The Problem of Awareness, Struggle between Aristotle an Deriver

Aristotelian ethics is closely connected to the concept of virtue. In order to obtain virtuous qualities in the Aristotelian tradition, the person needs to act with a full awareness towards the circumstances. From Aristotle’s point of view, awareness is the key ingredient for virtue. After Aristotle, some interpreters of Nicomachean ethics as well as some contemporary Aristotelians often emphasized the importance of such an awareness. In the tradition of philosophical ethics in the Islamic world, this factor has also been emphasized. Julia Driver, however, rejects awareness as a necessary ingredient for virtue, believing that a great emphasis by Aristotle on rationalism and awareness limits the scope of virtues and numbers of virtuous people. She believes that although awareness is important, it is not necessary because sometimes things which the agent does not see or know are as important as the awareness for endowing the action with virtue. As examples, she brings up some virtues with no awareness in them, while the agent for attributing to bevirtuous needs to act ignorantly about them. Because of the element of ignorance in these virtues, Driver calls them virtues of ignorance and regards modesty as the most important instance of such virtues. Authors of this essay investigate Driver's criticism on Aristotelian understanding.