Religious Studies, Ethics Unit 3 Quotes

Aristotle

1. " Virtue then is a state of character, concerned with choice lying in a mean".

2. "Every action and decision seems to aim at some good"

3. Discussing moral virtues - “We acquire these by first doing virtuous acts”

Peter Vardy

1. " A person's character is as important as the act they have undertaken"

2. "Friendship seems to be the bond that holds communities together"

Robert Louden

“The central question is not “what ought I do?” but rather “what sort of person ought I be?”

“Those strengths of character that enable us to flourish” Lawrence M. Hinman

James Rachels – “No one would choose to live without friends, even if he had all other goods”

Elizabeth Anscombe

1. There is no point in doing moral philosophy “until we have an adequate philosophy of psychology"

2. “It would be a great improvement if, instead of “morally wrong”, one always named a genus such as “untruthful”, “unchaste”, “unjust””.

3. “…the moral sense of “ought”, ought to be jettisoned

IRIS MURDOCH "Virtue is the attempt to pierce the veil of selfish consciousness and join the world as it really is.”

 PHILIPA FOOT

“Virtues are, in some general way, beneficial

Alasdair Macintyre

1. Virtue is "an acquired human quality wrefore enables us to achieve...goods"