Technology & “The Good”
An Brief Introduction to (Virtue) Ethics
GuruTM The Good Life Assistant
“Virtue Ethics”: Key Claims
- Ancient Greek Philosopher
- Student of Plato
- Cofounder of “Virtue Ethics”
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Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good
...If, then, there is some end of the things we do...and if we do not choose everything for the sake of something else...clearly this must be the good and the chief good.
-Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Book 1
“Final Goods”
Valued for their own sake.
“Instrumental Goods”
Valued for what they get you.
More “final” or ultimate
1. Things we only want because we want something else.
2. Things we want because they are themselves good, and because we want something else.
3. Things we only want because they are themselves good.
Most final, ultimate.
Happiness is the only such good.
Purely Instrumental
Purely
Final
What is the Ultimate Good?
Health
Leisure
eudaimonia
Definition: (n) “human flourishing”; used to describe a life characterised by deep happiness and wellbeing; activity of reason in accord with all the virtues.
Cowardliness
Rashness
Courage
Stinginess
Wastefulness
Generosity
“Virtue Ethics”: Key Claims
- Ancient Greek Philosopher
- Student of Plato
- Cofounder of “Virtue Ethics”
TWL
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Contrast VE with Utilitarianism
A consequentialist moral theory that claims:
Actions are right insofar as they tend to promote happiness (of all human, sentient creatures), wrong insofar as the produce the reverse of happiness.
Happiness = Pleasure, and the absence of pain (unhappiness = pain, lack of pleasure)
What would a “moral education” look like in a utilitarian framework? How might it differ from the virtue model?
How to Be a Virtue Ethicist
Identify goods.
Seek out virtuous models.
Acquire virtue through habituation.
Two Models of Professional Ethics Education
The “Traditional Model”
The “Virtue Model”
How would professional ethics look different (in practice) on the virtue model vs. the traditional model?
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Philosophical Discussions
Claim = A statement that can be true or false.
Premise = A reason to believe some claim is true in the context of an argument.
Objection = Reason to believe some claim is false in the context of an argument.
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...What, then, is work for? Aristotle has a striking answer: “we work to have leisure, on which happiness depends.” This may at first seem absurd. How can we be happy just doing nothing, however sweetly (dolce far niente)? Doesn’t idleness lead to boredom, the life-destroying ennui portrayed in so many novels, at least since “Madame Bovary”?
Everything depends on how we understand leisure. Is it mere idleness, simply doing nothing? Then a life of leisure is at best boring (a lesson of Voltaire’s “Candide”), and at worst terrifying (leaving us, as Pascal says, with nothing to distract from the thought of death). No, the leisure Aristotle has in mind is productive activity enjoyed for its own sake, while work is done for something else.
We can pass by for now the question of just what activities are truly enjoyable for their own sake — perhaps eating and drinking, sports, love, adventure, art, contemplation? The point is that engaging in such activities — and sharing them with others — is what makes a good life. Leisure, not work, should be our primary goal...
5 min
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Traditional In-class Discussions | PWOL Dialogues |
Purpose: Participants strive for mastery of course material. | Purpose: Participants strive to understand others’ perspectives and develop their own views. |
Peer leader serves as discussion leader, actively directing the conversation with frequent intervention/correction and Q&A. | Peer leaders work as dialogue facilitators, creating and maintaining an environment in which productive dialogue can occur. |
A level playing field is often tacitly assumed, and differences or inequalities within the group may be ignored. | Differences and inequalities within the group are sought out and highlighted to help achieve shared understanding. |
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Dialogue is...
In everyday life, a “dialogue” is any conversation in which all participants share perspectives on a question or idea and listen carefully enough to empathize with each other and develop their views.
Is the ability to dialogue an important professional skill? Why or why not?
TWL
...What, then, is work for? Aristotle has a striking answer: “we work to have leisure, on which happiness depends.” This may at first seem absurd. How can we be happy just doing nothing, however sweetly (dolce far niente)? Doesn’t idleness lead to boredom, the life-destroying ennui portrayed in so many novels, at least since “Madame Bovary”?
Everything depends on how we understand leisure. Is it mere idleness, simply doing nothing? Then a life of leisure is at best boring (a lesson of Voltaire’s “Candide”), and at worst terrifying (leaving us, as Pascal says, with nothing to distract from the thought of death). No, the leisure Aristotle has in mind is productive activity enjoyed for its own sake, while work is done for something else.
We can pass by for now the question of just what activities are truly enjoyable for their own sake — perhaps eating and drinking, sports, love, adventure, art, contemplation? The point is that engaging in such activities — and sharing them with others — is what makes a good life. Leisure, not work, should be our primary goal...
5 min
Norms are “ground rules designed to enrich the dialogue process and enable all students to benefit from it” (page 7).
Setting Group Norms