Virtue Ethics

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Virtue Ethics is an ethical theory that focuses on the moral agent rather than the actions made. It is neither deontological or teleological as it is soley concentrating on the character of a person. It originated from Aristotle's ideas.

Aristotle

He believed that an individual will reach a virtuous state once they arete a golden mean. This means that the person will be the best they can be according to the virtue itself. The 'Golden Mean' is a concept that was developed to express what are virtues. A virtue is a balance between the excess and deficiency of a characteristic.

He said that we will reach eudaimonia once we reach the golden mean. Eudaimonia is the telos of a being, but Aristotle wanted to express how not only is it an individual end goal but also a communities. He saw how we lived in communities and therefore he believed that is we all arete within the society then as a whole we will reach eudaimonia.

Aristotle also believed that there were two different virtues:

  • Intellectual - virtues that can be taught
  • Moral - learnt through experiences and the use of reason.

Modern Virtue Ethics

Anscombe, is a modern virtue ethicist, that believed virtues are like a shopping list. It is not about creating the moral list but it is the intention of the moral…

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