Opponents to Aristotle’s theory of virtue and character development

The sound principles established by Aristotle (384-322 BC) in the field of ethics were quickly abandoned. His philosophy of virtue and character development gathered a vast number of enemies precisely because it is fair and realistic. Too many people don’t want to hear the truths enunciated by Aristotle, namely, that human beings are rational, that they are responsible for their own choices, and that their happiness will depend on making the right choices. In his books “Eudemian Ethics” and “Nicomachean Ethics,” Aristotle had identified happiness as the primary goal for every human being, and ethics as the science of achieving happiness. Virtues, according to Aristotle, are habits that contribute to happiness. He encouraged his students to practise benevolence, courage, honesty, justice, temperance and generosity because those habits are proven to make one’s life better. Character development consists of acquiring good habits, so that those become second nature. If you practise temperance, courage and honesty every day, they’ll help you make the right choices when confronted with severe problems. It takes a long time to develop a virtuous character. Aristotle wrote in the second book of “Nicomachean Ethics,” that the development of virtues requires constant practice. There are no short-cuts to character development but the efforts are worth it. Note that I’m referring to partitions within Aristotle’s works as “books” because each original hand-written work consisted of several parchment rolls. When quoting Aristotelian works, it is customary to refer to the original parchment rolls as “books” instead of calling them sections or chapters. Why have other philosophers opposed Aristotle’s theory of virtue and character development? Because of fear, anxiety and wishful thinking; because they don’t want to take responsibility for their own success and happiness. The French philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) is one of the leading opponents to Aristotelian ethics. His writings in this area were published in 1669 under the title “Pensees,” which in French means “Thoughts” or “Reflections.” Pascal’s concept of virtue is the opposite of Aristotle’s. The difference between their ideas is not a matter of chance. Pascal had enjoyed a sound education and was very familiar with the works of Aristotle. His opposition to Aristotle was deliberate in every respect. Pascal’s concept of virtue is rooted in medieval superstition, fear and anxiety. He viewed confusion and apprehension as the dominant emotions in humans, and reason as incapable to deal with those problems. He discarded Aristotle’s call for rationality and certainty, but then devoted dozens of pages to abstruse speculations, arguing that one should believe in God and pray just in case. He spoke in favour of self-sacrifice and humility, but acknowledged that they won’t lead to happiness. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/opponents-to-aristotles-theory-of-virtue-and-character-development/