Unit 2: Teleological and Virtue Ethics

Teleological Ethics: Hedonism and its Types

Teleological Ethics (or Consequentialism) comes from the Greek word telos, meaning "end," "goal," or "purpose."

Core Principle: The morality of an action is determined solely by its consequences. A right action is one that produces the best overall result.

The main question for a teleologist is: "What is the 'good' that we are trying to maximize?"

Hedonism

Hedonism (from Greek hēdonē, "pleasure") is the teleological theory that answers: "The 'good' is pleasure, and the 'bad' is pain."

A moral action is one that maximizes pleasure and minimizes pain.

Types of Hedonism:

• Psychological Hedonism (Descriptive): This is a theory of human psychology. It claims that humans, as a matter of fact, are *always* motivated by the desire to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
• Ethical Hedonism (Prescriptive): This is a normative theory. It claims that humans should seek pleasure, as pleasure is the only intrinsic good.
  • Egoistic Hedonism: One should seek to maximize *one's own* pleasure. (e.g., Cārvāka in Indian ethics).
  • Universalistic Hedonism: One should seek to maximize the pleasure of *all* affected. This is Utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism (Bentham and Mill)

Utilitarianism is the most prominent form of teleological ethics. Its core idea is the "Principle of Utility" or the "Greatest Happiness Principle."

Principle of Utility: An action is right if it produces the greatest amount of good (happiness/pleasure) for the greatest number of people.

1. Jeremy Bentham: Quantitative Utilitarianism

Bentham (1748-1832) was the founder of modern utilitarianism. He argued for a quantitative approach to pleasure.

• Key Idea: All pleasures are of the same kind. They only differ in quantity. "Pushpin (a simple game) is as good as poetry" if it produces the same amount of pleasure.
• Hedonic Calculus: To measure the quantity of pleasure, Bentham proposed 7 criteria:
  1. Intensity: How strong is the pleasure?
  2. Duration: How long will it last?
  3. Certainty: How likely is it to occur?
  4. Propinquity (or Remoteness): How soon will it occur?
  5. Fecundity: Will it lead to *more* pleasures?
  6. Purity: How free from pain is it?
  7. Extent: How many people will it affect?

2. John Stuart Mill: Qualitative Utilitarianism

Mill (1806-1873) was Bentham's student but refined (and changed) the theory. He argued for a qualitative approach.

• Key Idea: Some pleasures are inherently better than others. Pleasures of the intellect, morality, and art (higher pleasures) are superior to mere bodily sensations (lower pleasures).
• Famous Quote: "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied."
• Mill argued that anyone who has experienced both types of pleasure will always prefer the higher one.

Virtue Ethics: Aristotle - Nature and Kinds of Virtue

Virtue ethics shifts the focus of ethics entirely. Instead of asking "What is the right action?" (like Utilitarianism or Deontology), it asks: "What is a good person?"

• Proponent: Aristotle (384–322 BC) in his work Nicomachean Ethics.
• Goal of Life: The ultimate end for humans is Eudaimonia, a Greek word meaning "flourishing," "well-being," or "a life well-lived." It is not just a fleeting feeling of happiness, but a state of being.
• How to achieve Eudaimonia: By living a life of Virtue (Arete).
• Nature of Virtue: For Aristotle, a virtue is a state of character that is the "mean" between two extremes. It is a disposition to act in the right way, for the right reason, at the right time.

Kinds of Virtue (Aristotle):

1. Intellectual Virtues: Excellences of the mind. These are learned through teaching and experience.
   • Examples: Sophia (theoretical wisdom), Phronesis (practical wisdom/prudence).
2. Moral Virtues: Excellences of character. These are learned through habit and practice.
   • We are not born brave or honest; we become brave by repeatedly *doing* brave acts.
   • Examples: Courage, Temperance, Generosity, Justice.

Virtue Ethics: Aristotle - Theory of Golden Mean

This is the core of Aristotle's moral ethics. The "Golden Mean" is the idea that every moral virtue is a midpoint (or "mean") between two corresponding vices (extremes).

The Doctrine of the Mean: A moral virtue is a state of balance between a vice of deficiency (too little) and a vice of excess (too much).

Example:

• The vice of deficiency is Cowardice (you have too little fear).
• The vice of excess is Rashness (you have too much fearlessness).
• The virtue or "Golden Mean" is Courage (you have the *right amount* of fear, at the right time).

Here are some common examples: