PHL281H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Theism, Fetus, Speciesism
Document Summary
Aristotle is the great exemplar in virtue ethics. Rosalind hursthouse has staked out a way to use him to confront contemporary issues. Under virtue ethics, what matters most in a person"s life is his eudaemonia, which is literally well-spiritedness. it is about ourishing and having a meaningful life. It speaks to the whole life"s meaningfulness, and not one particular instance. It can even depend on things that happen after your death. It is not particularly dependent on a person, and it may be thwarted by bad luck or misfortune. There is a sort of objectivity to eudaemonia. Someone can think that their life is going well and be entirely wrong about that. In this way, we could be wasting our time. The question each of us faces is whether the life we are leading then is one worth living. Virtue, under aristotle, are those traits of characters that contribute to having a meaningful life.
