Virtue ethics: Aristotle and the golden mean

In short: Virtue ethics doesn’t primarily ask about right actions or rules, but about what character a good person should have. Aristotle saw virtues as learnable dispositions that find the golden mean between two extremes.

In more detail: For Aristotle, courage lies between the extremes of cowardice and recklessness, and only through repeated practice does a stable character develop.

In detail

• Eudaimonia: Aristotle saw a good, fulfilled life as the highest goal of human striving, achieved through virtuous action.
• The golden mean: Every virtue lies between an excess and a deficiency, for example generosity between stinginess and extravagance.
• Character through habit: According to Aristotle, virtues don’t arise from insight alone but through repeated virtuous action until it becomes habit.
• Practical wisdom: Phronesis, the ability to recognize the right measure in concrete situations, is considered a key virtue underlying all others.
• Difference from rule ethics: Unlike Kant’s duty ethics, this is not about abstract rules but about a person’s concrete character formation (kategorischer-imperativ-kant).
• Modern revival: In the 20th century, virtue ethics experienced a rediscovery as an alternative to purely rule- or consequence-oriented ethics (utilitarismus-nutzen-fuer-alle).
• Criticisms: Critics note that the golden mean is often difficult to determine objectively and depends heavily on cultural assumptions.