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23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / b. Basis of virtue

[foundation and justification for belief in virtues]

22 ideas
The two main parts of the soul give rise to two groups of virtues - intellectual, and moral [Aristotle]
How can good actions breed virtues, if you need to be virtuous to perform good actions? [Aristotle]
If a thing has excellence, this makes the thing good, and means it functions well [Aristotle]
Excellence is the best state of anything (like a cloak) which has an employment or function [Aristotle]
Is excellence separate from things, or part of them, or both? [Aristotle]
Prudence is the greatest good, and more valuable than philosophy, because it produces virtue [Epicurus]
Chrysippus says virtue can be lost (though Cleanthes says it is too secure for that) [Chrysippus, by Diog. Laertius]
Chrysippus says nothing is blameworthy, as everything conforms with the best nature [Chrysippus, by Plutarch]
All acts of virtue relate to justice, which is directed towards the common good [Aquinas]
The more we strive for our own advantage, the more virtuous we are [Spinoza]
All virtue is founded on self-preservation [Spinoza]
To act virtuously is to act rationally [Spinoza]
Actions are virtuous if they are judged praiseworthy [Locke]
Every creature has a right and a wrong state which guide its actions, so there must be a natural end [Shaftesbury]
To be virtuous, we must care about duty [Reid]
Virtue is hard if we are scorned; we need support [Joubert]
First morality is force, then custom, then acceptance, then instinct, then a pleasure - and finally 'virtue' [Nietzsche]
Originally virtue was obedience, to gods, government, or custom [Russell]
The essential thing is the 'needs' of plants and animals, and their operative parts [Foot]
Virtues are corrective, to resist temptation or strengthen motivation [Foot]
To Greeks it seemed obvious that the virtue of anything is the perfection of its function [Taylor,R]
Eudaimonia first; virtue is a trait which promotes it; right acts are what virtues produce [Hursthouse, by Zagzebski]