Nicomachean Ethics Simply performing an activity mechanically doesn’t cause someone to become adept in that

Summary and Analysis activity. Just as a teacher is needed to guide the proper practice of a craft, so the correct
state is needed—not the activity alone—to ensure that activities are being rightly performed
Book 2, Chapter 1. throughout one’s life.

Aristotle outlines two sorts of virtue—virtue of thought and virtue of character. The first
arises mostly from teaching and requires experience and time to mature. The second results Book 2, Chapter 2.
from habit.
Since the object of Aristotle’s inquiry is to become good, it’s necessary to consider the
The Greek terms for both “character” and “habit” are actually the same word, ethos—hence, correct ways of acting, since these result in the states we acquire. First, “actions should
“ethics.” This sheds light on Aristotle’s insistence that the best way to form one’s character accord with the correct reason.”
(ethos) is through the habitual (ethos) practice of virtues befitting ethical character.
Hearkening back to the definition of the function of the human being—the activity of the
None of the virtues of character arise naturally. We’re naturally able to acquire them, and soul in accordance with reason—Aristotle begins to break down the constituent parts of
they are completed in us by way of habit. Aristotle explains that virtues are acquired in much virtue.
the same way as crafts are: “we become builders, for instance, by building, and we become
harpists by playing the harp.” Similarly, one becomes just or temperate by acting in a way States “tend to be ruined by excess and deficiency.” For instance, “excessive and deficient
that is just or temperate. exercise ruin bodily strength […] whereas the proportionate amount produces, increases,
and preserves it.” The same is true of the virtues. If someone is afraid of everything, he
Virtues aren’t natural to people, but must be nurtured through practice. One learns a craft becomes cowardly; if that person is afraid of nothing, he becomes rash. Virtues “are ruined
by doing it and practicing it; the same holds true for acquiring virtues. by excess and deficiency, but preserved by the mean.”

This is true collectively as well as individually. Legislators make citizens good by acclimating States are the dispositions, formed through habit, that enable the performance of virtues.
them to good behavior, and “correct habituation distinguishes a good political system from a Extremes ruin states, derailing virtue. Thus, figuring out the “mean”—the happy medium—
bad one.” (In this connection, the very purpose of the law is to create good habits among the between extremes is key to producing and preserving virtue.
people.)

As he often does throughout the Ethics, Aristotle repeats the point that what holds true for Book 2, Chapter 3.
individuals is also applicable to societies. Political systems, in his view, serve the purpose of
acclimating people to virtuous behavior, much as practice helps an individual acquire virtues. Moral excellence is concerned with pleasures and pains. Aristotle argues that someone’s
pleasure or pain following an action gives an indication of that person’s state. For example, if
At the same time, the same things that develop a craft or a virtue can also destroy it. For someone enjoys abstaining from pleasures, he’s moderate and levelheaded; if he’s grieved
example, bad harp-playing makes a bad harpist, and bad building makes a bad builder. That’s by it, he’s overindulgent. Pleasure can cause a person to do vulgar or corrupt actions, and
why a teacher is needed—to ensure we’re performing activities in the right way. In the pain causes a person to abstain from fine actions. Aristotle cites Plato’s argument that the
exercise of virtues, too, the repetition of similar activities (habituation) rests upon and key to finding pleasure or pain in the right things is having had the right upbringing.
reinforces a state of character. So, then, performing activities rightly is very important, from
one’s youth onward.
For Aristotle, pleasure and pain serve as indicators of a person’s state, or disposition. But reason, virtues can’t be capacities, either—and no one is praised for being capable of
responding to pleasure and pain in virtuous ways—acting or abstaining according to what is feelings. Because virtues are neither feelings nor capacities, then, virtues must be states.
base or fine—is something that requires training from one’s youth.
Book 2, Chapter 4. Aristotle argues that nobody is praised or blamed just for having feelings, or for having the
capacity to feel things. Furthermore, while feelings and capacities are basically beyond
Aristotle admits that his comparison between crafts and virtues doesn’t hold in every way. human control, virtues are intentional—so they must be categorized under the remaining
For example, it’s not enough that action in accordance with the virtues be done; the person condition of the soul: states.
who does the action must also be in the right state at the time—having decided to act
accordingly and done the action “from a firm and unchanging state.” ("The agent also must
be in a certain condition when he does them; in the first place he must have knowledge, Book 2, Chapter 6.
secondly he must choose the acts, and choose them for their own sakes, and thirdly his
action must proceed from a firm and unchangeable character.") By contrast, when someone Having established that virtue is a state, then, we have to inquire what sort of state it is.
is making something, the product is the only thing that matters. Every virtue causes the person who has it “to be in a good state and to perform their
functions well.”
Aristotle’s point here is that, in contrast to making something, where the end product is all
that matters, simply performing a virtuous act is not enough—it must be performed in a To some degree, states and virtues appear to be mutually reinforcing for Aristotle. States
virtuous way. Recall that a state is a disposition formed by habitual action, so if a person is in enable the performance of virtues, and virtues also create states whereby people perform
a virtuous state, it means that they’ve repeatedly practiced being virtuous, and now it is a their functions as they should.
part of their character. In other words, rather than merely going through the motions of
committing virtuous actions, one must also be virtuous. Another aspect of the nature of virtue is that it’s “neither superfluous nor deficient.” Every
branch of science “produces its products well, by focusing on what is intermediate” in this
way. When it comes to virtues of character, seeking the intermediate state—or “mean”—
Book 2, Chapter 5. involves “having these feelings at the right times, about the right things, toward the right
people, for the right end, and in the right way.” Thus virtue “is a mean, insofar as it aims at
Aristotle further examines what virtue is. He says there are “three conditions arising in the what is intermediate.” Excess and deficiency, on the other hand, are vices. Aristotle names
soul”—feelings, capacities, and states—and that virtue must be one of these. Feelings are various examples of virtues which he’ll define with greater specificity in Book III.
things that have elements of both pleasure and pain, like appetite, anger, fear, and love.
Capacities are “what we have when we are said to be capable of these feelings.” States are Aristotle comes to a key component of his teaching on virtue—that virtue must aim at the
“what we have when we are well or badly off in relation to feelings.” intermediate state, or mean, between extremes of excess and deficiency. Again, mere action
isn’t sufficient; actions must be performed in a certain way in order to qualify as virtuous.
Aristotle considers three conditions in the soul. While feelings and capacities are fairly self- Aristotle adds that not every action has a “mean”—it’s not possible to commit adultery, for
explanatory, a “state” is a condition whereby something is done well or poorly in relation to example, with the right person, for the right end, or in the right way.
feelings. For example, if we experience intense anger, we’re badly off in relation to that Such an action is itself “base” and can never be virtuous.
feeling, but if our anger is intermediate, then we’re well off.
Please memorize:
Neither virtues nor vices are feelings, then, says Aristotle. For example, we’re praised or
blamed for having virtues—having feelings in a particular way—not for simply having
feelings. And we can’t decide to have feelings, but virtues require decision. For the same
"Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean, i.e. the mean Truthfulness is the mean for a truthful person. The excess is boastfulness and the deficiency
relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle, and by that principle by which is mock modesty.
the man of practical wisdom would determine it."
For pleasantry in giving amusement, the mean is witty/wittiness.
The mean for pleasant behavior is friendliness.

Book 2, Chapters 7. With regard to pleasantness in the giving of amusement the intermediate person is ready-
witted and the disposition ready wit, the excess is buffoonery and the person characterized
Aristotle wants to get down to the nitty-gritty and discuss his theory of excess, mean, and by it a buffoon, while the man who falls short is a sort of boor and his state is boorishness.
deficiency in detail.
With regard to the remaining kind of pleasantness, the man who is pleasant in the right way
He's going to run specific characteristics through the spectrum. is friendly and the mean is friendliness, while the man who exceeds is an obsequious person
if he has no end in view, a flatterer if he is aiming at his own advantage, and the man who
Between the extremes of fear and confidence, we have courage. An excessively confident falls short and is unpleasant in all circumstances is a quarrelsome and surly sort of person.
person is reckless. Not good.
About passion
When we speak of pleasure and pain, Aristotle says that the mean is moderation. Deficiency Mean Excess
Licentiousness is the excess. He can barely conceive of a person who is deficient here,
especially with pleasures, so he makes up a name: the "insensibles." Bashful Modest Shameless

When dealing with giving and taking of money, the mean is liberality. The excess is Envy Righteous Indignation Spite
prodigality (spending way too much) and deficiency is stinginess or niggardliness.

With regard to money there are also other dispositions- a mean, magnificence (for the Book 2 Chapter 8
magnificent man differs from the liberal man; magnificence deals with large sums, while
liberality deals with small ones), an excess, tastelessness and vulgarity, and a deficiency, Aristotle clarifies his structure of this spectrum by calling them the "three kinds of
niggardliness. disposition, then, two of them vices" (i.e. the excess, the mean, the deficiency).

In dealing with honor/dishonor, the golden mean is "proper pride." Can you guess the He speaks of their relation to each other: they're opposed. The extremes to the mean, the
excess? It is "empty vanity." Its deficiency is "undue humility." mean to both extremes.

In dealing with honor, the excess of which is called ambitious (i.e. excessive desire for honor) The mean is also relative to the extremes.
and being "unambitious" (the deficiency). There's no name for the intermediate person.
So the mean is excessive when viewed from the deficient end of the spectrum, but deficient
With regards to anger, Aristotle provided the term "good temper" (the mean), "irascible" from the excessive end.
(excess), and "unirascible" (deficiency).
So it is that the coward would see the courageous person (the mean) as reckless (the
The last characteristics deal with conversation. excess), and a reckless person would see the courageous as cowards.
Yet there's a likeness between each extreme and the middle term, since they each have
something in common with the mean. But the extremes are totally opposed to each other.
So recklessness has a bit of courage in it, but has nothing in common with cowardice.
And some virtues have either deficiencies or excesses that are more hated in society.
Recklessness (the excess) isn't as blameworthy as cowardice, according to Aristotle.
Virtue Ethics is under Module 4: Moral Theories and Ethical Frameworks.
This happens for two reasons: 1) one extreme is closer to the mean than the other; 2) we
Topic 1 is Virtue Ethics: Aristotle: Character, the Golden Mean, and Cardinal Virtues.
incline toward one extreme, and therefore condemn it more as farther from the mean.
However, we initially discussed Nicomachean Ethics Book 2 because Aristotle’s Theory of the
Golden Mean is the best ethical theory that we can use in evaluating Filipino Values with
greater clarity.
Book 2, Chapter 9.
Aristotle was a son of a doctor. His interest on nature is acquired from his father. Aristotle
Aristotle concludes Book II by saying that, in light of what’s been discussed, it’s “hard work
observed nature. From his experience, he claimed that everything has its own “natural law”
to be excellent.” It’s hard to determine the mean in a given case. Since one extreme is
or nature! Philosophers look at nature as a whole. It was observed that there is order,
generally worse than the other, it’s best to aim for “the lesser of the evils.” It’s also
regularity or pattern or design in nature. They conclude that the world, the universe is
necessary to determine which extreme one tends to drift into more naturally, excess or
COSMOS, well ordered, beautiful. In fact, the word cosmetic is derived from the word
deficiency. And since all people are naturally inclined toward pleasure, it’s good to be wary
cosmos, because it is used to make one appear to be beautiful. Cosmos, cosmetics mean
of “pleasure and its sources.”
order and the order is beautiful.
Aristotle acknowledges again that making virtuous decisions doesn’t come naturally.
Now, if the norm of the universe is beautiful, we human beings are also called to live a
Determining the mean, or middle ground, in a given situation requires discernment and self-
beautiful life. Humans are considered as microcosm, a small universe that reflects its beauty.
awareness. As he warned earlier, there is no clear-cut method for becoming virtuous—just
Good is also beautiful!
guidelines that must be thoughtfully engaged rather than mechanically followed. More so, it
We have norms about what is good. There are norms on how to act according to propriety.
is not a mathematical mean. The safest way to arrive at the virtue is to avoid both extremes
Everything fits according to order or to its proper place.
which are the vices.
Interestingly, human language reflects the beauty of our actions. “Maayo, bagay,
bumabagay. maganda ang ugali, “nindot og kinaiya”. Our life as work of art. “Maganda ang
ginagawa.” Human beings can make ourselves like the cosmos, a beautiful work of art, to live
as good person, a moral person.

Aristotle's philosophy is teleological. For him, every being has its own nature or telos or end
or purpose. Nature is revealed through one’s actions intended to achieve its goal or purpose.
For Aristotle, it is in achieving one’s telos that makes one happy. The nature of human
beings, in particular, is to live according to reason. Collectively, in a well ordered society, all
members perform their respective roles according to reason..

The pattern is:

NATURE---> ACTIVITY ---> TELOS --->HAPPINESS Vices even if they are small parts, they can destroy the important or the bigger parts of our
life in favor of the small parts.
What makes one happy?

Answer: When one achieve one’s purpose in life.

If we want to know a person, we can do so through his activities. In this connection, Hexis is
an ancient Greek word which means habit. Habit is important in the moral philosophy of The Small Parts The Bigger Parts
Aristotle. Accordingly, to turn myself as a good person, I must do beautiful repetitive acts. In
this case, repetitive acts are a matter of culture. Vices ….vs….Virtues

In this connection, according to Aristotle, the first nature of human beings is rational. The Smoking vs Health
second nature of being human is culture or habit. This requires to be cultivated. Gambling vs Time and money spent with significant persons
Womanizing/Nanlalalaki vs Persons
Question: How to develop our second nature? The answer is to connect an old habit (habit Drinking Alcohol vs Mental Health
1) which is already established in our system and a new habit (habit 2) so that the new habit Dangerous drugs vs Health, life
will become established soon also. “Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean, i.e. the mean
For example, you already developed the habit of brushing your teeth every after meal. Now, relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle, and by that principle by which
you wanted to develop the habit of taking your medicine daily. the man of practical wisdom would determine it.”
However, you are a very forgetful person. Many times you forget taking your medicine. To
avoid forgetting, attach the old habit of brushing your teeth to the new habit of taking Virtue is the mean, the intermediary point between extremes.
medicine right after brushing your teeth Virtue is not arithmetical mean. It is relative to the person. It requires subjectivity
(“kalooban,” “kabobot-on”). The person in that situation is the only one who knows best.
THE RULE OF LAWS
Case:
Laws are made to cultivate habit. The very purpose of the law is to create good habits among
the people. Laws cultivate society also. Thus, legislators must make citizens good by creating The family lives in Manila. They are given One (1) free day
good laws. to go on vacation. The mother wants to go to Bulacan to visit her old parents.
However, the children wants to go fishing.
The habit formation of the young people, the youth will make all the difference. In other Mean: To go to Bulacan and have the fishing there.
words, what happen when we are young makes all the difference. Indeed, the significant
experiences when we are young shape us. CULTURE (KALINGANGAN): HABIT, we cultivate ourselves, we repeat our actions to have a
habit.
To remove a vice, we have to make an extra effort opposite from the vice.
VICE: Deficiency/ Excess. These are just small parts but they can dominate the whole. This is
precisely because vice has a compulsive element which makes it very addictive. Thus, this
According to Aristotle, the excess and deficiency are vices. addition to the small parts like addiction to drugs, smoke, pambabae/panlalaki/pornography,
mobile legend or even Netflix series, can have the power to destroy the bigger parts of our
being. So, let us be very careful in dealing with our addictions. Neurons, the specialized cell for information processing are the building blocks of the
nervous system. These neurons established connections with each other. The more we
repeat our decisions and actions, the more it will establish the connections between neurons
done by the neurotransmitters. The conclusion that we can draw here is, “we create
ourselves by the choices that we make.”

What is the best remedy against vices? The answer according to Aristotle is virtue! A MORALLY VIRTUOUS ACT

VIRTUE: “Objectively, a morally virtuous action for Aristotle consists of a measured activity, following
1. This has an element of a CHOICE- a choice to be moderate. This requires certain reflection the rule of the “just middle” (mesotes), nether deficient nor excessive, with reason ordering
to make a deliberate choice. the desires and passions into a harmonious whole. Thus, for example, the virtue of courage
consists of an activity which neither pusillanimous nor reckless, but steadfast in the face of
2. The choice is the mean relative to us, that is, the person making the choice. This includes danger, thereby manifesting the excellence of man and of the human spirit.
details of the situation to be analyzed.

3. There is reasoning process involved. This is according to the reason of practical wisdom. Subjectively, virtue is an activity which proceeds from a certain proper disposition acquired
This means willing the right decision that we make. by constant practice, where the doing of the virtuous act has become a kind of second
nature, the action being posed firmly and surely, without fail and without any doubt or
HOW TO TEACH WISDOM? hesitation. For Aristotle, an act done after going through agonizing doubts and temptations
is a sign that a man has not acquired mastery over his unruly desires and passions.”
Wisdom as the ability to choose the highest good can be taught by examples. One must
demonstrate. We have this expression: “Values are not taught but caught.” This means that Furthermore, a virtuous act is one that proceeds from right intention. This means that the
values can be shared by means of examples, case study and stories or “sugilanon.” As action is desired for its own sake and not for some ulterior motive beyond the action itself.
teachers, it is important to read a lot of stories for our students.
For Aristotle, a moral virtue is a rational measured activity following the rule of the “just
Wisdom is derived from experience. For example, we need to be cautious because there is middle,” motivated by right intention and proceeding from a permanent disposition
danger in walking alone in a strange place. It is dangerous. That is an exercise of practical acquired through repeated exercise of the act.
wisdom my dear students. Do not put yourself in danger
The above definition of moral virtue is not yet complete. What is the norm for “just middle”?
The point that Aristotle is trying to draw is, the more we practice virtue, the more it What is the norm for right intention? What is the norm for permanent disposition to form
becomes part of ourselves. They become our second nature. Later, it will become instinctive what kind of activity finally? A permanent disposition without a rule or norm could either be
or automatic. a virtue or vice.

PRACTICAL REASON

CONTEMPORARY BRAIN THEORY

Aristotle, proposes, apart from the moral virtues, a kind of master virtue, a virtue of virtues it is the sense of smell that will remind us! We can detect it because that something is
so to speak, namely practical wisdom (phronesis). Practical wisdom, for Aristotle, means against our nature.
knowledge on one hand, which participates in the act of contemplation, and action on the
other hand which is akin to moral virtues. As knowledge, practical wisdom provides insight
to the truth, regarding intrinsic truth and excellence and beauty of the action to be done. My dear students, if you are already on the habit of doing well all the time, you will notice
later on that when a person has an evil plan against you, even before doing any overt evil
[Ramon Castillo Reyes, Ground and Norm of Morality: act, you can sense that something wrong is about to happen.
Ethics for College Students. Quezon City: Ateneo De Manila University press, 1989) 38-39.] Of course, there is a spiritual dimension to this claim, but I have noticed it and the same is
true with the testimonies of the holy persons that I have known. The natural way to explain
DISPOSITION: A state of character, an existential readiness to do something good! it is that it is against our nature which is good!
Let us now examine our Filipino Values
Disposition is preparing oneself. Let us dispose ourselves to do something good.
PAGKUKULANG --------BITUD------- PAGMAMALABIS
Interestingly, VIRTUE creates that disposition so that when the time comes to decide, things
will be easy and almost automatic since it is already a deep seated habit which has become ________________Magiliw sa Bisita________________
our second nature. ________________Pakikisama________________
________________Hiya________________
PREPARATION will help create a good and successful student/ teacher/ professional. ________________Relihiyoso________________
At the end of the day, the best performer is usually reserved to the one who is most ________________Makapamilya________________
prepared. ________________Utang na Loob________________
________________Magalang sa Matanda________________
How to build a good disposition?
The two extremes are the vices. The terms for the opposite, the excess and the deficiency,
Visit an artist, paintings, churches, because works of arts give balance. are derogatory, source of laughter or indignation. For this reason, it is easy to identify them.

In other words, virtue is a work of art! In this regard, athletics is important in developing Filipino Character reflected in different practices and expressions
virtues, that is, to balance the body, we need to do physical exercises.
Athletics can be used to develop the cardinal virtue of temperance. a. Bahala Na. Western thinkers believed this expression as a sign of resignation and fatalism.
However, a philosophical analysis of such related expression like “ako'ng bahala,” from a
THE THEORY OF THE GOLDEN MEAN purely Filipino point of view means, “I am in charge, I am responsible even amidst danger
and uncertainty.”
In Filipino we call it MEDYO, not the mathematical MEDYA. Medyo is the appropriation b. Fiesta Celebrations. Fiesta celebrations will continue on the following grounds.
according to the situation where the subject finds oneself in. i. Filipinos are very celebrative in nature;
ii. This is a source of unity and reunion among family members and friends; and
PROBLEM: It is difficult to find the MEAN. But, the good thing is, the VICES, the two extremes iii. This is strengthened by addressing the spiritual needs of the faithful through
are easily recognized. Therefore, to find the mean is to avoid both extremes: the deficient thanks giving and asking intercession through their patron saints.
and the excess! So, it is in avoiding both extremes that will lead us to the mean. The two
extremes are usually the awkward and improper situations. When there is something wrong,
c. Joy and Humor. Filipinos have a very warm and joyful personality. The Filipinos sense of (Right action tends to be defined in terms general individual rights and standards critically
humor has two functions 1. To be a source of fun, 2. To be a satire to correct any act which is examined and agreed upon by the whole society)
improper, against the law, morals, good customs, public order, and public policy. ‌ Stage 6. Universal Ethical-Principle orientation
(Right is defined by the decision of conscience in accord with self-chosen ethical principles
d. Hardwork and Industry. Filipinos are generally hardworking and industrious. However, this appealing to logical comprehensiveness, universality and consistency, which usually value
drive for hard work and industry is tamed by the burning heat of the sun under our tropical justice, human dignity, and equality; principles upheld to avoid self-condemnation)
climate. Concretely, this hard work and industry can be attested by the exemplary ‌
performance of Overseas Filipinos Workers who are now considered as makabagong mga There is a clear effort to define moral values and higher order ethical principles that have
bayani. validity and application apart the “authority figures.”

e. Ability to survive. This reflects the Filipinos ability to adjust to difficult economic situations
in order to survive.
STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
SUMMARY:
Level I. Pre-conventional Morality
Stage 1. Punishment and Obedience Orientation I. Pre-conventional Morality
(The physical consequences of action determines its goodness or badness regardless of the I will do what I am supposed to do in order to avoid punishment.
human meaning or value of these consequences.) II. Conventional Morality
Stage 2. Instrumental Relativist Orientation I will do what I am supposed to do as things work out better when everyone follows
(Right action consists of that which instrumentally satisfies one’s own needs and occasionally the rules.
the need of others) III. Post-conventional Morality
‌ I will do (or won’t do) what I am supposed to do because I think (or don’t think) it is
One’s actions are evaluated as right or wrong on the basis anticipated punishment and the right thing to do.
reward.
Let us examine Pre-conventional Morality.
Level II: Conventional Morality
‌ Stage 3. Interpersonal Concordance or “Good-boy-Nice girl Orientation One’s actions are evaluated as right or wrong on the basis anticipated punishment and
(Good behavior is that which please others and is approved by them; behavior is frequently reward.
judge by intention) ‌
‌ Stage 4. Law and Order Orientation Morality here is determined by the judgments of significant persons, the authority figures,
(Right behavior consists of doing one’s duty, showing respect for authority, and maintaining external to the person. This is largely based on reward and punishment.
the social order for its own sake.) ‌
‌ Fixation and unfinished business on this period can lead an old person to be extremely
Conformity, loyalty and actively maintaining the expectations of the individual’s family, authority conscious. Either he is the worker or the administrator. If he is the worker, he most
group or nation and social order is perceived as valuable. likely performs his duties if the authority figure is present. If he is the administrator, he
keeps on monitoring his workers in every job that they are doing. He has trust issues
Level III: Post-conventional Morality whether or not the workers will do their duties without realizing that the workers are grown
‌ Stage 5. Social-Contract Legalistic Orientation up professionals with several degrees under their belts and not little children. Actually there
is no need to keep on monitoring them. Just give them guidelines and they can do their job
well with very minimal supervision because they are professionals.

Let us examine Conventional Morality

‌
Conformity, loyalty and actively maintaining the expectations of the individual’s family,
group or nation and social order is perceived as valuable.
‌
Note here the meaning of "CONVENTION" which means AGREEMENT OF CONTRACT. People
agree on what is good or bad, what is legal or illegal. The law passed by congress, the
legislative branch of the government, is very important to guide the people so that law and
order will be present. The person here are bound to follow the law.