Natural Virtue and Capital’s False Endoxa

The influence of ancient Greek thought upon the work of Karl Marx, and in particular his relationship to the virtue ethics of Aristotle, is demonstrated with a virtue ethical analysis through a Marxist lens of such concepts as natural virtue, endoxa, and pleonexia in a capitalist context. It is argued that Natural Virtue aids the legitimacy of Capital’s inverted value system and undermines worker solidarity through the agency, as shown through one example of well-known comedians who entertain with political satire. It concludes with a suggestion of the ethical implications and a possible response to the conditions described, and additionally, it attempts briefly to address a commonly encouraged misconception by Marxist critics of the extreme moral position typically argued to characterize the political left.

Keywords: Karl Marx, Aristotle, Structural Endoxa, Alienation, Virtue Ethics.