Virtue: The Key To The Good Life

According to Plato and Aristotle our goal in life is to achieve personal well-being
and happiness (eudaimonia). Aristotle says that we achieve this through
functioning well as human beings. In order to function well something needs to
possess all the necessary qualities) or virtues that will enable it to do so. For
example, for a plant to function well it needs those plant-like qualities that
enable it to successfully grow, flower, reproduce etc. According to both Plato and
Aristotle, a human being functions well through developing and refining the
virtues that enable us to flourish as human beings. This focus on virtues has led
to Plato and Aristotles moral theories being labelled as virtue ethics.
Both Plato and Aristotle identify reason as the primary characteristic of the
human soul, and so reason takes a central place in their theories of what humans
should be properly doing with their lives. However, their concepts of the soul
differ slightly. Plato has a tripartite theory of the soul: it is divided into three
clear parts with reason the key to living a good life. On the other hand Aristotle
sees human psychology in more complex terms: there is a rational and nonrational side to our soul, these sides are subdivided into many parts, each of
which has a corresponding excellence of virtue, and each of which is important
and necessary for our proper functioning.
Within Platos tripartite division of the soul, the three elements (reason, spirit and
desire) compete and jostle with one another for control. Plato explains how
virtue, or excellence, in a human depends upon all the elements being in balance
and each part of [him] performing its proper function. For Plato this could happen
if, and only if reason was in control of all aspects of the soul. So spirit guided by
reason carefully drives us to action; and desire when tempered by reason,
motivates us and enables us to live a healthy and satisfied life. So for Plato when
reason is in control there are three virtues corresponding to each of the three
parts of the soul:

Reason wisdom
Spirit courage
Desire temperance (or self-control)

When all of these three virtues are in place, a fourth virtue emerges justice. As
such, for Plato behaving morally, or justly, flows from developing our virtues by
ensuring reason moderates our desires and our spirit. Justice is the most
important virtue because it readies us for action.
Aristotle agrees with Plato that in order to function well we need to be virtuous
(and excel) in all aspects of the soul. However, Aristotle believes that there are
many virtues corresponding to the different parts, not just three as Plato
maintained. As for Plato, the crucial thing for Aristotle is that the rational parts of
the soul are in control, and this is the key to becoming virtuous. Aristotle
analyses in great detail the many aspects of our selves that need to be
performing at the peak of their capacity (excelled at) if we are to function well as
human beings. These include:

Excellences of character (controlling and shaping our desires and

emotions)
Excellences of practical reasoning (having the skills to achieve those goals
that are in our best interest)
Excellences of theoretical reasoning (being good at philosophy, maths
etc.)

Within each of these general virtues, or excellences, there are other virtues. For
example, the skills we need to excel at in reasoning about practical matters
include:

Deliberation being able to plan a course of action

Understanding being able to see the Big Picture of any situation
Judgement knowing what is the right thing to do in any situation
Cleverness the ability to execute our plan and accomplish our goal

Aristotle also goes further than Plato in describing in detail what moral virtue
(excellence of character) is and how we might acquire it. It is a type of
characteristic, a personality trait, which we develop through practice, like
learning to play the guitar. We are not born virtuous or excellent but we become
virtuous through developing good habits.
In the film the Wizard of Oz a young girl, Dorothy, encounters three creatures
on her way to find the Wizard. Each of these companions is missing some virtue
essential for their happiness: the Scarecrow lacks wisdom, the Tin Man lacks
feelings and the Lion lacks Courage. They misunderstand what these things are,
and they believe that the Wizard of Oz, because of his powers, will be able to
give them these qualities. When they finally confront the Wizard he cant do
anything but give them tokens of virtue (an examination certificate, a clockwork
heart, a medal). This was partly because the Wizard was a conman and partly
because virtue isnt something you can suddenly get; as Aristotle says it is a
habit that you develop. In the end, Dorothys companions became virtuous by
acting in a virtuous way: the Scarecrow had started to hatch plans, the Tin Man
and started caring and the Lion had begun to act bravely.
Aristotle argues that someone who is virtuous is someone who tends to avoid the
extremes of over-reacting or failing to react in a particular situation. This means
that when confronted with a situation we dont bottle up our emotions or
suppress our drive for action (this would be deficient), but nor do we let our
feelings come flooding out and completely over-react (this would be excessive).
Instead we have to judge how far we should let a particular emotion affect us in
this particular situation, and consider what would be the most appropriate
response to this situation.
This description of the virtuous person is famously known as Aristotles Doctrine
of the Mean. Mean here refers to middle, but Aristotle is not saying we should
take the middle way in every situation, or act moderately in every situation.
Clearly there are some situations where a more (or less) emotional response is
required. But what Aristotle does believe is that if you look at the behaviour of a

virtuous person over their whole life they will tend to avoid over-reacting or
under-reacting (avoid excess or deficiency).
So, for Aristotle we become virtuous by becoming reflective, rational creatures
and considering in each situation what is the appropriate thing to do here? This
means drawing on both moral and intellectual virtues. Deciding what is the right
thing to do is a difficult judgement to make, but Aristotle believes that through
moral education we are able to develop the wisdom that we need to make this
judgement. Through hard experience, practice and by looking towards people we
admire as role models, we can develop and fine-tune our decision-making
capacities. Admittedly it is difficult to develop all these virtues, but Aristotle
argues that it is only by doing so that we are able to live a properly good life and
flourish.