Question

Explain why Aristotelian ethics shares teleological (i.e., not deontological) element, but still cannot be equated with Utilitarian consequentialism.

Answer 1

Aristotelian virtue focuses on the character of the person to determine whether an act is virtuous or non-virtuous. This would mean that people would learn virtuous acts through experience and exposure. Since all virtuous people would try to produce a good outcome for many people and would also not engage in any harmful acts. Thus, it aligns closely with the utilitarian but when it come to virtue, people with good character may not engage in harmful acts as per the utilitarian which might allow harm to minimum number of people in the pursuit of maximizing benefit for the maximum.

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