VIRTUE OF ETHICS
VIRTUE ETHICS IS PERSON RATHER THAN ACTION BASED: IT LOOKS AT THE VIRTUE OR MORAL
CHARACTER OF THE PERSON CARRYING OUT AN ACTION, RATHER THAN AT ETHICAL DUTIES AND RULES,
OR THE CONSEQUENCES OF PARTICULAR ACTIONS.
 
WHAT IS VIRTUE ETHICS EXAMPLE?
"VIRTUES" ARE ATTITUDES, DISPOSITIONS, OR CHARACTER TRAITS THAT ENABLE US TO BE AND TO ACT
IN WAYS THAT DEVELOP THIS POTENTIAL. THEY ENABLE US TO PURSUE THE IDEALS WE HAVE ADOPTED.
HONESTY, COURAGE, COMPASSION, GENEROSITY, FIDELITY, INTEGRITY, FAIRNESS, SELF-CONTROL, AND
PRUDENCE ARE ALL EXAMPLES OF VIRTUES.
 
WHAT IS THE-WIAIN IDEA OF VIRTUE ETHICS?
VIRTUE ETHICS MAINLY DEALS WITH THE HONESTY AND MORALITY OFÄ PERSON. IT STATES THAT
PRACTICING GOOD HABITS SUCH AS HONESTY, GENEROSITY MAKES A MORAL AND VIRTUOUS PERSON.
IT GUIDES A PERSON WITHOUT SPECIFIC RULES FOR RESOLVING THE ETHICAL COMPLEXITY.
 
WHAT IS VIRTUE ETHICS AND ITS THEORY?
VIRTUE ETHICS IS ARGUABLY THE OLDEST ETHICAL THEORY IN THE WORLD, WITH ORIGINS IN ANCIENT
GREECE. IT DEFINES GOOD ACTIONS AS ONES THAT DISPLAY VIRTUOUS CHARACTER, LIKE COURAGE,
LOYALTY, OR WISDOM. BAD ACTIONS DISPLAY THE OPPOSITE, SUCH AS COWARDICE, TREACHERY, AND
IGNORANCE.
 
HOW WOULD YOU CRITIQUE VIRTUE ETHICS?
VIRTUE ETHICISTS CRITICIZE ACTION-BASED ETHICAL MODELS IN A NUMBER OF WAYS: 1. THEY SAY
THAT ACTION-BASED ETHICAL MODELS FOCUS ON FORMULATING MORAL RULES, BUT FAIL TO
MOTIVATE OR INSPIRE PEOPLE TO BE MORAL. RATHER THAN ONLY EMPHASIZING GOOD RULES, ETHICS
SHOULD HELP US BECOME GOOD PEOPLE.
 
HOW DO YOU USE VIRTUE ETHICS?
ARISTOTLE'S CRITERIA FOR THE VIRTUOUS PERSON IS AS FOLLOWS: YOU MUST HAVE KNOWLEDGE,
CONSCIOUSLY CHOOSE THE ACTS AND CHOOSE THEM FOR THEIR OWN SAKE, AND THE CHOICE MUST
COME FROM A FIRM CHARACTER, IN ACCORDANCE TO WHO YOU ARE. YOU MUST CONSISTENTLY
CHOOSE TO DO GOOD ACTS DELIBERATELY FOR THE RIGHT REASONS.
 
WHAT IS VIRTUE AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
VIRTUES ARE IMPORTANT BECAUSE THEY ARE THE BASIC QUALITIES NECESSARY FOR OUR WELL BEING
AND HAPPINESS. BY RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF VIRTUES, IN OUR LIVES, IT WILL LEAD TO
BETTER COMMUNICATION, UNDERSTANDING AND ACCEPTANCE BETWEEN US AND OUR FELLOW MAN.
 
 
HOW DOES VIRTUE ETHICS DIFFER FROM DUTY BASED ETHICS?
DUTY ETHICS (DEONTOLOGY) IS ABOUT FOLLOWING THE RULES LAID DOWN BY EXTERNAL SOURCES (BE
IT A HUMAN SOCIETY OR A DIVINE COMMANDER). VIRTUE ETHICS IS ABOUT INTERNAL GUIDANCE -
FOLLOWING ONE'S CONSCIENCE TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
 
HOW DO VIRTUES AND VALUES DIFFER?
VALUES AND VIRTUES ARE SIGNIFICANT CONCEPTS THAT SHAPE OUR BEHAVIOR. ... THE MAIN
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VALUE AND VIRTUE IS THAT VALUES ARE PRINCIPLES OR STANDARDS OF
BEHAVIOR THAT HELP ONE TO DECIDE WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN LIFE WHEREAS VIRTUES ARE QUALITIES
THAT ARE UNIVERSALLY OR GENERALLY CONSIDERED TO BE GOOD AND DESIRABLE.
 

 
Values vs. Virtues
• "Values'* are principles for a group or society
• "A principle. standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable."
• "Society should be animated by a just hierarchy of values." (Catechism 0' the Catholic Church 51895)
• "Virtues" are practices & actions of an individual
• "Firm attitudes, stable dispositions. habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions,
order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith."
• "They make possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good life. The virtuous person is
one who freely practices the good."
• "Virtues are acquired by human effort. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose
all the powers of the human being for communion with divine love." (Catechism Of the Catholic Church
91804)
 
 
Human Values
VIRTUES
• Virtues are Positive and Preferred values.
• Virtues are desirable attitudes or character traits, motives and emotions that enable us to be
successful and to act in ways that develop our highest potential.
• Honesty, courage. compassion. generosity, integrity, fairness. transparency. self-control. and prudence
are all examples Of virtues.
• The virtuous person is the ethical person.
 

 
Virtue ethics as a nonnative theory
• Virtue ethics emphasizes character, or virtues, rather than rules or consequences, as the key element
of ethical thinking.
• In the West virtue ethics was the prevailing approach to ethical thinking in the ancient and medieval
periods.
• The tradition suffered an eclipse during the early modern period, as Aristotelianism fell out of favour in
the West.
• Virtue ethics returned to prominence in Western philosophical thought in the twentieth century.
 
Advantages of Virtue Ethics
• Moral Motivation — certain situations are handled by an appeal to virtue rather than right action or
duty.
— Example: Visiting a friend in the hospital
— Virtue: Friendship, Love, Loyalty
• Doubts about the ideal of impartiality relationships with family and friends are difficult to account for
in other moral approaches.
 
Virtue and Function
• Aristotle holds that happiness (or that which makes someone happy) is tied to the proper functioning
of a thing.
• "good hammer" = that which functions well at hammering
• What is the unique function of man?
 
Importance of the Virtues?
• Virtuous person will fare better in life. Virtues are needed to live well
• We need virtues to live in community with others
• Necessary to pursue our own ends and cope with life's challenges