De La Salle University - Dasmarias

College of Liberal Arts and Communication

Virtue of Generosity, Extravagance and Stinginess

Midterm Main Task

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Course
PHLO102 Ethics

Submitted to:
Prof. Evelyn Perez
Faculty, Social Sciences Department

Submitted by:
Marnee F. Bautista
Imee Lorraine I. Lopez
Loren Dorothea N. Prado

October 28, 2016

1. Generosity
- refers to honest giving and taking of material goods.
- willingness to expend one's resources to help others.
- it is a mean with regards to property
- material goods are tangible and visible things whose value is
measured in money.
- this virtue has nothing to do with acquiring money, but only on
spending it or giving.
- it is a voluntary action.
- Giving implies doing good and acting nobly. Thats why were being
praised for giving and takers are not likely to be praised.
- it is a mean between extravagance and stinginess.

TAKING

Generosity

GIVING

Being generous has a strong tendency to go such excess in giving that he leaves too little for
himself.

THE CORE CONCEPT OF GENEROSITY IN ARISTOTLES NICOMACHEAN ETHICS

A Generous man:

will give and spend the right amounts on the right objects.
Have the right attitude to money and wealth
Example: Ethan is an average businessman and is so much into cars. He buys a
new car every year imported from U.S.
Interpretation: Although he is financially capable of getting a car every year
doesnt mean that it is proper manner. Because there is a big difference between
what we like and what we need, maybe hes crazy about cars but he doesnt need
plenty of them. A generous man has the right attitude towards money and
spends on the right object.

will take right amounts from the right sources.

Generous people earn their money well
Example: Alex came from a poor family. Through time, he became successful
and rich through selling of smuggled phones. He donated money to an
orphanage with that money.
Interpretation: A generous person must earn their money in a way that is in line
with what is right and not illegal or immoral. Tying your self-worth to your net
worth is not good. Individuals who believe that money is a status symbol are
more likely to be lonely.

an openhanded spender who values material goods not for their own sake but
for the sake of giving.
Values giving not for their own sake but for the sake of giving
Example: Mapagbigay Family has a sari-sari store. Every Christmas, they always
make sure to brought something like foods and presents for homeless children.
Interpretation: Despite of receiving a small income from their store, they value
the act of giving and sharing to other. Giving something willingly and happily
without expecting anything in return is an act of generosity. Generosity implies
sincere desire to make others lives easier and more pleasant. They have
developed a greater love to people who are less fortunate.

does not depend on the amount given but on the characteristics of the giver.
A person with less money may be considered more generous if they give a larger
proportion of what they have
Example: The Widows offering from Bible. Jesus saw people giving gifts and
offerings to the temple. Among them was a poor widow who put in two very
small copper coins. He said to those around him: Look, the widow there has put
in much more than any of the others. They all gave gifts which were only a very
small part of their total wealth. She, however, has given nearly all she has to live
on.
Interpretation: This passage shows that we should look into the good intention of
the giver and not on the value she can give. We have brought to this world with
nothing, so we cannot take anything out of it either. The widow, despite of the
fact that she is poor, wholeheartedly offered what she has because she trusts

everything in God and she has good personality. She is not preoccupied with
money and wealth unlike others.

will not give to the wrong people at the wrong time

Give those people who will use it wisely and not to those who will squander it.
Example: Your father lost most of his money in gambling and asked for money to
recover what was lost, you gave him money knowing that hell use it for
something illegal.
Interpretation: The fact that he is part of your family doesn't mean that you can
tolerate his wrongdoings. Giving generously is about helping to meet the ends
of others and that is doing what is good. Knowing that someone is going to
spend the money on gambling is not helpful in meeting their needs. If someone
gives to the wrong person for the wrong motive, and not because it is noble to
give, he is not being generous and his actions would no longer be considered as a
virtue of generosity.

will not be careless on his personal possession since he wishes to use them as a
means of helping others
Do not give so much that you forgot to meet your personal needs
Example: You have been raised in an orphanage and have a very good heart.
Every time you saw beggars you feel bad for them. You donated all your money
and property to those people. There's nothing left to you and you decided to
depend yourself on them.
Interpretation: A generous man will give importance on his personal things. In
times of giving, he will give enough thought and attention on it. He will not give
so much that hes jeopardizing of enriching someone else at his expense.

An honest act of generosity is hard to come by because in todays world humans are
so obsessed with money. The worthiest individuals are the least wealthy and the least
deserving are the wealthy ones. Many people are living an extravagant life and
possesses luxurious things while others basic needs are unmet and most of them are
starving even if they have been the hardest workers all their lives. In reality, people has
a tendency to think that having money makes them better people. They tolerate
themselves in living with no suffering and they are often afraid of losing too little and
giving because they are so much preoccupied in money and being rich.

1. Extravagance (EXCESS)
-

the lack of restraint in spending money or use of resources

it is the excessive elaborateness of style, speech, or action.
it is a thing on which too much money has been spent or which has
used up too many resources.

THE CORE CONCEPT OF EXTRAVAGANCE IN ARISTOTLES NICOMACHEAN

ETHICS

Extravagance is the excessive or unnecessary expenditure or outlay of

money. It is something that's over the top, especially when it comes to spending
money. Money is usually the subject when people talk about extravagance,
although the word can also mean having too much of something, whether it's of
actions or opinions.

There are two aspects of extravagance: An extravagant man goes

completely wrong: he feels neither pleasure nor pain at the right objects and in
the right manner. Extravagance is the excess and deficiency in two respects, in
giving and in taking. Extravagance is an excess in giving without taking, but it
falls short in taking. But these two aspects of extravagance do not usually go
together for it is not easy for a person to give all and take from none.

Most extravagant people also take from the wrong sources and are stingy.
They tend to take because they want to spend, but they are unable to do so with
an open hand, since their own resources are soon exhausted. The extravagant
person irresponsibly spends as if his pockets were bottomless. He consumes all
of his resources displaying his freedom. As a result, they are compelled to
provide means from elsewhere.

Extravagant people have an appetite for giving, no matter how or from

what source. They are not being generous and not being noble in giving gifts or
something because it is not given in the right way. They incline toward pleasure,
since their lives are not oriented toward what is noble. But if an extravagance
man receives proper care, he may attain the median and the right state.
The generous man is more responsible than the extravagant man. But
Aristotle adds that the generous impulse is always much closer to extravagance
than stinginess. The virtue has nothing to do with acquiring money, but only
spending it.

2. Stinginess (DEFICIENY)
-

it is the deficiency in giving and an excess in takin, but only in small

matters or monetary value.
it is the abstention from giving in situations of generosity.
miser, niggard, penny-pincher, are people who fall short in
giving but do not covet or wish to take that belongs to another.
it is regarded as the opposite of generosity.

THE CORE CONCEPT OF STINGINESS IN ARISTOTLES NICOMACHEAN ETHICS

The stinginess related to external goods can be manifested through two kinds of
people: those who are afraid to give because they do not want to be forced to do
anything base if they lose what they have and those who are afraid to take
because they think it is risky and hard. While neither case involves unjust taking,
neither involves virtue either. The stingy person who will not give because they
want to keep what they have so that they will not have to do anything base if
they lose their possessions manifests cowardice masquerading as highmindedness. Such a person is not confident enough in his own character to do
the right thing in adversity thus he avoids generosity to as a form of selfprotection. On the other hand, there is the stingy person who refuses to take.
This person too is motivated not by virtue but by fear. He obeys the law only out
of cowardice. He does not want to engage in the difficult, dangerous work of
unjust taking. Aristotle thinks that most people incline to these kinds of
stinginess, holding onto external goods rather than giving them away.

Stinginess causes malice and hatred to the community. The closest individuals of
the stingy may hope were he dead, because he deprives them of his fortune and
they expect greedily to inherit him. Besides, the stingy is the most tiring: he
exerts all efforts for collecting fortunes, but he does not enjoy them, because he
very soon leaves all the fortunes to the heirs. Hence, he passes his life in this
world like the destitute, but will have to render an account in the next world like
the rich.

Stinginess neither allows the possessor of property to benefit from it nor the
society to benefit from it, by encaging the property. So, stinginess causes many
significant problems in society and in finance. Keeping property because of
stinginess causes financial crisis. It causes the ethics to degenerate and hearts to
become seditious.

Stinginess, which is further from the mean, is considered the greater evil because
most people are prone to error on the side of stinginess, not extravagance.