Understanding Virtue Ethics

Understanding Virtue Ethics PDF Author: Stan van Hooft
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317494032
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Get Book Here

Book Description
More and more philosophers have advocated varieties of virtue-based ethics that challenge moral theory traditionally founded on moral obligation and the delineation of what is right or wrong in given situations. Virtue ethics, which focuses upon the character of moral agents more than on the moral status of their actions or the consequences of those actions, has become one of the most important and stimulating areas of contemporary ethical theory. "Understanding Virtue Ethics" is an accessible and lively introduction to the subject. It provides a broad overview of the history of virtue ethics from Aristotle to Nietzsche as well as examining the ideas of such contemporary writers as Ricoeur and Levinas. Major themes dealt with by moral theory are examined and how a virtue ethics approach to them differs from those of other traditions is explored. Practical problems of moral complexity such as abortion, euthanasia, and integrity in politics, and how they might be approached from a virtue perspective are considered. The charges of relativism and egoism that are often mounted against virtue ethics are rebutted and virtues that are especially relevant to contemporary life, namely, courage, taking responsibility, and reverence are examined in depth. Finally, the author argues that virtue ethics is highly relevant to our understanding of the moral dimensions of professional roles.

Understanding Virtue Ethics

Understanding Virtue Ethics PDF Author: Stan van Hooft
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317494032
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Get Book Here

Book Description
More and more philosophers have advocated varieties of virtue-based ethics that challenge moral theory traditionally founded on moral obligation and the delineation of what is right or wrong in given situations. Virtue ethics, which focuses upon the character of moral agents more than on the moral status of their actions or the consequences of those actions, has become one of the most important and stimulating areas of contemporary ethical theory. "Understanding Virtue Ethics" is an accessible and lively introduction to the subject. It provides a broad overview of the history of virtue ethics from Aristotle to Nietzsche as well as examining the ideas of such contemporary writers as Ricoeur and Levinas. Major themes dealt with by moral theory are examined and how a virtue ethics approach to them differs from those of other traditions is explored. Practical problems of moral complexity such as abortion, euthanasia, and integrity in politics, and how they might be approached from a virtue perspective are considered. The charges of relativism and egoism that are often mounted against virtue ethics are rebutted and virtues that are especially relevant to contemporary life, namely, courage, taking responsibility, and reverence are examined in depth. Finally, the author argues that virtue ethics is highly relevant to our understanding of the moral dimensions of professional roles.

Confronting Aristotle's Ethics

Confronting Aristotle's Ethics PDF Author: Eugene Garver
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1459606108
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 590

Get Book Here

Book Description
What is the good life? Posing this question today would likely elicit very different answers. Some might say that the good life means doing good - improving one's community and the lives of others. Others might respond that it means doing well - cultivating one's own abilities in a meaningful way. But for Aristotle these two distinct ideas - doi...

Before Virtue

Before Virtue PDF Author: Jonathan J. Sanford
Publisher: CUA Press
ISBN: 0813227399
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 294

Get Book Here

Book Description
Jonathan Sanford finds that despite the common origins of contemporary virtue ethics in Anscombe, the literature varies widely not just in its scope but in its basic commitments. What exactly is contemporary virtue ethics? In Before Virtue, Sanford develops strategies for describing contemporary virtue ethics accurately. He then assesses contemporary virtue approaches by the Anscombean dual standard which inspired them: the degree to which they avoid the pitfalls of modern moral philosophy and the extent to which they exemplify a successful recovery of an Aristotelian approach to ethics.

Morals under the Gun

Morals under the Gun PDF Author: James H. Toner
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813148847
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 234

Get Book Here

Book Description
James Toner argues that the cardinal virtues are and must be the core values of the military. By embracing these values, the profession of arms serves as a moral compass in an increasingly confusing age. Building upon a bold introduction, which includes what many will regard as a surprising view of military ethics, Toner examines the four cardinal virtues—wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice—and places each in the context of a compelling case study from recent U.S. military history. He discusses the Flinn Case, the Lavelle Affair, a B-52 crash in Washington State, and the courageous actions of Hugh Thompson after My Lai. Morals Under the Gun connects ethics and moral theology with the armed services, demonstrating that the task of preserving virtue, both personal and professional, is a noble, if imperfectible, task.

Virtue Ethics and Professional Roles

Virtue Ethics and Professional Roles PDF Author: Justin Oakley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139432184
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 202

Get Book Here

Book Description
Professionals, it is said, have no use for simple lists of virtues and vices. The complexities and constraints of professional roles create peculiar moral demands on the people who occupy them, and traits that are vices in ordinary life are praised as virtues in the context of professional roles. Should this disturb us, or is it naive to presume that things should be otherwise? Taking medical and legal practice as key examples, Justin Oakley and Dean Cocking develop a rigorous articulation and defence of virtue ethics, contrasting it with other types of character-based ethical theories and showing that it offers a promising new approach to the ethics of professional roles. They provide insights into the central notions of professional detachment, professional integrity, and moral character in professional life, and demonstrate how a virtue-based approach can help us better understand what ethical professional-client relationships would be like.

Current Controversies in Virtue Theory

Current Controversies in Virtue Theory PDF Author: Mark Alfano
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317541626
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 174

Get Book Here

Book Description
Virtue is among the most venerable concepts in philosophy, and has recently seen a major revival. However, new challenges to conceptions of virtue have also arisen. In Current Controversies in Virtue Theory, five pairs of cutting-edge philosophers square off over central topics in virtue theory: the nature of virtue, the connection between virtue and flourishing, the connection between moral and epistemic virtues, the way in which virtues are acquired, and the possibility of attaining virtue. Mark Alfano guides his readers through these essays (all published here for the first time), with a synthetic introduction, succinct abstracts of each debate, suggested further readings and study questions for each controversy, and a list of further controversies to be explored.

An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals

An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals PDF Author: David Hume
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Conduct of life
Languages : en
Pages : 202

Get Book Here

Book Description


An Inquiry Into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue

An Inquiry Into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue PDF Author: Francis Hutcheson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aesthetics
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Get Book Here

Book Description


A Delineation of the Nature and Obligation of Morality. With reflexions upon Mr. Hume's book, intitled, An Inquiry concerning the Principles of Morals. [By James Balfour of Pilrig.] The second edition

A Delineation of the Nature and Obligation of Morality. With reflexions upon Mr. Hume's book, intitled, An Inquiry concerning the Principles of Morals. [By James Balfour of Pilrig.] The second edition PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 266

Get Book Here

Book Description


After Virtue

After Virtue PDF Author: Alasdair MacIntyre
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1623569818
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 361

Get Book Here

Book Description
Highly controversial when it was first published in 1981, Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue has since established itself as a landmark work in contemporary moral philosophy. In this book, MacIntyre sought to address a crisis in moral language that he traced back to a European Enlightenment that had made the formulation of moral principles increasingly difficult. In the search for a way out of this impasse, MacIntyre returns to an earlier strand of ethical thinking, that of Aristotle, who emphasised the importance of 'virtue' to the ethical life. More than thirty years after its original publication, After Virtue remains a work that is impossible to ignore for anyone interested in our understanding of ethics and morality today.