Aristotelian virtue ethics and the mean: QCE Philosophy and Reason
“Explain and evaluate Aristotelian virtue ethics, including eudaimonia, the doctrine of the mean and practical wisdom”
Aristotelian virtue ethics is agent-centred, asking what kind of person to be rather than which rule to follow or outcome to produce. The aim is eudaimonia, flourishing across a complete life, which the function argument identifies as activity of the soul in accordance with virtue, since rational activity is the distinctive human function. A virtue is a stable state of character acquired by habituation, and each moral virtue lies as a mean between vices of excess and deficiency, with courage between recklessness and cowardice. Hitting the mean requires practical wisdom (phronesis). Objections include the guidance problem, cultural variation, conflicting virtues and circularity, to which defenders reply that mature ethics rightly relies on practical wisdom rather than a formula.
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What this dot point is asking
QCAA wants you to explain and evaluate the third major approach to ethics, which asks not "what should I do?" but "what kind of person should I be?" The set version is Aristotle's virtue ethics from the Nicomachean Ethics. You need eudaimonia, the function argument, virtue as a state of character, the doctrine of the mean, practical wisdom, and the standard objections. It completes the trio with utilitarianism and Kant.
The answer
The aim: eudaimonia
Aristotle (4th century BCE) begins from the idea that every activity aims at some good, and there must be a final good sought for its own sake. He calls it eudaimonia, usually translated "flourishing" or "living well," not mere momentary pleasure. Eudaimonia is the highest human good: a complete life lived well, in accordance with reason and virtue.
The function argument
To say what living well is for a human, Aristotle asks about our characteristic function (ergon). Plants grow and animals perceive, but the function distinctive of humans is rational activity. The good human life is therefore one of activity of the soul in accordance with virtue (arete), carried out well and over a complete life. Excellence is performing our rational function excellently.
Virtue as a state of character
A virtue is a stable disposition of character, acquired through habituation: we become just by doing just acts, brave by doing brave acts. Virtue is not a feeling or a one-off act but a settled trait that disposes us to feel and act rightly. This contrasts with rule- and outcome-based theories: virtue ethics is agent-centred, focused on character.
The doctrine of the mean
Aristotle holds that each moral virtue lies as a mean between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency, relative to us. Courage is the mean between recklessness (excess) and cowardice (deficiency); generosity between wastefulness and stinginess. The mean is not a bland average but the appropriate response, "at the right times, about the right things, towards the right people, for the right end, and in the right way." Some acts (murder, theft) admit no mean; they are simply wrong.
Practical wisdom
Hitting the mean requires practical wisdom (phronesis), the intellectual virtue of perceiving what the situation calls for and deliberating well about how to live. Practical wisdom is why virtue ethics resists mechanical rules: the wise person judges the particular case. The fully virtuous person both does the right thing and does it for the right reasons, with the right feelings, with ease.
Strengths
- It captures the importance of character, motivation and emotion, which rule- and outcome-based theories can neglect.
- It is realistic about moral development: we learn ethics by practice and example, not by memorising formulas.
- It gives a unified account of the good life rather than isolated verdicts on acts.
Objections
- The guidance problem: virtue ethics seems not to tell us what to do in a hard case; "do what the virtuous person would do" can look circular or unhelpful.
- Cultural variation: which traits count as virtues may vary across societies, raising a relativism worry.
- Conflicting virtues: honesty and kindness can pull in opposite directions, and the theory may not say which wins.
- Circularity: a virtuous act is one a virtuous person does, and a virtuous person is one who does virtuous acts; critics say this is uninformative without an independent account.
Defenders reply that practical wisdom, not a formula, is precisely what mature ethics requires, and that the unity of the virtues guides the wise person through conflicts.
Decide how a virtuous person handles being asked, in front of others, for honest feedback on a friend's poor performance.
Step 1: Identify the relevant virtue and its two vices
The virtue in play is honesty (truthfulness), flanked by the vice of excess (brutal, tactless bluntness) and the vice of deficiency (flattering dishonesty that withholds the truth).
Step 2: Reject the literal-average reading
The mean is not "tell half the truth". It is the appropriate response relative to this situation: the right content, to the right person, at the right time, in the right manner.
Step 3: Apply practical wisdom to the particulars
Phronesis weighs the circumstances: the friend needs accurate feedback to improve (so honesty is required), but a public setting risks humiliation. The wise judgement may be to give truthful feedback privately and constructively rather than bluntly in front of others.
Step 4: State the virtuous action and why it hits the mean
The virtuous person tells the truth kindly and at an apt moment, avoiding both cruelty and flattery. This is the mean because it is the response a person of good character, exercising practical wisdom, gives for the right reasons and with the right feeling.
Utilitarianism asks which act maximises good and Kant asks which maxim is universalisable, but virtue ethics asks what a person of good character would do, focusing on stable dispositions cultivated by habit and guided by practical wisdom. The mean is the appropriate response to a situation, not a bland midpoint.
- Reading the mean as a literal average
- It is the appropriate response relative to the situation and agent, not the arithmetic middle.
- Treating eudaimonia as pleasure
- It is flourishing across a whole life lived in accordance with virtue and reason, not momentary feeling.
- Ignoring practical wisdom
- Without phronesis, virtue ethics looks like a list of traits; phronesis is what applies them to cases.
- Saying virtues are innate
- Aristotle holds they are acquired through habituation and practice.
Try this
Q1. Explain Aristotle's function argument for eudaimonia. [4 marks]
- Cue. The human function is rational activity; the good life is rational activity of the soul in accordance with virtue over a complete life.
Q2. Explain the doctrine of the mean using courage. [3 marks]
- Cue. Courage is the mean between recklessness (excess) and cowardice (deficiency), the appropriate response to danger.
Q3. State the guidance objection to virtue ethics. [2 marks]
- Cue. It does not clearly tell us what to do in a hard case beyond imitating the virtuous person, which can seem circular.
Exam-style questions
Questions in the style of QCAA exam questions on this dot point, each with a worked answer. They are written by ExamExplained unless tagged "Past paper"; the year shows the paper a question is modelled on.
Practice7 marksEvaluate Aristotelian virtue ethics as an approach to morality, with reference to the guidance objection.Show worked answer →
A 7 mark response explains the theory, its appeal, and the guidance objection.
The theory. Virtue ethics is agent-centred, asking what kind of person to be. The aim is eudaimonia (flourishing over a complete life), which the function argument identifies as rational activity of the soul in accordance with virtue. A virtue is a stable state of character acquired by habituation, each lying as a mean between vices of excess and deficiency, and hitting the mean requires practical wisdom (phronesis).
Strengths. It captures the role of character, motivation and emotion, is realistic about moral development through practice and example, and gives a unified account of the good life.
Guidance objection. It seems not to tell us what to do in a hard case: "do what the virtuous person would do" can look circular or unhelpful compared with utilitarian or Kantian decision procedures.
Reply and verdict. Defenders argue mature ethics rightly relies on practical wisdom rather than a formula, and that the unity of the virtues guides the wise agent through conflicts. So the guidance objection identifies a real difference from rule-based theories but is not decisive; virtue ethics trades algorithmic guidance for situational judgement.
Markers reward an accurate account of eudaimonia, the mean and phronesis, the guidance objection, and a justified conclusion.
Practice5 marksExplain Aristotle's doctrine of the mean and the role of practical wisdom, using a specific virtue as an example.Show worked answer →
A 5 mark response explains the mean and links it to phronesis.
The mean. Each moral virtue lies as a mean between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency, relative to the agent and situation. Courage, for example, is the mean between recklessness (excess) and cowardice (deficiency). The mean is not a bland average but the appropriate response: the right feeling and action at the right time, toward the right people, for the right end.
Practical wisdom. Phronesis is the intellectual virtue of perceiving what a particular situation calls for and deliberating well. It is needed because the mean is relative to circumstances, so no fixed rule fixes it; the wise person judges that this danger calls for standing firm while that one calls for retreat.
Markers reward the excess/deficiency structure with a correct example and the explanation that phronesis identifies the mean in the particular case.