Virtue Ethics

Virtue Ethics
• Accommodates the natural concern many of have with being good, a good
person…in addition to merely performing right acts (producing good
consequences, following moral rules)
• Acting well vs. Acting rightly
• Often describes actions in the virtue and vice terms
• “Torture is cruel”
• “Paying back your debts is just”
• “Speaking up in that situation was courageous”
• Anscombe suggested that this is a great improvement over “morally
wrong” (or “right”), because this language still informs us about what we
ought and ought not to do.
More than Actions
• The virtue (and vice) terms do not merely apply to the
outward action, but to the state of character of the agent.
• When a store manager practices business in an honest fashion
because this is a good way to attract customers and maximize
profits, we don’t quite want to say that he is acting honestly, or
that he is a man of honest character.
• Being virtuous doesn’t simply mean “prone to act in good
ways”
• Being honest does not only mean “tends to tell the truth”
What is Virtue ?

1. Good-making property
• Makes one good “qua” human
• Because we are, by nature, rational and social beings, the
virtues help us fulfill our human nature.
• Important for achieving a good life, or eudaimonia.
What is Virtue ?

2. Goodness of the Rational Will

• Concerns reason and rational choice
• Not a mere pre-reflective inclination to do well.
• This implies that virtue is something more than what nice
children are capable of having.
What is Virtue ?

3. A Corrective
• Supplement human beings where they find natural temptations,
deficiencies of motivation, or tendencies toward vice.
• Justice is a corrective where we want to keep things we don’t deserve or
distribute things (like punishment) in a way that others don’t deserve;
• Courage is a corrective where we have the tendency to be overcome by
fear;
• Charity is a corrective where we tend to be selfish or uncaring of others.
• This suggests that knowing the virtues depends on knowing
what human nature is like
Components of Virtue ?
1: Habit
• Reliability and Consistency
• Virtues are developed, not acquired at once
• Virtues are strongly entrenched
2: Sensitivity to Reasons
• Virtue involves seeing certain considerations as practical reasons, and being
motivated by and acting on them.
• Seeing the humanity of others as reason to not to harm or lie to them.
• Seeing another’s vulnerability as a reason to help, not to take advantage.
• Seeing the value of truth as reason to conduct business honestly.
Components of Virtue ? …
3: Emotions and Attitudes
• You are happy to perform virtuous deeds 
• You are attracted to other virtuous people
• The vicious behavior of your friends and family makes you sad. 
4: Natural Inclination to Act Well
• Virtuous actions come naturally
• No need to battle contrary desires
• Spontaneous expression of one’s innermost desires
Components of Virtue ? …
5: Phronesis: Practical Wisdom
• The ability to reason correctly to make wise choices
• Requires knowledge and life experience
• Solves conflicts between the virtues (or moral rules)
• Supplements mere “natural virtue”: it perfects (is a check on) the
spontaneous component.