Virtue Ethics

Virtue Ethics
Definitions:
 More concerned with assessing the moral integrity and character of the person
 It focuses not on the act but on the character of the agent, “on those traits of character expressed in this
and other actions, his or her virtues”.
 Is focused with the question, “will a particular course of action make the agent a better person?”
 Avoids the danger of being too centered on rules of conduct such as those formulated through written
codes of ethics
 What is important is the individual consciously pursuing the development of his or her personal character
and integrity
 For a virtue ethicist, ethics is not a restriction but a positive force for the flourishing of one’s character
o Rather than a negative power that is constantly avoided and evaded, ethics is a force for the
good, something that is pursued freely
 Virtue ethics would ask whether this particular act contributes to the overall enhancement of your
character and integrity as a person
 Consciously or unconsciously, you are operating within the realm of virtue ethics when
you do not simply evaluate somebody’s action; but you also label him or her as honest
or dishonest, courageous or cowardly, just or unjust, trustworthy or deceitful, generous
or greedy, and loyal or disloyal among others
 Is mainly a reaction against the “dominance of utilitarianism and Kantian deontology in contemporary
moral philosophy” in general and business ethics in particular.
o Virtue ethics is more concerned with the moral character of the acting person
o It emphasizes being rather than doing… what one ought to be rather than what one ought to do.
Proponents:
 Rooted in the moral philosophy of the Greek Philosophers Aristotle and the medieval philosopher Thomas
Aquinas
 In the 20th century, the names Philippa Foot, G.E.M Anscombe, Bernard Mayo, Alasdair MacIntrye and
Richard Taylor have been identified as advocates of virtue ethics
 Robert Solomon is probably the most famous when it comes to bringing virtue approach into the
discourse of business ethics
Etymology:
 Comes from the Latin word virtus, which means strength or power
 Virtus is the Latin translation of the Greek word arete which literally means “excellence of any kind” or
”moral virtue”
 Arete understood as “excellence of any kind” or “moral virtue”
o Arete is understood as “excellence of any kind” refers to the characteristic of anything when it is
true to its purpose
 In an article Ricardo Crespo said: “Broadly speaking, virtue is the excellence or perfection of any being. It
is the good and settled disposition of anything appropriate to itself. Every virtue or excellence both brings
into good condition the thing of which it is the excellence and causes the work of that thing to be done
well.”
 Arete understood as “excellence of any kind” can also be extended to the different roles that a human
person assumes
Virtue Ethics according to Aristotle

 He was not just concerned with virtue understood as “excellence of any kind”
o Rather he was interested more on arete understood as “moral virtue”
o A moral virtue is concerned with those characteristics that contribute to the well-being of a
person as a person
o Even if it is not bad to develop the virtues appropriate for specific roles, developing the virtues
appropriate for you as a human being remains as the more important concern
o Before you assume specific roles in the society that also require you to aspire for excellence in
particular areas, you as a human being
 For Aristotle, what defines a human being apart from the rest of the beings in the world is his or her
rationality
o Thus, the person’s reason must govern his or her emotions and appetites
o To be virtuous is to be true to your identity or nature as a human being
o Moral virtues help a person to achieve his or her perfection- understood not as the absence of
flaws, but perfection in terms of achieving one’s full potential as a human being
 For Aristotle, the truly happy person is the virtuous person, one who is true to his or her nature as a
human being
o Happiness is no to be understood as the short-term satisfaction of emotions and appetites
o Happiness consists in excellent or virtuous living
o The virtuous person is trying to realize his or her potential as a human person in its entirety
 In his book, Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle identifies and discusses some basic virtues such as courage,
generosity, justice and temperance or self-control
o The virtues are valuable regardless of your specific role in life
o It is because they are virtues important for the “perfection” of your life as a human being and not
just a student or a professional or an entrepreneur or a parent
 According to Aristotle, a virtue is the mean between the two extremes of excess and deficiency.
o For example, the virtue of courage is the mean between foolhardiness (excess) and cowardice
(deficiency)
 Aristotle talks about proper pride as the virtue that stands between false humility (deficiency) and hollow
vanity (excess)
o Humility cannot be declared at once as a virtue if it is understood as false or undue humility
 Robert Solomon developed a listing of some 45 virtues that are most relevant to business
o Autonomy
o Caring
o Courage
o Entrepreneurship
o Honesty
o Justice
o Loyalty
o Passion
 The search for the mean does not resemble mathematical calculation nor does it resemble scientific
measurement
o Aristotle’s “doctrine of the mean” cannot be narrowly understood as moderation
o The mean is the result of a thoughtful analysis of the circumstances or the factors that surrounds
a particular situation
o A virtuous person acting from the mean is one who acts appropriately
o The virtue of phronesis knows how to read the situation.
 It refers to the kind of practical wisdom that helps us to know what the right thing to do
is given the particular circumstances with various factors to consider
 The person with the virtue of phronesis knows how to read the situation
 It was translated to Latin as prudential and came to the English as “prudence”
 Sometimes it is referred to as “practical wisdom”
 Moreover, the mean cannot be the same for everyone
o Thus, virtue ethics does not favor blind conformity to absolute rules and standards
o Virtue ethics is governed by an objective principle: “what is humanly good and desirable is what
actualizes a human being.”
 Aristotle also claims that virtue is attained through the constant practice of it
o Virtues are similar to skills
o As Aristotle would say, a virtue is formed through habitual virtuous action
 A virtue is a habit. This must be clarified in two senses.
o First, not all habits are virtues because Vices are also habits
o Second, a virtue is not a habit in a sense that it already lacks thoughtfulness
 When a virtue is always practiced, then it becomes part of one’s character, it will
become his or her second nature
 But when it becomes his or her second nature, it does not mean that it is done
automatically or with thoughtfulness
 But confronted with particular situations that necessitate judgment, a truly honest
person will perform the honest deed not with thoughtlessness, not automatically, but
probably with difficulty combines with conviction
 The practice of virtue is also significant because pure knowledge of the virtues does not make one
virtuous
 Aristotle and other virtue ethicists also stress the role of the community
o No one lives in isolation from others; each person’s moral disposition is a product of his or her
interaction with his family etc.
 As people grow and mature, their personalities are deeply affected by the values that their communities
prize, by the personality traits that their communities encourage, and by the role models that their
communities put forth for imitation
o The virtue approach urges us to pay attention to the contours of our communities and the habits
of character they encourage and instill.
 It must be clarified that virtue ethics does not undermine the importance of rules and principles.
o Neither it is incompatible with the normative theories that have been discussed
o Virtue ethics serve as a complementary approach to the normative theories
 It offers a distinctive perspective without belittling the value of the normative
approaches
 It is possible for the virtue ethicist would agree with the conclusion of a utilitarian or a
deontologist in the analysis of the specific cases

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Virtue Ethics

Virtue Ethics according to Aristotle

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