Exam 10: Virtue Ethics

To become virtuous, Aristotle recommends

Case Study Ever since she was a child, Tai has loved theater and film. She longs to become an actor. She doesn't know any great actors personally, but she studiously learns about the field and develops sophisticated taste in the quality of acting performances. By the time she is an adult, Tai has a short list of actors she truly admires as artists and she looks to them as role models. When planning how to live her life and pursue her career goals, she does her best to model the trajectories and traits of these role models. Tai decides to go to college to study the dramatic arts. There, she takes a course in ancient Greek philosophy and finds virtue ethics very appealing. She decides to apply the theory to her own way of life. Before she can determine how to live, she has to determine whether she is aiming at the right target. She asks herself: "Are the people I've identified as my role models truly moral exemplars?" -Imagine that Tai learns more about her role models and discovers they do not prioritize spending time with their families. She's not sure how important it is to spend time with one's family. Can virtue theory help her answer this question?

Write an essay discussing Aristotle's conception of virtue. What exactly is a virtue, according to Aristotle? Give an example of a virtue and explain why it is a virtue, in Aristotle's view. Is his account plausible? Why or why not?