Aristotle’s virtues and how to acquire them

Abstract

Now the turn has come to say more both about which virtues, and capacities, Aristotle had in mind and how agents are expected to acquire them. While the focus in this chapter is on the character virtues as well as the intellectual virtues the discussion also extends to how agents are supposed to instill them and how we become (more) virtuous agents. Consequently, a number of key concepts connected to the virtues, e.g., the Doctrine of the Mean, moral expertise and the process of deliberation, are explained and problematized. In addition to providing a theory background the following is also intended to work as a ‘reference chapter’ that the reader could re-visit while reading other parts of the book.