I will begin by stating three theses which I present in this paper. The first is that it is not profitable for us at present to do moral philosophy. The second is that the concepts
So far as Anglophone academic study is concerned, interest in the idea of virtue as a central concept in ethical theory only dates from the late 1950s beginning with Elizabeth Ansc
Aristotle conceived of happiness as being attained by living in accord with virtue, and virtually all philosophical, religious, and cultural traditions have likewise placed some no
Questions about moral character have recently come to occupy a central place in philosophical discussion. Part of the explanation for this development can be traced to the
In sweeping and abstract terms, we can say that virtue is the achieved state of character that makes one a good human being (see Character; Moral Character). Yet things get complic
The concepts of virtue and vice identify a distinctive set of goods and evils, ones that are aspects of human excellence unlike, say, the values of feeling pleasure or pain.
"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of p
“Spe salvi facti sumus”—in hope we were saved, says Saint Paul to the Romans, and likewise to us (Rom 8:24). According to the Christian faith, “redemption”—salvation—is not simply
A virtue is a natural or acquired capacity to think, or feel, or to act well, ie to recognise and respond positively to some good and to choose it in acting. It is in that sense a psychological quality or more precisely an excellence of character. The virtuous agent is oriented towards the good in some sphere of life, and more broadly is oriented towards the human good in general. This inclination may be expressed affectively in loving the good or practically in choosing it, but also in abhorring the bad and choosing against it, either to evade it or to counter it. A vice, or viciousness in general, has the same structure and pattern but has its object some specific bad or the bad broadly speaking. Thus, a courageous person faces down danger in order to achieve, or protect some good, while the coward flees danger even though in doing so some good may be lost and an evil be realised. An honest person is oriented toward truth and justice, a dishonest one chooses falsity and injustice, and so on. There are several important questions about virtue and vice: how can the former be acquired and maintained and the latter be avoided or eliminated? Is it possible to have some virtues and not others or is virtue a general condition of which the several virtues are expressions relating to particular goods? Put in terms of character these ask how is good character formed? and is it general or area-specific. These ancient questions belong to ethics and philosophical psychology.