is excellent?
often: what do I need to transform in myself to
respond appropriately to the situation?
note: perspective against character
disorderedness and neurosis
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