Summary aqa a-level philosophy: aristotle's virtue ethics ~ revision notes, evaluation arguments and essay plan

AQA a-level philosophy: Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics ~ revision
notes, evaluation arguments and essay plan
Basic idea...

Aristotle believed that the purpose of human life is to achieve eudaimonia. Eudaimonia is
often translated as “happiness,” but this is slightly misleading. Aristotle means a life of
flourishing, fulfilment and living well. A person achieved eudaimonia by developing and
practising virtues throughout their life. Virtues are good qualities of character, like...

~ courage

~ honesty

~ generosity

~ patience

~ kindness

For Aristotle, being moral is not mainly about following rules or calculating consequences.
It’s about becoming a good person and developing the right character.

The function argument
Aristotle believed that everything has a function. For example...

~ a function of a knife is to cut.

~ a good knife cuts well.

~ the function of the eye is to see.

~ a good eye sees well.



Aristotle then asks:

What is the function of a human being?

Humans share basic activities with other living things:

 Plants grow and take in nutrients.
 Animals experience desires and sensations.

However, humans' life is one in which reason is used well and virtues are practised.

This leads to eudaimonia.



Key Chain