We cannot separate human flourishing from virtue itself, nor can we look to science to define the good life for us.
To truly understand Aristotelian virtue, Miller (2025) argues that we must abandon the modern illusion that practical wisdom is nothing more than unthinking intuition or raw emotional skill. Far too many of us, he says, educators and virtue ethicists alike, reduce practical wisdom to ‘know-how’, focusing solely on perceptual sensitivity while ignoring the intellectual bedrock underpinning it. However, as a true Aristotelian framework demands, we cannot achieve full virtue without both skill and substance. It is important to embrace the vital, propositional ‘know-how’ that forms a virtuous person’s understanding of the ‘good life’.
At its core, this necessary knowledge is not a rigid list of rules or facts; it is deep, evaluative understanding of what matters and why. A virtuous person does not wander aimlessly through life, relying on mere impulse or chance. Instead, they possess an objective, universal, and well-founded understanding of the value hierarchy, e.g., knowing definitively that friendship exceeds money, and the value structure, e.g., distinguishing why money is valuable when it’s put to good use. Such values are deeply integrated, fixed commitments that shape a person’s identity and govern their actions seamlessly.
This approach is often dismissed as some elitist ‘master plan’ or a naïve checklist that drives people into rigid, mechanical reasoning. However, these criticisms are erroneous, misunderstanding how this knowledge is used. Having an extensive conception of the good life does not mean mentally running through a math equation before every split-second choice. Instead, this knowledge catalyses a learner’s growth, moving them past simple habituation toward true, authoritative virtue. Self-regulating in nature, it provides the central framework required to adjudicate conflicts when multiple virtues overlap.
Aristotelianism stands on the foundational truth that sustained, virtuous activity is the good life. To live a good life, we need to bring clear, well-reasoned beliefs about what is good back to the centre of morality. True virtue means not only doing the right thing but also genuinely understanding what makes life good.
Miller, B. (2025). Against Aristotelian Character Education: Practical Wisdom, Flourishing, and Liberal Democracy (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003587804