Virtue Ethics

Muhammad Asif Ejaz

BE-08-31
 Virtue Ethics

 Judges a person’s character

 Helps us to define what a good person is.
 We look at the type of person someone is
and compare it to what kind of person we
believe they should be.
 Examines character rather than action
 In general, the virtues seem to be
dispositions that enable people to deal with
human life.
 However, it also seems that what counts as a
moral virtue will depend on one's beliefs
and the situations one faces.
 THE MORAL VIRTUE
 What are the traits of character that make a person a
morally good human being?
 Which traits of character are moral virtues?

 Aristotle
 St. Thomas Aquinas
 Alasdair Macintyre
 Edmund L. Pincoffs
 Aristotle

 Most famous proponent of virtue ethics.

 A Greek philosopher.
 He argues that a moral virtue is a habit that
enable human being to live according to
reason.
 He stated that
• a morally virtuous person always acted the
way a human being should act
• Moral virtue is the tendency to do the right
thing
• A good character is an achievement, it is not
a natural endowment
 Aristotle holds the view that moral virtues are
states of character lying at the mean between
extremes of excess and deficiency.
 Thomas Aquinas

 A Christian Philosopher of middle age,

he followed Aristotle.
 He argues that moral virtues are the
habits that enable the person to live
reasonably in this world and united with
God in the next.
 Aquinas added theological factors
in Aristotle's classification of
moral virtues.
• Courage
• Temperance
• Justice
• Prudence
 Aquinas Added:
• Faith
• Hope
• Charity
 There is a conflict in the view of both
philosophers.
 Like Aristotle says, humility is a vice
and pride is virtue in Greek aristocrats.
 While Aquinas says humility is a
Christian virtue and pride is a Christian
vice.
 Alasdair Macintyre

 More recently, An American Philosopher

Alasdair has claimed that a virtue is any
human disposition that is praised because it
enables person to achieve the good at
which human practices aim.
 Edmund L. Pincoffs

 Pincoffs suggests that virtues include all

those dispositions to act, feel, and think in
certain ways that we use as the basis for
choosing between persons or between
potential future selves.
 He criticizes Macintyre for claiming that
virtue include only those traits required by
some set of social practices.
 Examples of Virtues
The four fundamental moral virtues:
Courage - being brave enough to do the right thing
Temperance – showing moderation in action,
thought, or feeling as well as moderation in the
indulgence of the appetites or passions
Justice – the ability to give other people exactly
what they deserve, neither more nor less
Prudence (wisdom) – gives us the ability to know
what is reasonable in different situations
 Examples of other virtues
 Trustworthiness  Civility
 Honesty  Sincerity
 Reliability  Gentleness
 Warmth  Dependability
 Kindness  Cooperativeness
 Tolerance  Empathy