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Single Idea 81

[filed under theme 20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 3. Acting on Reason / b. Intellectualism ]

Full Idea

Whereas Socrates thought that the virtues are principles (because they are forms of knowledge), we say they imply a principle (practical reason).

Clarification

'Practical reason' is the Greek word 'phronesis'

Gist of Idea

For Socrates virtues are principles, involving knowledge, but we say they only imply the principle of practical reason

Source

Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1144b30)

Book Ref

Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.224

A Reaction

It is hard to pin down how rational an Aristotelian virtue is supposed to be. Is a virtue a quasi-platonic vision of 'the good', but in each specific area, rather than in general?

The 31 ideas with the same theme [all actions are guided entirely by reason]:

5867 For Socrates, virtues are forms of knowledge, so knowing justice produces justice [Socrates, by Aristotle]
5069 Socrates was the first to base ethics upon reason, and use reason to explain it [Taylor,R on Socrates]
5836 All human virtues are increased by study and practice [Socrates, by Xenophon]
5840 The wise perform good actions, and people fail to be good without wisdom [Socrates, by Xenophon]
1567 How could someone who knows everything fail to act correctly? [Anon (Diss)]
1655 If goodness needs true opinion but not knowledge, you can skip the 'examined life' [Vlastos on Plato]
203 Courage is knowing what should or shouldn't be feared [Plato]
7813 Cynicism was open to anyone, and needed neither education nor sophistication [Diogenes of Sin., by Grayling]
3023 Even the foolish may have some virtues [Aristippus young, by Diog. Laertius]
67 Bad people are just ignorant of what they ought to do [Aristotle]
5218 Some people are good at forming opinions, but bad at making moral choices [Aristotle]
81 For Socrates virtues are principles, involving knowledge, but we say they only imply the principle of practical reason [Aristotle]
7352 Jesus said learning was unnecessary, and only the spirit of the Law was needed [Jesus, by Johnson,P]
5762 The wicked want goodness, so they would not be wicked if they obtained it [Boethius]
6248 Reason is too slow and doubtful to guide all actions, which need external and moral senses [Hutcheson]
8257 Reason alone can never be a motive to any action of the will [Hume]
21787 Evil enters a good will when we believe we are doing right, but allow no criticism of our choice [Hegel, by Houlgate]
14820 People always do what they think is right, according to the degree of their intellect [Nietzsche]
14856 Our judgment seems to cause our nature, but actually judgment arises from our nature [Nietzsche]
20133 The 'motive' is superficial, and may even hide the antecedents of a deed [Nietzsche]
16478 A mother cat is paralysed if equidistant between two needy kittens [Russell]
22372 Not all actions need motives, but it is irrational to perform troublesome actions with no motive [Foot]
22393 I don't understand the idea of a reason for acting, but it is probably the agent's interests or desires [Foot]
7665 Most Enlightenment thinkers believed that virtue consists ultimately in knowledge [Berlin]
15677 Moral right is linked to validity and truth, so morality is a matter of knowledge, not an expression of values [Habermas, by Finlayson]
3815 The essence of humanity is desire-independent reasons for action [Searle]
3839 Only an internal reason can actually motivate the agent to act [Searle]
4377 Intellectualism is an excessive emphasis on reasoning in moral philosophy [Burnyeat]
5348 Intellectualism admires the 'principled actor', non-intellectualism admires the 'good character' [Flanagan]
4351 It is a fantasy that only through the study of philosophy can one become virtuous [Hursthouse]
20012 Maybe the explanation of an action is in the reasons that make it intelligible to the agent [Wilson/Schpall]