Virtue Ethics Intro
This week I’ve been studying Philippa Foot’s deceptively slender book Natural Goodness (2001). This is a superb book, detailing a Neo-Aristotlean view of ethics. Resurrecting virtue ethics from what seemed like a consignment to the trash-bin of history, she convincingly argues for a way of appraising moral statements in a naturalistic context. The book is sublime, well-argued, and incisive in mires that usually distort the discussions. I’ll write more about virtue ethics and Dr. Foot’s work as I finish it, in this post I want to give a brief overview of virtue ethics. This post will be an introduction for the piece next week on how I apply virtue ethics to artistry.
Going back to at least Socrates[i] a strain of ethical thought has been a mainstay in Western philosophy: Virtue Ethics. Plato and Aristotle both tried their hand at formulations of this ethics, Aristotle trying twice, to varying degrees of success. Given my own metaphysical commitments virtue ethics squares quite well with the processual and agential strands in my thought. This along with the innumerable problems of the other two main schools of ethical thought[ii] has made me a devoted follower of this ancient tradition. Virtue ethics is a grounded and pragmatic attempt at dealing with moral issues. Instead of taking a god’s-eye view it centers morality on the agents involved. This makes a morality of intense interest to the artist who above all else must learn to control and direct her habits. For the days are the fibers of her digestion. The more nutritious, the better the aesthetic fruits.
Once the great Plato scolded a child for gambling with nuts, the child shrugged it off, saying “You are scolding me for a trifle.” To this Plato retorted, “Habit is no trifle.” Today’s habits are tomorrow’s nature. In keeping with this virtue ethical maxim an artist must realize that their art is only going to be as deep and penetrating as they are. It isn’t coincidence that the best poets, painters and actors are all avid readers who scour all facets of experience for the artistic mana that is laden in our sedimented society. So how to do this? What are some ways an artist can establish habits that lead towards deeper more resonating art? Next week I’ll try to give a pencil sketch of some way this helps me to clarify my actions in the face of adversity and in the too little discussed area of artistic genesis.
[i]Unless otherwise mentioned I’ll refer to Socrates as himself even though his own positions might be substantially different than those espoused in the Platonic dialogues.
[ii]Deontology and Utilitarianism.