Final answer:
Aristotle believed that virtuous behavior in children is learned through habituation and practice, which help them discern why an action is virtuous. Intellectual virtue arises from teaching and time, whereas moral virtue results from habit. He advocated for the role of government in promoting virtue for the sake of individual and societal flourishing, or eudaimonia.
Step-by-step explanation:
Aristotle believed that children learn to be virtuous by developing the right habits through practice and repetition. According to his perspective on virtue ethics, specifically in his work Nicomachean Ethics, virtue consists of two kinds: intellectual and moral. Moral virtue is attained as a result of habit, which Aristotle also referred to using the Greek word 'ethike', closely related to 'ethos' or habit. We are not born with virtues, Aristotle argues, but rather have the potential to develop them through the right actions. Habit and repetition are central to this development - just as a builder becomes skilled by building or a lyre player by playing the lyre, individuals become just by performing just actions. Through the process of habituation, people learn to understand why certain actions are the right choices, which in turn forms a stable virtuous character. The government, according to Aristotle, plays a significant role in encouraging citizens toward virtuous behavior by regulating various aspects of society, such as family life, education, and media. For Aristotle, the ultimate goal of cultivating virtue is eudaimonia, or human flourishing, which is achieved by exercising rationality and developing excellence in character. This pursuit involves navigating between extremes of deficiency and excess to find the mean state that corresponds with virtue. He emphasized the importance of upbringing and societal norms in shaping the moral dispositions of individuals, steering them toward the mean rather than the extremes of virtue and vice.