Virtue-ethics is the philosophy that seeks to describe the ideal way to understand and live a life of moral character. This can be attained by examining an individual’s character-based approaches to moral conflicts, and the ways in which one would strive to act honestly and justly in a given circumstance, without any hindrance of bias. By doing these things, an individual will in turn develop a more honorable and moral character. One individual that truly portrays the virtue-ethicist’s view of a moral character is Joan of Arc. By examining the theories of both Aristotle and Julia Annas on the characteristics of a virtuous person, it is apparent that Joan of Arc highlights many of the most important factors of obtaining an honorable and moral character.
Aristotle’s perspective on ethics was that in order to truly grasp another individual’s ethical thinking, one must observe how that individual behaves, and how their virtues impacted their actions and decision-making processes. In his writings on Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle makes the assumption that humans think and react in a certain way, with the sole intent to achieve happiness. This is where Aristotle’s idea of virtue comes into play, which he describes as the balance between “excess” and “deficiency”, or in other words, taking things in moderation.
He believes that humans should be able to indulge in their existence, but not in a way that becomes selfish. They will attempt to avoid pain and things that do not bring them pleasure, but they should not expect that life will be entirely void of it. It is through this understanding that one is able to live a virtuous life of moderation and find happiness, and in turn, deem themselves to be an ethical being. It is in finding the balance between the good and the bad, and understanding that there are circumstances that will arise that one cannot change, that an individual can be content with their life and feel as if they are an ethically sound. This scenario applies to Joan of Arc by examining her life as a military leader and missionary.
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Joan of Arc was assumed to be chosen by God to lead France to victory during the Hundred Year’s War. It was through her leadership that France eventually was led to victory over the English and Burgundians. As a military leader, Joan had the responsibility of making many tactical decisions that would greatly impact those serving under her, which would call for her to need to be extremely aware of not only the benefits of her actions, but also the cost that will arise as a result of her choices. The analogous comparison of her life as a military leader is that her mission was to achieve freedom for the people of France, or the happiness of her and her people to relate to Aristotle.
However, like mentioned by Aristotle, to achieve moral balance, there must also be the assumption of pain and loss, which Joan of Arc was no stranger to, as she sacrificed herself as a martyr to ensure the happiness of others. Joan of Arc embodies Aristotle’s theory of virtue ethics because her actions throughout her life were based on achieving the happiness of others, in a way that was balanced by both good outcomes and bad outcomes, which would by definition of his theory, lead an individual to perceive Joan of Arc’s life to have been ethical.
Julia Annas’ perspective on ethics, while it stems from Aristotle’s ideals, instead argues that a virtuous lifestyle must involve practical reasoning, or in some way exercising a practical skill. Annas claims that general virtues often come from social contexts and are not always suitable for ethical thinking. She believes that consequentialism and doing the right thing through a developmental process are a clearer theories for taking a just course of action.
According to Annas, it is more likely that an individual will see the best course of action as the one that avoids the least favorable consequence, which leads the individual to perceive that as being the most virtuous option. Annas describes this process in a procedural way, with an individual identifying a morally relevant situation, and then developing the practical wisdom need for said situation, but in a way that will go beyond what one has learned from others and allow that person to obtain their own principles and insight to allow them t make their best personal judgement.
While Joan of Arc fits exceptionally into Aristotle’s theory, she also displays many of decision-making qualities described in Annas’ theory or virtue-ethics. Joan of Arc was born on a farm, and had no prior military training before leading the French army. As just a seventeen year old leading an army, Joan needed to develop her practical skills as she learned from encountering different situations. It would clearly take a great deal of bravery to accomplish what she did, but she did not walk into her position with her confidence.
As Annas described, when an individual enters a morally relevant situation, they develop their practical wisdom as they go. As an example, Joan went into her first battle terrified of what may happen, but instead of showing it, she portrayed herself as confident and brave to those around herself. After winning her battle and seeing the effect her bravery and confidence had on her men, she understood the importance of having the quality of bravery in battle to make the hard decisions of war. Annas’ theory is relevant to Joan of Arc’s military leadership because it is the practical reasoning behind her virtues that allowed her the means to her ethical decision making.
Although it may appear that virtue-ethicists have reasonable explanations to defining a virtuous person, it is incidentally difficult to holistically encompass the idea of a virtuous person due to the complexity of the idea. There are a few problems that arise from attempting to define a virtuous person. For Aristotle’s theory, he does not essentially give much guidance on how an individual is supposed to act in a given situation, so therefore it cannot be a moral guide.
However, it was never Aristotle’s intention for his theory to be used in that way. His theory states that morality in complicated, and that it takes experience and time to truly mold good character. For Annas’ theory, some argue that if you do not have the practical wisdom needed for the circumstance, how could you possibly know if your actions were the right thing to do. Her counter to this is that virtue is learned, and if an individual does not have the schema to make a decision, they will often emulate the decision of another individual with whom they identify as being virtuous.
Through the examination of the philosophers Aristotle and Julia Annas and their theories on virtue ethics, an individual that may be seen as moral and virtuous highlights certain qualities that lead them to believe they live an ethical lifestyle, such as the actions of Joan of Arc. By analyzing the personal choices of an individual in moral conflicts, one can see that the honorable and moral characteristics of an individual come from their ability to strive towards acting honest and just in a given circumstance, regardless of which means to and end they use, whether it be similar to Aristotle or Annas’ theory of virtue ethics.
