331 Takes on Taylor

Richard Taylor

In Monday’s class, we discussed the following ideas associated with Richard Taylor’s essay, “Virtue Ethics":

1) "There are many ingredients to J, but no one thing causes J (227)

2) J is similar to health, but J is not the same thing as health (230)  (Not all healthy people are J, but all J people are healthy; health is necessary for happiness but sufficient for J) (231)

3) The expression of creative intelligence is necessary, but not sufficient, for J (232-233)

4) “Lesser beings” are not capable of Taylor’s definition of eudaimonia.

5) Defining one’s own self is the main path to J  (223-226) 

Some of us puzzled over Taylor’s claim that J is “not gained simply by choice” (230) and some pointed out that factors beyond an individual’s control may affect his or her ability to achieve J.