Then I’ll turn to an examination of Arete (virtue and excellence), as well as the character traits that would make this possible. In the following passages, I will explain the concept of Eudaimonia, which roughly translates to happiness, flourishing, and contentment. Happiness, the Chief Good, and Excellence It is most likely that the surviving Aristotle’s writings are lecture notes intended for his students at the Lyceum, which was the name of the academy he founded.Īristotle sets out to develop his ethical framework in a treatise called Nicomachean Ethics (probably named after his son Nichomacus who edited it), showing how members of a society can live a good and practical life. Rather, he’s going to base his arguments on cardinal virtues (wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice) that were commonly accepted by the ancient Greeks, and will proceed to explain how we can acquire them. It is important to keep in mind that Aristotle isn’t interested in deriving, defining or determining virtues and vices. This was not always the case in ancient Greece. Of course, this might be counterintuitive nowadays because, in many instances, politicians to large extent end up doing what is in their best interest. Given their role as governors, politicians should work for the greater good this includes deciding on and promoting certain virtues that would contribute to that end. He argues that political leaders should be tasked with finding a suitable set of virtues that a community ought to revere and practice. In this article, I’m going to focus on the Aristotelian account.įor Aristotle, the good of the city is more important than the good of the individual. What does all that mean? Why is it important to try and think about virtues to pursue individually and collectively? Are those universal? How do we decide which traits to cultivate?įinding a definitive answer to these questions is almost an impossible task. This is made possible insofar as a community acts virtuously with a view towards achieving the greater ‘common’ good. The assumption is that cultivating a good character is conducive to a society that functions in an orderly, harmonious, and cohesive manner. Proponents of the theory, including the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC), suggest that, ideally, we need to do what is virtuous, and refrain from acting viciously. Virtue theory proclaims that people ought to incorporate certain virtues, defined as excellent traits, as part of their characters by habituating themselves to the practice of such traits as honesty and courage, etc.
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