ETHICS OF ASPIRATION

“What Lifetime Goals Should I Set For Myself?”

• What should I value?

• To what should I aspire?

• What should I pursue in life?

• What path(s) should I take?

Alice’s Encounter with the Cheshire Cat

“The cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good-natured she thought; still it had very long claws and a great many teeth so she felt it ought to be treated with respect. ‘Cheshire puss,’ she began, rather timidly as she did not at all know whether it would like the name. However, it only grinned a little wider. ‘Come, it’s pleased so far,’ thought Alice and she went on...

‘Would you tell me please which way I ought to go from here?’ ‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat. ‘I don’t much care where,’ said Alice. ‘Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.--’Oh, so long as I get somewhere!’ Alice added as an exclamation. ‘Oh, you’re sure to do that,’ said the Cat, ‘if you only walk long enough.’ ”

Lewis Carroll

“WHAT IS (OR ARE)

THE GOAL (OR GOALS)

OF LIFE?”

“Begin with the end in mind.”*

Stephen R. Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

* Based on the principle that all things are created twice. There’s first a mental image, a vision; followed by the creating, bringing into reality, the thing itself.

“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You image what you

desire, you will what you imagine, and at last you create what you will.”

George Bernard Shaw

“What you SEE determines

who you ARE...and

who you ARE determines

what you DO.”

Huston Smith professor, philosophy of religion

“WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?”

Aristotle’s answer:

Greek: “Eudaimonia”

English: Happiness/Well- Being

ARISTOTLE’S DEFINITION OF

HAPPINESS

“A complete life, lived in accordance with virtue,and attended by a moderate supply of external goods.”

“A COMPLETE LIFE...”

“… LIVED IN ACCORDANCE WITH

VIRTUE”

Virtue in the Greek is “ARETE” … literally meaning excellence.

Virtue = Excellence

VIRTUE/EXCELLENCE

understood by the Greeks as

“FULLMENT OF FUNCTION”

VIRTUE(S)

The CHARACTERistics of an individual’s personality that motivates them to fulfill their nature and potential as human beings.

CHARACTER=INTEGRITY

Manifesting those qualities which are integral to being an excellent human being.

“Virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money, and every other good of man, public as well as private.”

Socrates

Virtues are conditions for personal success within a social fabric

Socrates

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. Nothing is more important for the public weal than to form and train up youth in wisdom and virtue.”

Benjamin Franklin

To live the happy life, one must live a virtuous life, which is a life of excellence; with excellence understood as:

• Fulfilling the Functionof being a human being,

and• Fulfilling our unique function

of being an individual person.

VIRTUES FOR ARISTOTLE

• Moral

• Intellectual

MORAL VIRTUE

Rationally Controlling One’s Behavior

The (CHARACTER)istics of an individual’s personality (psyche) which motivates them to control their behavior by abiding by rules of morality are virtues.

ARISTOTLE’S MODEL

Deficiency Golden Mean Excess

CowardiceExcess Fear

CourageStrength toVenture

RashnessDeficient Fear

FrugalityMiserly/Stingy

LiberalityGenerous

ProdigalityWasteful/Spendthrift

AbstinenceAustere/Deprivation

TemperanceSelf-Restraint

GluttonyGreedy/Insatiable

HumilitySelf-Deprecating

PrideSelf-Respect

VanityArrogant/Boastful

PLATO’S VIRTUES

Three Dimensionsof Human Life

CorrespondingVirtues

Appetitive(Feeling/Desiring)

Temperance

Spirited(Willing)

Courage

Rational(Thinking)

Wisdom

The Republic

VIRTUES

Aristotle: Temperance,Courage, Justice,Self-Respect,Liberality

Acquinas: Temperance,Courage, Justice,Prudence

Theological: Faith, Hope, Love

Englehardt: Tolerance,Liberality, Prudence

INTELLECTUAL VIRTUE/EXCELLENCE

Pursuit and Contemplation of Truth

• Truly unique function of the human is rationality…our self-conscious reflection of on our lives and their direction.

• Led Aristotle to conclude that our intellect/rationality is the noblest part of our nature.

• Therefore, to truly “fulfil our function” as humans…to be virtuous; we must cultivate our intellectuality--we must be continual learners.

• Learning, the growth and development of all of our capacities through experience is core to our being. We are learning beings.

“If happiness consists of virtuous activity, it must be the activity of the highest virtue,or in other words, of the best part of our nature…We conclude then that happiness reaches as far as the power of thought does, and that the greater a person’s power of thought, the greater will be his happiness; not as something accidental but in virtue of his thinking, for that is noble itself. Hence happiness must be a form of contemplation.” Aristotle

“I don’t think we are here to be happy…we are here to learn.”

Scott Peck, author The Road Less Traveled “Education (learning) is not

preparation for life…it is life itself.”

John Dewey American philosopher

VICES• Mendacity (Lying)• Cowardice• Rashness• Frugality• Vanity• Humility• Greed• Envy• Deceitfulness• Sloth• Cruelty• Contempt• Treachery• Avarice

VIRTUES (AND VICES)

AS

HABITS

“We are what we repeatedly do.”

Aristotle

“There is nothing training cannot do. Nothing is above its reach. It can turn

bad morals to good; it can destroy bad

principles and recreate good

ones…”

Mark Twain

“The beginning of a habit is like an invisible thread that every time we repeat the act we strengthen the strand, add to it another filament, until it becomes a great cable and binds us irrevocably, thought and act.”

Orison Swett Marden

“… ATTENDED BY A MODERATE SUPPLY

OF EXTERNAL GOODS.”

“Eight Ages of Life”Erik Erikson

in Childhood and Society

• Eight “Psychosocial Ages,” span human life, each with its unique “psychosocial task,”

• Final task is: “integrity versus dispair”

• Integrity:– Lived a Good Life– Lived a Fulfilling Life– Lived a Life Realizing My Potential– Lived a Live of Continual Learning– Lived a Happy Life

• Despair:– Lived an Undisciplined Life– Lived a Life of Unrealized Potential– Lived a Life of Unfulfilled Aspirations– Lived a Life Failing to Learn– Lived a Life of Unhappiness

SUMMARY

• Goal of life is happiness

• Happiness is well-being; in our existence to be well.

• Being well is intimately linked to fulfilling our function as humans.

• Fulfilling our function is dependent on living life of excellence, or to use the Greek … a life of virtue.

LIFE’S MORAL IMPERATIVE

“To Be What One Is Potentially; A Person … In A Community of Persons.”

Paul Tillich

“Don’t Scream At Death When You Realize You Were

Not All You Could Have Been.”

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross in On Death and Dying