Virtue Theory

NOTE language use: “virtue” is an old-fashioned word translating the Greek “arete,” which means “human excellence.”  Virtue theorists have in mind  an ethics of character.

 

1.     Why virtue ethics: dissatisfaction with right-action ethics, which focuses too narrowly on what one should do, neglecting the sort of life that one should lead, whether that right-action was a Kantian duty or a utilitarian good consequence.

2.     In the twentieth century there developed a standoff between Kantian and Utilitarian approaches.  Then Elizabeth Anscombe's "Modern Moral Philosophy," put forth three theses,

1)     not much real difference among English moral philosophers in the last 75 years or so (since Sidgwick)

2)     not useful to do moral philosophy without an adequate philosophy of psychology

3)     the notion of moral obligation no longer makes sense in the present world, where we have, for the most part, abandoned the idea of a divine lawgiver (or, one might add, been unwilling to embrace constructivist approaches)

`    and called for a return to Aristotle and the ancient Greeks’ concern for character development.

3.     What is a virtue?

·        An admirable character trait, but note that character traits are deep-seated and pervasive

·        Here is Rachel’s list, but it is not exhaustive:

·        The virtues are beneficial.  It is not because we admire these traits that they are valuable; it is because they are beneficial—make for better lives—that we admire them.

o       Courage is a good thing because life is full of danger and without courage we would be unable to cope with them (assumes life is worthwhile and threats should be countered).

o       Generosity is desirable because some people will inevitably be worse off than others and will need help.

o       Honesty is needed because without it relations between people would go wrong in a myriad ways.

o       Loyalty is essential to friendship; friends stick by one another, even when they are tempted to turn away.

·        NOTE significance for the objectivity issue:  it really is the case that one needs to be courageous at times, that some people need for others to be generous, good communication requires honesty and that loyalty is valuable.

4.     Some advantages to virtue theory:

·        We are motivated to adopt attractive personal qualities; it just happens.

·        Impartiality is a difficult sell and so VT is closer to what we are inclined to do; thus it is "intuitive.".

·        Virtue theory connects up with feminist ethics.

5.     But virtue theory is not the whole of ethics, thinks Rachels, because

·        sometimes we are perplexed about what to do—not what to be--and there does not seem to be a virtue that provides a reason in this case, and

·        the virtues may conflict with one another, such as being honest and being kind.

·        so the question is: just how action-guiding is virtue theory?

·        note also that we justified the virtues above by calling attention to their benefits; this would seem to make usefulness or goodness prior to character

·        or perhaps it is reducible to psychology; we cultivate certain character traits because they are psychologically beneficial

6.     Moral Theoretical Considerations

·        The point or function of a moral theory:

o       guide action and character formation (tells us both what to do and what sort of person to be)

o       justify moral behavior

o       describe or explain morality

·        Virtue theory is certainly psychologically plausible; indeed that is its real strength.  In fact it risks being reducible to psychology: we should be the kind of people that psychologists tell us we should be.

·        It is also intuitive; once again a strength is a weakness; it risks being cultural relative: reducible to the morality of a particular society.

·        Virtue theory, like utilitarianism and Kantianism claims too much; each has a contribution to make to a comprehensive theory.  Since Anscombe all moral theorists make an effort to account for character formation.

 Next time: Feminist Ethics