Aristotelian Flourishing and Self-Respect without Anger

Abstract

Dating back to Aristotle, philosophers have argued that virtue requires wronged agents to hold on to anger until a wrong has been fully recompensed, since anger reflects appropriate self-respect. However, I argue here that even when anger is proportionate, it is not always virtuous. Since the connection between virtue and flourishing should be taken seriously, the evidence about the detrimental effect anger has on an individual’s mental and physical health suggest that anger undermines the capacity of an agent to foster her own flourishing. I argue that while acknowledging wrongdoing is important for maintaining self-respect, this does not require holding on to anger since prioritizing one’s own flourishing is an important way of valuing oneself. As a result, identifying the mean with regards to anger is more complicated than often thought, since it will require agents to balance their own flourishing against abstract requirements of desert.