WorksheetsThe Practicality of Ancient Virtue Ethics: Greece and China
Total questions: 9
Worksheet time: 5mins
What challenge to virtue ethics does Yu's chapter respond to?
Virtue ethics is too focused on abstract rules and ignores moral dilemmas.
Virtue ethics is impractical because it lacks clear action-guidance compared to deontology or utilitarianism.
Virtue ethics is incompatible with scientific accounts of human nature.
Virtue ethics is overly relativistic and denies universal moral truths.
u argues that ancient virtue ethics is "practical" primarily because it:
Unites knowing and doing through the embodied practice of virtue
Develops universal moral rules
Focuses on habit formation
Rejects theological foundations, giving a secular account of virtue
Yu Jiyuan argues that Socrates’ elenchus is a practical method because it:
Provides definitive answers to moral questions
Focuses on abstract metaphysical speculation
Trains virtue through communal self-examination
Focuses on training virtue through habituation
Yu contrasts Aristotle’s phronesis with modern ethics by emphasizing its:
Reliance on divine commandments
Rejection of social roles as determinants of virtue
Situational adaptability and habituation
Use of habituation as a means of learning hard and fast moral rules
Yu argues that Confucius' individualized teaching style emphasizes:
That rituals must be performed identically by all people
That core moral principles are culturally variable
That virtue is about strict adherence to tradition
That virtue requires tailoring to a student's specific needs and capacities
Yu interprets Mencius’ "sprouts" (duan) as practical because they:
Are abstract concepts requiring theoretical study
Ground virtue in observable, innate reactions
Depend solely on environmental determinism
Reject all forms of moral cultivation
ccording to Yu, Aristotle’s phronimos (practically wise person) exemplifies practicality by:
Following rigid moral rules across all situations
Rejecting all emotional responses
Adapting virtues to context through experience
Prioritizing theoretical knowledge over action
Yu argues Confucius’ junzi (exemplary person) is practical because they:
Prioritize community over individualism
Memorize ancient texts and draw on their wisdom in practical situations
Prioritize individualism over community
Model virtue through flexible, relational action
Yu’s overarching thesis is that ancient virtue ethics is more practical than modern ethics because it:
Prioritizes rule-following over intuition
Aims to make us better people by embedding virtue in lived practice
Emphasizes habituation over theoretical knowledge
Emphasizes rites and ritual, following Confucius
