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Single Idea 20103
[filed under theme 23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / d. Virtue theory critique
]
Full Idea
You had to become your own master, and also the master of your own virtues. Previously, your virtues were your master; but they must be nothing more than your tools.
Gist of Idea
You are mastered by your own virtues, but you must master them, and turn them into tools
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (Human, All Too Human [1878], 006)
Book Ref
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Human, All Too Human', ed/tr. Faber,Marion [Penguin 1994], p.9
A Reaction
What on earth would Aristotle make of that? Nietzsche offers a sort of metatheory for virtues. I take this to be a form of particularism - that you live by your virtues, but occasionally you can discard a virtue if it seems right. Lie, steal...
The
20 ideas
with the same theme
[reasons against virtue theory]:
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3548
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Aristotle neglects the place of rules in the mature virtuous person
[Annas on Aristotle]
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1581
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Greeks elevate virtues enormously, but never explain them
[Descartes]
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3544
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Kant thinks virtue becomes passive, and hence morally unaccountable
[Kant, by Annas]
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5289
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When aristocracy or the bourgeoisie dominate, certain values dominate with them
[Marx/Engels]
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20375
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Virtues must be highly personal; if not, it is merely respect for a concept
[Nietzsche]
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2881
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Virtue has been greatly harmed by the boringness of its advocates
[Nietzsche]
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24132
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After Socrates virtue is misunderstood, as good for all, not for individuals
[Nietzsche]
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20198
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Many virtues are harmful traps, but that is why other people praise them
[Nietzsche]
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20103
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You are mastered by your own virtues, but you must master them, and turn them into tools
[Nietzsche]
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7165
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Virtue is wasteful, as it reduces us all to being one another's nurse
[Nietzsche]
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7193
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Virtue for everyone removes its charm of being exceptional and aristocratic
[Nietzsche]
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22476
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Nietzsche thought our psychology means there can't be universal human virtues
[Nietzsche, by Foot]
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9260
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Virtues won't generate an obligation, so it isn't a basis for morality
[Prichard]
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23692
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Good and bad are a matter of actions, not of internal dispositions
[Foot]
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16956
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To explain generosity in a person, you must understand a generous action
[Dummett]
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7097
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Virtue is secondary to a role-figure, defined within a culture
[MacIntyre, by Statman]
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7101
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Virtue theory needs an external standard to judge behaviour and character
[Inwagen, by Statman]
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4334
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Virtue ethics is open to the objection that it fails to show priority among the virtues
[Hursthouse]
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7100
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Virtue theory isn't a genuine ethical theory, because it doesn't have universal application
[Statman]
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7102
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Promises create moral duties that have nothing to do with character
[Statman]
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