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Single Idea 24132

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / d. Virtue theory critique ]

Full Idea

From Socrates onwards arete [virtue] is misunderstood - first it had to reestablish itself over and over, and yet it did not want to do this on an individual basis! But rather tyrannically 'good for all!'.

Gist of Idea

After Socrates virtue is misunderstood, as good for all, not for individuals

Source

Friedrich Nietzsche (Unpublished Notebooks 1884-85 [1884], 25[208])

Book Ref

Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Fragments from 1884-85 (v 15)', ed/tr. Loeb,P.S./Tinsley,D.F. [Stanford 2022], p.58

A Reaction

Why not both? The virtues of a good citizen can't be private, but we are all allowed to develop virtues that concern us alone.

The 20 ideas with the same theme [reasons against virtue theory]:

3548 Aristotle neglects the place of rules in the mature virtuous person [Annas on Aristotle]
1581 Greeks elevate virtues enormously, but never explain them [Descartes]
3544 Kant thinks virtue becomes passive, and hence morally unaccountable [Kant, by Annas]
5289 When aristocracy or the bourgeoisie dominate, certain values dominate with them [Marx/Engels]
20375 Virtues must be highly personal; if not, it is merely respect for a concept [Nietzsche]
2881 Virtue has been greatly harmed by the boringness of its advocates [Nietzsche]
24132 After Socrates virtue is misunderstood, as good for all, not for individuals [Nietzsche]
20198 Many virtues are harmful traps, but that is why other people praise them [Nietzsche]
20103 You are mastered by your own virtues, but you must master them, and turn them into tools [Nietzsche]
7165 Virtue is wasteful, as it reduces us all to being one another's nurse [Nietzsche]
7193 Virtue for everyone removes its charm of being exceptional and aristocratic [Nietzsche]
22476 Nietzsche thought our psychology means there can't be universal human virtues [Nietzsche, by Foot]
9260 Virtues won't generate an obligation, so it isn't a basis for morality [Prichard]
23692 Good and bad are a matter of actions, not of internal dispositions [Foot]
16956 To explain generosity in a person, you must understand a generous action [Dummett]
7097 Virtue is secondary to a role-figure, defined within a culture [MacIntyre, by Statman]
7101 Virtue theory needs an external standard to judge behaviour and character [Inwagen, by Statman]
4334 Virtue ethics is open to the objection that it fails to show priority among the virtues [Hursthouse]
7100 Virtue theory isn't a genuine ethical theory, because it doesn't have universal application [Statman]
7102 Promises create moral duties that have nothing to do with character [Statman]