VIRTUE ETHICS
Taken By Contemporary Theorists:
 Proponent of Virtue Ethics: Aristotle
 one of the major approaches in
Normative Ethics.
 emphasizes the person’s trait or
character in moral thinking.
Hence, trait or character is central to
this approach to ethics in contrast to
the other approaches that emphasizes
the consequences of an action (as in the
case of consequentialism) or the rules or
duties (as in the case of deontological
ethics).
 it does not provide the moral agent with
specific principles or rules to guide her
actions.
 That is why in Aristotelian ethics,
practical wisdom is a central category
that helps individuals become virtuous.
Virtue ethics deals with broader
questions:
“What kind of life should I live?”
“What is the good life?”
“How can I be consistent in my moral actions?”
Instead of questions like…
“What ought I do?” (deontology)
“Will my actions produce greater happiness to
the greater number of people in society?”
(consequentialism.)
Virtue ethics in general does not particularly
deal with the rightness or wrongness of specific
actions. Rather, with the aid of practical
wisdom, guides the moral agent in seeking
the “Good”.
Three Major Forms of Virtue Ethics
1. Ethics of Care
- a moral action centers on social and
environmental relationships in which
care or kindness is considered as the
main virtue.
 care - is a central category in
determining the moral worth of human
actions.
Michael Slote corroborates this point by
stating that “caring is the primary virtue
and that a morality based on the motive
of caring can offer a general account of
right and wrong action”
- Hence, the motive in developing man’s
moral practices in which care is the
primary virtue is clearly the main
objective of the ethics of care.
- Virtue Ethics uses reformation of
practices rather than the use of reason.
 reformation of practices which is to
be nurtured and developed into a
“virtue”, is the primary concern of the
ethics of care.
2. Agent-Based Theories
- unitary normative theories.
- views the status of actions as entirely
dependent upon the moral status of
an agent’s motives and character.
- an action is right if it expresses a
virtuous motive or at least does not
exhibit a malicious intention from the
agent.

3. Eudaimonist Approach
 Eudaimonism
- comes from the Greek word
Eudaimonia, which means happiness,
well-being or the good life.
- For Aristotle, happiness or the good life
is the highest goal of man which can be
achieved by a lifetime of actively
exercising moral virtues or “arête”.
- And according to Aristotle, to enhance
moral virtue, we need phronesis or
practical wisdom, which can resolve
any concurrent ethical problem.
- with moral virtue, human life would
attain Eudaimonia, the happiness which
should be seen as a final end, and not
as a subjective state characterized by
the seemingly well-lived life irrespective
of the emotional state of the person
experiencing it.
- Eudaimonist approach aims for
eternal goodness rather than
depending on the contingent recurrence
of certain actions.
- It emphasizes the entire development
of a moral person, that is, to become
“holistically good” as she reaches the
point of ultimate end.
CONSEQUENTIALISM
 an ethical doctrine which holds the belief
that the morality (the rightness or
wrongness) of a human act depends
on its consequence.
 The most famous type of
consequentialism is utilitarianism.
 Utilitarianism
- Holds that the most ethical choice is the
one that will produce the greatest good
for the greatest number.
- an act is morally right if it produces
greatest happiness to the greatest
number of people, and morally wrong if
it produces more pain than happiness to
the greatest number of people
concerned.
- this type of ethics is non-prescriptive
because the morality of a human act is
judged based on its consequence.
Types of Consequentialism
 Ethical Egoism
- moral agents ought to act in their own
self-interest.
 Ethical Altruism
 we ought to take actions that have
maximum benefits for everyone except
for oneself.
As we can see, consequentialism supports
the idea that it is the end that justifies the
means. As a matter of fact, consequentialism
permits that the end justify the means even if
the means used is problematic.
DEONTOLOGOCAL ETHICS
 Proponent: Immanuel Kant
 argues that the morality of a human
act depends on whether such act
fulfills a duty or not, rather than on its
consequence. Hence, deontological
ethics is duty-based.
 deontology comes from the Greek word
deon, which means duty.
 Some actions are right or wrong in
themselves, regardless of their
consequences.
Example:
People have the obligation to tell the
truth even if doing so might produce
some unfavorable results.
 Telling the truth is always “right” in itself
even if doing so might produce some
unfavorable results. Hence, telling a lie,
on the contrary, is always wrong for
deontological ethics.
 Before we make moral decisions, we
have to consider first which actions are
right and wrong and proceed from there.
 If an action is right in itself, then we
have the duty or the moral obligation
to act on it. If an action is wrong in
itself, then we are under a moral
obligation to act accordingly.
NATURAL LAW ETHICS
 developed by St. Thomas Aquinas
during the Medieval period. Because of
this, it is also called Thomistic ethics.
 Reason is the source of the moral law
and that it directs us towards the
good.
According to Aquinas, the “Good” is the
ultimate goal of the person’s actions.
And for Aquinas, the “Good” is
discoverable within the person’s nature.
 the basic goal of natural law ethics is “to
do good and avoid evil”.
How do we know that a person is acting
rightly or wrongly?
- An act is morally right if it is done in
accordance with the moral law.
What is the moral law?
- “Reason” is the source of moral law;
hence, the moral law is the dictate of
reason.
- But for Aquinas, the moral law comes
from God’s Eternal Law. The moral law
is the Divine Law expressed in human
nature, which reads: “Do good and
avoid evil.”
How do we know that one is acting in
accordance with the good?
- “good” is that which is suitable to human
nature or that which is proper to human
nature.
- For Aquinas, an action is good if it is
done in accordance with conscience.
 Conscience
- conscience as the inner voice of the
intellect or reason which calls the human
person to follow the moral law
- As we can see, in natural law ethics,
conscience serves as the guide in
making moral decisions.
How do we know that one’s action obeys
conscience?
- An action obeys conscience if it satisfies
the three-fold natural inclination of the
human person which are:
1. Self-preservation
- is a natural inclination that urges the
human person to take care of her health
or not to kill or put herself in danger.
This explains why for Aquinas suicide is
absolutely wrong.
2. Just dealing with others
- urges us to treat others with the same
respect that we accord ourselves.
- Thus, for Aquinas, all forms of
inhumanities, such as exploitation,
seduction, deception, manipulation,
cheating, kidnapping, murder, and
intimidation, are absolutely wrong too.
3. Propagation of human species
- Aquinas believes that the reproductive
organ is by nature designed to
reproduce and propagate human
species.
- Any act of intervention, therefore, that
frustrates the very purpose of the
reproductive organ is unnatural, hence
immoral.
Note:
If at least one of these three natural
inclinations of the human person is
violated, then an act does not obey
conscience; it is therefore immoral.
Three Determinants of Moral Actions
1. Object of the Human Act
- refers to that which the will intends
primarily and directly.
- It may either be a thing or an action.
- For example, the physician’s act of
removing a tumor. As we can see, the
direct object of the act is “to remove a
tumor”. Please note that the
circumstance and the end are also
intended here, but not directly.
2. Circumstance
- refers to the condition which affects the
morality of an action.
- Aquinas classified circumstance into:
a. Quality of a person (who)
It is bad to rape a woman, but it is
worse to rape a daughter.
b. Quality or quantity of the moral
object (what)
The act of a taxi driver who returns a
wallet containing a couple of thousand
dollars is good in itself, but that of one
who takes the initiative of returning fifty
thousand dollars left by a tourist is even
better.
c. The circumstance of place (where)
Smoking in public may not be good, but
it is worse if one smokes inside a
church.
d. The circumstance of means (by what
means)
To pray for a sick person is good in
itself, but to give her money for
medicine for her medication is better.
e. The circumstance of end (why)
Helping an orphan kid finish schooling
is good, but doing it with the intention of
employing her later is better.
f. Manner in which the action is done
(how)
Killing might generally be conceived as
evil. But in the case of unjust
aggression, it might be morally right to
kill the aggressor.
g. Time element involved in the
performance of the action (when).
It might not be a good idea to smoke
inside the church, but it is worse to do it
while the mass is going on.
3. End
- refers to the purpose of the doer or the
agent of the human act itself.
- According to Aquinas, it can be taken as
a circumstance because the end is an
integral part of every moral act.
- For example, marrying a person one is
engaged to is good in itself. But doing so
while motivated by the selfish end of,
say, taking a big share of an inheritance,
makes the whole action morally wrong.
It must be noted that for Aquinas, all the three
determinants of a human act must be all
good for an act to be considered good or
morally right.
Four Principles of Double Effect
1) The action intended must be good in itself,
or at least morally indifferent; otherwise, the act
is evil at the very outset;
2) The good effect must follow the action at
least as immediately as the evil effect, or the
good and evil effects must occur
simultaneously;
3) The foreseen evil effect should not be
intended or approved, but merely permitted to
occur; and
4) There must be a proportionate and sufficient
reason for allowing the evil effect to occur while
performing the action.

Note:
According to Aquinas, all of the 4 principles
must be satisfied for an action to be
considered morally right.

That’s all, guys ! Mwehehe

“Commit to the Lord whatever you

do and He will establish your
plans.”

- Proverbs 16:3

God bless us, Future CPAs!