Virtue Ethics

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Virtue Ethics

Advantages

  • Self-improvement: VE encourages individuals to be the best version of themselves, developing virtues to help them make good decisions and eventually achieve the telos of humankind, Eudaimonia. Also known as aretic ethics, the individual is to strive towards achieving excellency. Developing MORAL and INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES
  • Doesn't just tell you how to act: reflects the saying 'give a man a fish or teach a man to fish' - by equipping an individual with the ability to make good decisions, i.e. through the development of virtues, an individual is able to fully engage with good choices, rather than merely repeating rules that they don't fully identify with
  • Doctrine of the Mean: encourages individuals not to act excessively or deficiently but well. Safeguards against dramatic or unnecessary actions, such as being rash and landing yourself into trouble, or passive and not involving yourself in any capacity
  • Biblical evidence: Jesus' Sermon on the Mount echoes Virtue Ethics in encouraging an individual to be a good person in order to gain rewards. For example, the "meek" will "inherit the earth"
  • Anscombe: if we don't believe in God, how can we be expected to follow His moral laws? Eudaimonia is the better standard
  • Foot: virtues are only actions that bring about good events, not a virtue if it brings about a bad event (useful counter-argument for the believe that virtues can be used for bad actions)

Disadvantages

  • Doesn't offer a comprehensive guide of how to act: doesn't aid those who are suffering a moral crisis. How are we meant to act? What is a good act?
  • Cultural relativism: the idea of what is 'virtuous' varies between different parts of the globe as well as throughout time. For example, in 1930s Germany a virtuous person could have been someone who denounced their neighbours on account of their 'suspicious' behaviour. This directly contrasts with Jesus' teaching of the Good Samaritan and the command to 'love thy neighbour'. The idea of virtues is too dependent on individual cultures and understandings
  • Virtues can be used for bad things: too much focus on the person's behaviour and little regard on the end result. 1960s Milgram Study showed that people were influenced by the authority of others, used to try and understand why so many people willingly partook in the Final Solution of 1942-1945. If we are told something is a virtue, like obedience, then these can be used for heinous crimes
  • Excesses and deficiencies are often useful: if we are told to streamline our emotion, we neglect the emotional aspect to ethical decisions that is often so important. For example, a mother will defend her child because of deep devotional love. If she was told to just moderately love this child, they might come into danger. Woolf argues that vices make the world more interesting
  • The virtues are too limited: intellectual and moral virtues were suited to the period Aristotle was writing, but they need to be developed now due to the fast-changing world we live in. Rachels suggests that modern virtues should include loyalty to friends

Evaluation

Whilst the challenges to Virtue Ethics are convincing, the fundamental basis of Virtue Ethics is incredibly successful as it can work for any individual anywhere. It doesn't depend on a belief in God and teaches that we should aim to live life in the best way that we possibly can. It isn't challenged by the rigidity of deontology, and instead is a holistic process that looks at life as a whole. However, it is important to consider that sometimes excesses of emotions are necessary - Aristotle did to some extent appreciate this in the understanding that Phronesis, practical wisdom, means that the right decision to make in different situations will vary dependent on the situation itself.

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