5. Man's End, Virtue, and the Act with Reason

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Man’s Distinctive End #

• Every thing with its own act has a corresponding end or purpose
• Man’s distinctive act is the act with reason (not mere abstract reason, but actions ordered or measured by reason)
• Man’s end is therefore the act with reason done well, achieved throughout a complete life
• This end is called happiness or beatitude

Three Methods of Reasoning to Man’s End #

1. Large Induction #

• Begins with concrete examples: a knife’s act is cutting (end: cut well); an eye’s act is seeing (end: see well); a cook’s act is cooking (end: cook well)
• Generalizes: every thing’s own act done well is its end
• Concludes: man’s own act (act with reason) done well is man’s end

2. Proportional Reasoning #

• Establishes proportion: “seeing is to the eye as [act with reason] is to man”
• Since seeing is the purpose of the eye, the act with reason must be the purpose of man
• Can be progressively refined: “seeing well is to the eye as [act with reason done well] is to man”
• Further: “seeing well throughout life is to the eye as [act with reason done well throughout life] is to man”
• Any change to one member of a proportion requires corresponding changes to others

3. Either-Or Argument #

• Man’s end is not merely living (shared with plants)
• Man’s end is not merely sensing (shared with animals)
• Man’s end must be the activity of reason, which is unique to man
• Therefore: living well means living the life of reason
• Aristotle dismisses lower functions as not “man’s own”

Virtue as the Key to Acting Well #

General Meaning of Virtue #

• Virtue is the quality that makes a thing good and enables it to perform its own act well
• Applies to all things that have their own act: knives (sharpness), eyes (clear vision), herbs (savor), humans (the quality enabling reason)
• The opposite of virtue is vice—the quality that prevents good action or diminishes it
• Berquist emphasizes starting with non-human examples to understand virtue clearly

Why “Act Well” = “Act by Virtue” #

• A good knife cuts well because it has the virtue of sharpness
• A virtuous eye sees clearly because it has the virtue that enables clear vision
• A man acts well when he acts by virtue—the quality in his soul that enables his characteristic act (reasoning) to be performed excellently
• Therefore, to act well and to act by virtue are equivalent

The Definition of Moral Virtue #

• Moral virtue is a habit with choice, existing in the middle towards us, as determined by right reason
• The “middle” is not objective but relative to the agent and circumstances (the “middle towards us”)
• Examples:
  • Courage: the middle in anger (between cowardice and recklessness)
  • Temperance: the middle in bodily pleasures (between excess and deficiency)
  • Mildness: the middle in anger regarding honor
  • Liberality: the middle in giving/receiving money (between stinginess and extravagance)
• Right reason (or prudence/foresight) determines what is appropriate in particular circumstances

Act with Reason vs. Act of Reason #

Distinction #

• Act of reason: reasoning itself, understanding, contemplation (the intellect acting directly)
• Act with reason: any action ordered or measured by reason (reasonable anger, reasonable love, reasonable walking, reasonable fear)
• Key difference: Not every act with reason is an act of reason

Significance #

• The lecture leaves open whether man’s ultimate end consists more in the act of reason itself or in acts ordered by reason
• Berquist notes this is a “further precision to come later” in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
• Both are “with reason” but have different structures

Completeness Requirement #

• One swallow does not make a summer; one day does not make one blessed and happy
• Man’s end must be achieved throughout a complete life
• Relates to the Christian virtue of perseverance
• This qualification distinguishes happiness from momentary pleasure or achievement

Key Arguments #

The Proportional Structure of Reasoning #

• If the chief good of a man is no more than the chief good of a beast (sleeping and feeding), then man is no more than a beast
• But man is more than a beast
• Therefore, the chief good of man must be something more than the chief good of a beast
• This uses the structure of a reductio: deny the consequent to deny the antecedent

Why Reason Determines Virtue in Action #

• Only reason can perceive circumstances and determine what is appropriate
• A doctor should not drink before surgery but may after ten hours of intense work
• Anger is appropriate when someone threatens your child; less appropriate when someone bumps you in a hallway
• How much to eat depends on circumstances: more at Thanksgiving (honoring Grandma’s work) than normally
• Reason is what enables the “middle towards us” to be found in each case

Choice as More Truly “Me” Than Emotion #

• A man pledges marriage through choice, not merely feeling
• When tempted to infidelity, is he being true to himself by following emotion or by honoring his choice?
• An alcoholic who has chosen to abstain but then drinks is not being true to himself (not true to his more fundamental choice)
• Premeditated murder is judged more severely than crime of passion because it involves deliberate choice
• Therefore: reasonable choice is more truly oneself than sudden emotion

Important Definitions #

Virtue (ἀρετή / arete) #

• The quality that makes a thing good and enables it to do its own act well
• General meaning applicable to all things with their own act
• For humans: the quality in the soul that enables man to act with reason excellently

Vice (κακία / kakia) #

• The opposite of virtue; the quality that diminishes or prevents good action
• Examples: dullness (vice of the knife), myopia (vice of the eye), rancidity (vice of the herb)

Act with Reason (ἐν λόγῳ / en logō) #

• Any action ordered or measured by reason
• Includes reasonable emotions, reasonable choices, reasonable physical activities
• Broader than “act of reason” which is reason operating directly

The Middle Towards Us (τὸ μέσον πρὸς ἡμῖν / to meson pros hēmīn) #

• Not an objective mathematical middle
• The appropriate amount or manner relative to the particular agent in particular circumstances
• Determined by right reason (prudence/foresight)
• Example: a working man may eat more than a professor; a surgeon may drink after, not before, surgery

Foresight / Prudence (phronesis / prudentia) #

• Right reason about doing (as opposed to right reason about making)
• The intellectual virtue that perceives what is appropriate in particular circumstances
• Essential for determining the “middle towards us” in moral virtue

Examples & Illustrations #

The Knife #

• Own act: cutting
• Virtue: sharpness (makes the knife good and enables it to cut well)
• Vice: dullness
• Acquisition: learning how to sharpen the knife
• Parallels: just as one learns to sharpen a knife, one must learn to acquire virtue

The Eye #

• Own act: seeing
• Virtue: whatever quality enables clear and distinct vision
• Vice: the defect causing blurriness (myopia, astigmatism, etc.)
• Berquist’s example: his right eye is more virtuous at distance; left eye causes blurring
• Not about moral virtue, but shows how virtue applies to organs

The Herb #

• Own act: seasoning food
• Virtue: savor (makes herbs good and food delicious)
• Vice: rancidity or staleness (losing virtue after being stored too long)
• Biblical allusion: “You are the salt of the earth; if the salt loses its savor…” (Christ in Matthew)
• Warren Murray’s kitchen plaque: “Much virtue in herbs, little in men”

Shakespeare’s Exhortation (Hamlet) #

• “What is a man if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed a beast no more?”
• Uses proportional reasoning: chief good of beast is to sleep and feed; if man’s chief good is the same, then man is no more than a beast
• But man is more than a beast
• Therefore, man’s chief good must be more than sleeping and feeding
• Berquist calls this “the greatest short exhortation to use reason I’ve ever seen”
• Shows how Shakespeare had clearly read Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

The Doctor’s Drink #

• Before brain surgery: drinking would be vice (imprudence)
• After ten hours of intense surgery: a drink might help him relax—potentially virtuous
• Reason must consider circumstances to determine what is appropriate
• Shows why only reason can perceive the “middle towards us”

The Farmer’s Meal #

• A farm worker needs a meal between breakfast and lunch to keep going
• A professor does not need such a meal
• The “middle” in eating is different for different people based on their work and circumstances

Falstaff (Henry IV) #

• Does not live according to reason
• Asks “What time of day is it?” without concern for temporal order
• A reasonable person considers what time it is because different times call for different actions
• Demonstrates failure to live the life of reason

Proteus (The Two Gentlemen of Verona) #

• Engaged to Julia with “thousand soul-confirming oaths”
• Pursues his friend’s girl at court
• Claims he must be true to himself by following his emotion
• But he is false to his friend Valentine and to Julia
• Contrasts with Polonius’s principle: “This above all: to thine own self be true”
• The play suggests that following emotion is not being true to oneself; following reasonable choice is

Coriolanus #

• Stays true to his angry nature
• Berquist indicates this demonstrates the same error as Proteus: conflating true self with emotional nature

Polonius (Hamlet) #

• “This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man”
• Suggests that being true to oneself (to one’s reason and choice) prevents being false to others
• Contrasts with both Proteus and Coriolanus, who use emotion as justification for betrayal

Notable Quotes #

“The general meaning of virtue is what makes a thing good and its own act good.” — Duane Berquist, explaining the fundamental concept of virtue

“One swallow does not make a summer; one day does not make one blessed and happy.” — Aristotle, on the necessity of completeness in achieving happiness

“Much virtue in herbs, little in men.” — Warren Murray’s kitchen plaque, illustrating the pervasiveness of the concept of virtue

“You are the salt of the earth; if the salt loses its savor…” — Christ (Matthew), biblical application of the concept of virtue

“What is a man if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed a beast no more?” — Shakespeare (Hamlet), using proportional reasoning to establish man’s distinctive end

“This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” — Polonius (Hamlet), on the connection between self-knowledge and virtue

“A habit with choice, existing in the middle towards us, as determined by right reason.” — Aristotle (via Berquist), the definition of moral virtue

“Choice is more you than emotion.” — Duane Berquist, summarizing the relationship between choice, emotion, and true selfhood

Questions Addressed #

How do we know man’s end is the act with reason done well? #

• Three methods: large induction from particulars, proportional reasoning, and either-or argument
• All three converge on the same conclusion
• The either-or method is particularly effective because it eliminates alternatives

Is the act with reason the same as the act of reason? #

• No: Act of reason is reasoning/understanding itself; act with reason includes any action ordered by reason
• Examples of acts with reason but not of reason: reasonable anger, reasonable love, reasonable walking
• Implication: man’s end might include a broader range of activities than contemplation alone
• Further precision on this distinction is deferred to later in Aristotle’s Ethics

What makes a knife a good knife? #

• Its sharpness (virtue), which enables it to cut well
• This is the model for understanding human virtue: the quality that enables man to do his act well

What determines what is the “middle” in virtue? #

• Not an objective quantity, but circumstances and the agent
• Only reason can perceive these circumstances and determine what is appropriate
• Examples: how much to eat, when to get angry, how to give money, etc.

Is following emotion being true to oneself? #

• No: Reasonable choice is more truly “me” than sudden emotion
• Proteus thinks he must be true to his emotional nature but is actually false to himself and others
• Polonius correctly states that being true to oneself (one’s reason) prevents being false to others

Why does Aristotle discuss moral virtues before the virtues of reason? #

• Reason 1: Moral virtues are more known to us (better starting point)
• Reason 2: Moral virtues dispose us for the virtues of reason; without temperance and courage, we cannot develop prudence and wisdom
• One cannot pursue the life of the mind well without first establishing good moral character

Must happiness be achieved in a moment? #

• No: One swallow does not make a summer; one day does not make one blessed
• Happiness must be achieved throughout a complete life
• This introduces the Christian concept of perseverance