What I learned about character and adopted into my own model for Ethics
Posted: Sat May 16, 2015 8:37 am
[The following consists mostly of excerpts and paraphrases from The SEP: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Original material is printed in green ink.]
Anscombe in 1958, drawing largely from Aristotle, called attention to these concepts: cmoral character, moral education, moral wisdom or discernment, friendship and family relationships, a deep concept of happiness, the role of the emotions in our moral life and the fundamentally important questions of what sort of person I should be and how I should live.
It is not easy to get one's emotions in harmony with one's rational recognition of certain reasons for action.
A person may be honest enough to recognize that he must own up to a mistake because it would be dishonest not to do so without his acceptance being so wholehearted that he can own up easily, with no inner conflict. Thus a distinction can be drawn between doing what we should without a struggle against contrary desires; and employing what might be called “strength of will,” that is, having to control a desire or temptation to do otherwise. When we Intrinsically-value a norm, we tend to act on it wholeheartedly. We ought to keep in mind, though, that being ‘a moral person’ is a matter of degree. The ‘good person’ is a high ideal which is rarely reached. We may strive to be good, but it’s unlikely that we will fully reach our goal.
Generosity, honesty, compassion and courage (often thought to be virtues) are sometimes faults. For example, courage, in a desperado, enables him to do far more wicked things than he would have been able to do if he were timid. Someone can be so generous that it is no longer admirable; they can be described as “generous to a fault.” What ordinarily would be held up as a good character trait to have is here more of a fault than something to admire.
If an intent to be compassionate leads to some questionable behavior at times this does not alter the fact that compassion is a desirable quality to possess. What is wrong is doing immoral acts in the name of ‘compassion,’ or of any other fine ideal. Let’s be aware of that. An “immoral act” is one that violates human dignity, or one that commits an ethical fallacy, such as pulling rank in order to coerce, or taking glee at the opportunity to manipulate someone to our own selfish ends. (To do it without taking glee is also immoral but perhaps not to so great a degree.)
Children and adolescents often harm those they intend to benefit either because they do not know how to set about securing the benefit or, more importantly, because their understanding of what is beneficial and harmful is limited and often mistaken. Such ignorance in small children is rarely, if ever culpable, and frequently not in adolescents, but it usually is in adults. Adults are expected to have “practical wisdom” or “know-how.” This is one of the Extrinsic values. Good intentions alone are not enough to avoid “messing up.” Children often have good intentions but lack the know-how to implement them well.
If an adult is ignorant of what he needs to know in order to do what he intends it is his responsibility to study up on those required skills, hire someone who is already skilled in that field, or somehow acquire the skill himself. Else he may be held culpable, whereas we would not blame a child for such ignorance. [Ethically speaking, it is best not to blame anyone but we often slip into a judgmental mode before we attain high morality – even as we are on the way to becoming a good person. It really helps to know how to succeed in reaching a goal for self-improvement that you have set.]
It has been said that those who have practical wisdom will, for example, not make the mistake of concealing the hurtful truth from the person who really needs to know it in the belief that they are benefiting him.
It is easy to deceive oneself or to have a mistaken conception of what it is to live well as a human being – what it is to truly flourish. Many believe that ‘living well,’ or living the good life, consists largely in physical pleasure or luxury for example. They are unaware of when they are morally unhealthy. In contrast, we usually know when we are physically unhealthy. In order to flourish, happiness alone is not enough. One ought to aim for goodness, and treasure the possession of a character in process of becoming a good one.
These are some of the insights I learned.
.....Comments or impressions on your part? I want to hear what you have to say about all this !
p.s. (You may want to see my two treatises on ethical topics in which character is an important concept. LIVING THE GOOD LIFE - http://wadeharvey.myqol.com/wadeharvey/ ... _Lifef.pdf
and BASIC ETHICS - http://tinyurl.com/mfcgzfz
In those writings I use the notion "science" there in the original sense of "a body of knowledge," or a discipline, an area of study, not in the sense of an experimental research effort.)
Anscombe in 1958, drawing largely from Aristotle, called attention to these concepts: cmoral character, moral education, moral wisdom or discernment, friendship and family relationships, a deep concept of happiness, the role of the emotions in our moral life and the fundamentally important questions of what sort of person I should be and how I should live.
It is not easy to get one's emotions in harmony with one's rational recognition of certain reasons for action.
A person may be honest enough to recognize that he must own up to a mistake because it would be dishonest not to do so without his acceptance being so wholehearted that he can own up easily, with no inner conflict. Thus a distinction can be drawn between doing what we should without a struggle against contrary desires; and employing what might be called “strength of will,” that is, having to control a desire or temptation to do otherwise. When we Intrinsically-value a norm, we tend to act on it wholeheartedly. We ought to keep in mind, though, that being ‘a moral person’ is a matter of degree. The ‘good person’ is a high ideal which is rarely reached. We may strive to be good, but it’s unlikely that we will fully reach our goal.
Generosity, honesty, compassion and courage (often thought to be virtues) are sometimes faults. For example, courage, in a desperado, enables him to do far more wicked things than he would have been able to do if he were timid. Someone can be so generous that it is no longer admirable; they can be described as “generous to a fault.” What ordinarily would be held up as a good character trait to have is here more of a fault than something to admire.
If an intent to be compassionate leads to some questionable behavior at times this does not alter the fact that compassion is a desirable quality to possess. What is wrong is doing immoral acts in the name of ‘compassion,’ or of any other fine ideal. Let’s be aware of that. An “immoral act” is one that violates human dignity, or one that commits an ethical fallacy, such as pulling rank in order to coerce, or taking glee at the opportunity to manipulate someone to our own selfish ends. (To do it without taking glee is also immoral but perhaps not to so great a degree.)
Children and adolescents often harm those they intend to benefit either because they do not know how to set about securing the benefit or, more importantly, because their understanding of what is beneficial and harmful is limited and often mistaken. Such ignorance in small children is rarely, if ever culpable, and frequently not in adolescents, but it usually is in adults. Adults are expected to have “practical wisdom” or “know-how.” This is one of the Extrinsic values. Good intentions alone are not enough to avoid “messing up.” Children often have good intentions but lack the know-how to implement them well.
If an adult is ignorant of what he needs to know in order to do what he intends it is his responsibility to study up on those required skills, hire someone who is already skilled in that field, or somehow acquire the skill himself. Else he may be held culpable, whereas we would not blame a child for such ignorance. [Ethically speaking, it is best not to blame anyone but we often slip into a judgmental mode before we attain high morality – even as we are on the way to becoming a good person. It really helps to know how to succeed in reaching a goal for self-improvement that you have set.]
It has been said that those who have practical wisdom will, for example, not make the mistake of concealing the hurtful truth from the person who really needs to know it in the belief that they are benefiting him.
It is easy to deceive oneself or to have a mistaken conception of what it is to live well as a human being – what it is to truly flourish. Many believe that ‘living well,’ or living the good life, consists largely in physical pleasure or luxury for example. They are unaware of when they are morally unhealthy. In contrast, we usually know when we are physically unhealthy. In order to flourish, happiness alone is not enough. One ought to aim for goodness, and treasure the possession of a character in process of becoming a good one.
These are some of the insights I learned.
.....Comments or impressions on your part? I want to hear what you have to say about all this !
p.s. (You may want to see my two treatises on ethical topics in which character is an important concept. LIVING THE GOOD LIFE - http://wadeharvey.myqol.com/wadeharvey/ ... _Lifef.pdf
and BASIC ETHICS - http://tinyurl.com/mfcgzfz
In those writings I use the notion "science" there in the original sense of "a body of knowledge," or a discipline, an area of study, not in the sense of an experimental research effort.)