Teleology = purposive or end-oriented study; explanation in terms of function/purpose/ultimate end.
“Every art and every scientific inquiry, and similarly every action and purpose, may be said to aim at some good. Hence the good has been well defined as that at which all things aim.”
"Since there are many actions, crafts and sciences, the ends turn out
to be many as well; for health is the end of medicine, a boat of boatbuilding,
victory of generalship, and wealth of household management
But whenever any of these sciences are subordinate to some one
capacity—as, for instance, bridlemaking and every other science producing
equipment for horses are subordinate to horsemanship, while this and every
action in warfare are in turn subordinate to generalship, and in the same
way other sciences are subordinate to further ones—in each of these the
end of the ruling science is more choiceworthy than all the ends subordinate
to it, since it is the end for which those ends are pursued."
instrumental/intrinsic distinction
eudaimonia
--> function/characteristic activity
Characteristic human activity?
Human Good includes:
Dedication, impartiality, analytic reasoning, etc.
Honesty, loyalty, trustworthiness, compassion, etc.
Intellectual Virtue (practical wisdom)
recognize worthy ends:
recognize worthy means (theft versus honest toil)
capacity for inferential reasoning
political wisdom
- a person with practical wisdom will govern wisely
- intelligence ? practical wisdom
Wisdom requires the exercise of judgment.
Not just two categories: objective & subjective
At least three:
1. Things that are provable (e.g. math, science)
2. Things that require judgment (e.g. value judgments)
Singing coach, skating judge, hockey scout
Business world – television commercials; product quality
--> Not all opinions are equally authoritative
3. Things that are purely subjective (e.g. feelings)
“For actions in accord with the virtues to be done temperately or justly…the agent must also be in the right state when he does them. First he must know [that he is doing virtuous actions]; second, he must decide on them, and decide on them for themselves; and, third, he must also do them from a firm and unchanging state.”
Virtue is a state of being:
“Virtue, then, is a state that decides, consisting in a mean, the mean
relative to us, which is defined by reference to reason, that is to say,
to the reason by reference to which the prudent person would define it.
It is a mean between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency.”
The Mean
The Mean must be directed at an appropriate end:
“…to feel these emotions at the right times, for the right objects, towards the right persons, for the right motives, and in the right manner, is the mean or the best good, which signifies virtue” (p. ).
A firefighter who displays an appropriate amount of courage and fear in rescuing a child from a burning building displays moral virtue (courage proper).
A firefighter who displays an appropriate amount of courage and fear in rescuing a melting ham sandwich from a burning building displays moral vice (foolhardiness).
Also, an untrained observer who displays an appropriate amount of courage and fear in attempting to rescue a child from a burning building (foolhardiness/excessive compassion).
The Mean:
Virtue: the rational and non-rational parts of soul agree
in pursuing the right ends.
Continence: rational and non-rational parts disagree; the rational part chooses the right end; the non-rational part chooses the wrong end; and the rational part wins.
Incontinence: rational and non-rational parts disagree; the rational part chooses the right ends; the non-rational part chooses the wrong end; and the non-rational part wins.
Vice: The rational and non-rational parts agree in pursuing the wrong
ends.