Lead with Integrity Ethics 101: Aristotle

Aristotle is considered the godfather of virtue ethics. Virtue ethics is focused on the development of good moral character over adherence to duty (deontological ethics) or bringing about the highest number of good consequences (utilitarianism). As most other musings about virtue ethics are derived from Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, this article aims to be a helpful guide on 1). Who was Aristotle and what did he think? And 2). What lessons on leadership does his theory provide?

Aristotle

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle aims to explain how to be a good person and live a good life. He begins with his ideas on “good”- how it might be defined, how it might be interpreted and how it might be achieved. He eventually concludes that the utmost human good is that of happiness. The goal of a virtuous life, therefore, is to be happy. Aristotle reaches this conclusion by methodically eliminating all other things that are sought as a means to some other end. People might seek health, wealth, wisdom, or wit- but why? To Aristotle, they all aim at the ultimate goal: happiness.

Happiness is the end goal of a virtuous life, but how does a person become a virtuous person whose life will be happy? There are three main principles to achieving good character: action, reason and habit. To Aristotle, one cannot be virtuous passively, but only actively. To illustrate this, he explains that while there are many people who are strong, only those who participate in the Olympics can win a prize. To win the prize of happiness in life, one must actively participate in doing what is right and good.

If being happy requires doing what is right, how are “right” and “good” determined? Through reason of course! The Aristotelian definition of reason leans more towards what is sensible and away from what is logical. The good can be found in the sensible middle ground between two extremes. This can be best illustrated with the Aristotelian virtue of bravery. Bravery is defined as the middle ground between the extremes of cowardice and rashness. It is not brave to fight every fight, and it is certainly not brave to avoid every fight. What is brave is to fight the right fights and avoid the wrong ones.

If virtues are found in the middle of extremes, a person, too, must actively orient their life so that it lives between extremes. How is this accomplished? Through habits. It is important to note here that no man, in Aristotle’s view, is born virtuous or is naturally more virtuous than another but rather becomes so through the practice of good and virtuous living. To become just is to repeatedly do just actions and to become brave is to repeatedly do brace actions. As a person habituates themselves to the good, their judgement of virtue becomes clearer and clearer. As a person practices the virtue of bravery, they are more and more easily able to determine which fights are worth fighting and which should be left alone. This development is important to Aristotle. The more you practice being good, the more being good becomes second nature. 

Through actively seeking to live a good life as determined by reason and ingrained by habit, a person can truly achieve their purpose: happiness.

Leadership

The lessons about leadership in the Nicomachean Ethics are hidden in passages that discuss the roles of good teachers and good politicians. Though not every leader will be a teacher or a politician, every leader will be involved in instruction (teaching) and in the development of structure (politics).

Just as character is achieved by habit, the opposite can also be true. The example Aristotle gives is that a harpist who practices the harp poorly will always just be bad at playing the harp. This is where the leader comes in. In this context, the first job of a leader would be to know how to play the harp well and then to pass that knowledge to a follower. A leader must first have good character before they can instill good character in their followers. Another way that Aristotle determines that which is good is by asking the question, “Would a good person do it?”  A leader, then, demonstrates daily what he or she determines to be good by what he or she does.  

While no one starts off virtuous by nature, Aristotle does admit that those who are born to virtuous families in virtuous cities will be much more easily habituated to the good than those who are starting from scratch. In this way, Aristotle states that “the legislator makes citizens good by habituating them.” The same can be said of an organizational leader. A leader who sets fair, firm and just rules and guidelines will have followers who are habituated daily to the good just by following the rules. Setting a standard for ethical behavior within an organization helps everyone to become more ethical. 

All said and done, Aristotle believed that it is not results that make an action good or bad, but rather the character of the person that performs them.  To be an ethical leader, one must study and continuously practice doing that which is good so that they can create rules and structure that promote an environment of ethical behavior. The ethical leader must also always act in accordance with these rules as it is through actions, not beliefs that a moral life
(happiness) can be achieved.

– Alyssa Gallas, Operations Manager