John Dewey and the Habits of Ethical Life by Kosnoski Jason;

Author:Kosnoski, Jason;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2010-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

The other “conditions” therefore establish that a person must choose to enter this relationship with oneself, and this choice can only be formed through habit [ethos] or a cultivated or good disposition [hexis arete]. The ability to endure and appreciate displeasure cannot merely be chosen as one would choose a hat; it can only result from repeated acts in which the individual is repeatedly induced to choose that act. Aristotle states, “In a word, characteristics develop from corresponding activities. For that reason the individual must see to it that our activities are of a certain kind, since any variations in them will be reflected in our characteristics.”11 To summarize, virtue is a state in which an actor possesses the ability to control their desires gained through repeated exposure to what otherwise would be considered displeasureable, and therefore has learned to enjoy what others might find difficult.

Although Aristotle identifies the curbing of irrational desire as the primary role played by virtue, he articulates other abilities necessary to perform good acts. Specifically, he states that intellectual virtues must guide the moral virtues by discerning the form that self control must take in a specific situation. In other words moral virtues of control motivate actors to choose the act determined by intellectual virtues of judgment. He emphasizes that “there cannot be choice without either intelligence or thought or without some moral characteristic; for good and bad action in human conduct are not possible without thought and character.”12 Specifically he states, “virtue or excellences not only a characteristic which is guided by right reason, but also a characteristic which is united with right reason; and right reason in moral matters is practical wisdom [phronesis].”13 It is important to note that Aristotle identifies phronesis as the particular intellectual virtue applicable to action because it differs from the theoretical wisdom [sophia] relevant to determining truth. Pericles and other men who exhibit virtues such as practical wisdom do not gain this ability through philosophical reasoning, but instead become wise by observing numerous examples of wise action and their consequences. The man who exhibits practical wisdom “must also be familiar with particulars, since it is concerned with action and action has to do with particulars. This explains why some men who have no scientific knowledge are more adept at practical matters, especially if they have experience, than those who have scientific knowledge.”14 Aristotle here emphasizes that practical wisdom might be teachable in a classroom, but only through “case method,” and not through the mastery of formulae and rational deliberation. And eventually when the individual accumulates enough practical wisdom they will be able to determine the mean between two extreme applications of a transcendent principle, which Aristotle believes to be the general “form” that good judgments take. He states in Book Six of the Ethics “in the characteristics we have discussed, as in all others, there is some target on which a rational man keeps his eye as he bends and relaxes his efforts to attain it. There is

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