A Brief Study of Virtue Ethics in Greek Philosophy
Keywords:
virtue, ethics, greek, philosophy, Socrates, morality, Plato, Aristotle, human, character
Abstract
Virtue ethics is an approach to ethics that treats the concept of moral virtue as central. Virtue ethics is usually contrasted with two other major approaches in ethics, consequentialism and deontology, which make the goodness of outcomes of an action (consequentialism) and the concept of moral duty (deontology) central. While virtue ethics does not necessarily deny the importance of goodness of states of affairs or moral duties to ethics, it emphasizes moral virtue, and sometimes other concepts, like eudaimonia, to an extent that other ethical dispositions do not. Virtue ethics began with Socrates, and was subsequently developed further by Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics. Virtue ethics refers to a collection of normative ethical philosophies that place an emphasis on being rather than doing.
References
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18. Birondo, Noell, 2016, “Virtue and Prejudice: Giving and Taking Reasons,” The Monist, 99: 212–223.
19. Bloomfield, Paul, 2014, The Virtues of Happiness: A Theory of the Good Life, New York: Oxford University Press.
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21. Boyd, Craig and Kevin Timpe, 2021, The Virtues: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
22. Brady, Michael S., 2004, “Against Agent-Based Virtue Ethics,” Philosophical Papers, 33: 1–10.
23. Brown, Etienne, 2016, “Aristotelian Virtue Ethics and the Normativity Challenge,” Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review, 55: 131–150.
24. Cafaro, Philip (ed.), 2010, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 23 (1/2). (Special edition on environmental virtue ethics.)
25. Calhoun, Cheshire, 2000, “The Virtue of Civility,” Philosophy and Public Affairs, 29 (3): 251–275.
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27. Chappell, T. (ed.), 2006, Values and Virtues, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
28. Chappell, Sophie Grace, 2015, “Lists of the Virtues,” Ethics and Politics, 17: 74–93.
29. Clarke, Bridget, 2010, “Virtue and Disagreement,” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 13: 273–91.
30. Cline, Erin, 2015, Families of Virtue: Confucian and Western Views on Childhood Development, New York: Columbia University Press.
31. Cocking, Dean and Justin Oakley, 2001, Virtue Ethics and Professional Roles, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
32. Cokelet, Bradford, 2012, “Two-Level Eudaimonism and Second-Personal Reasons,” Ethics, 122: 773–780.
33. Crisp, Roger (ed.), 1996, How Should One Live?, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
34. Curren, Randall, 2015, “Virtue Ethics and Moral Education,” in Besser-Jones and Slote (2015), pp. 459–470.
35. Curzer, Howard, 2012, Aristotle and the Virtues, New York: Oxford University Press.
36. Darr, Ryan, 2020, “Virtues as Qualities of Character: Alasdair MacIntyre and the Situationist Critique of Virtue Ethics,” Journal of Religious Ethics, 48: 7–25.
37. Davis, Leesa, 2014, “Mindfulness, Non-Attachment and Other Buddhist Virtues,” in van Hooft (2014), pp. 306–317.
38. Dent, N.J.H., 1984, The Moral Psychology of the Virtues, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
39. DePaul, Michael and Linda Zagzebski (eds.), 2003, Intellectual Virtue: Perspectives from Ethics and Epistemology, New York: Oxford University Press.
40. Doris, John M., 1998, “Persons, Situations and Virtue Ethics,” Noûs, 32 (4): 504–30.
41. Driver, Julia, 2001, Uneasy Virtue, New York: Cambridge University Press.
42. Dumler-Winckler, Emily, 2015, “Putting on Virtue without Putting off Feminists,” Journal of Religious Ethics, 43: 342–367.
43. Fernando, Mario and Geoff Moore, 2015, “MacIntyrean Virtue Ethics in Business: A Cross-Cultural Comparison,” Journal of Business Ethics, 132: 185–202.
44. Finnigan, Bronwyn, 2015, “Phronesis in Aristotle: Reconciling Deliberation with Spontaneity,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 91: 674–697.
45. Glanagan, Owen, 2015, “It Takes a Metaphysics: Raising Virtuous Buddhists,” in Snow (2015), pp. 171–196.
46. Moot, Philippa, 1978, Virtues and Vices, Oxford: Blackwell.
2. Adams, Robert Merrihew, 1999, Finite and Infinite Goods, New York: Oxford University Press.
3. Alfano, Mark (ed.), 2015, Current Controversies in Virtue Theory, New York: Routledge.
4. Angier, Tom, 2018, “Aristotle and the Charge of Egoism,” Journal of Value Inquiry, 52: 457–475.
5. Angle, Stephen and Michael Slote (eds.), 2013, Virtue Ethics and Confucianism, New York: Routledge.
6. Annas, Julia, 1993, The Morality of Happiness, New York: Oxford University Press.
7. Anscombe, G.E.M., 1958, “Modern Moral Philosophy,” Philosophy, 33: 1–19.
8. Athanassoulis, Nafsika, 2000, “A Response to Harman: Virtue Ethics and Character Traits”, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society (New Series), 100: 215–21.
9. Audi, Robert, 2009, “Moral Virtue and Reasons for Action,” Philosophical Issues, 19: 1–20.
10. Back, Youngsun, 2018, “Virtue and the Good Life in the Early Confucian Tradition,” Journal of Religious Ethics, 46: 37–62.
11. Badhwar, Neera, 1996, “The Limited Unity of Virtue,” Noûs, 30: 306–29.
12. Bailey, Olivia, 2010, “What Knowledge is Necessary for Virtue?” Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy, 4 (2): 1–17.
13. Baril, Anne, 2014, “Eudaimonia in Contemporary Virtue Ethics,” in van Hooft (2014), pp. 17–27.
14. Battaly, Heather (ed.), 2010, Virtue and Vice, Moral and Epistemic, a pair of special issues of Metaphilosophy, 41(1/2).
15. Baxley, Anne Margaret, 2007, “The Price of Virtue,” Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 88: 403–23.
16. Besser-Jones, Lorraine, 2008, “Social Psychology, Moral Character and Moral Fallibility,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 76: 310–32.
17. Besser-Jones, Lorraine, and Michael Slote (eds.), 2015, The Routledge Companion to Virtue Ethics, New York: Routledge.
18. Birondo, Noell, 2016, “Virtue and Prejudice: Giving and Taking Reasons,” The Monist, 99: 212–223.
19. Bloomfield, Paul, 2014, The Virtues of Happiness: A Theory of the Good Life, New York: Oxford University Press.
20. Bommarito, Nicolas, 2018, Inner Virtue, New York: Oxford University Press.
21. Boyd, Craig and Kevin Timpe, 2021, The Virtues: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
22. Brady, Michael S., 2004, “Against Agent-Based Virtue Ethics,” Philosophical Papers, 33: 1–10.
23. Brown, Etienne, 2016, “Aristotelian Virtue Ethics and the Normativity Challenge,” Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review, 55: 131–150.
24. Cafaro, Philip (ed.), 2010, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 23 (1/2). (Special edition on environmental virtue ethics.)
25. Calhoun, Cheshire, 2000, “The Virtue of Civility,” Philosophy and Public Affairs, 29 (3): 251–275.
26. Carr, David and Jan Steutel (eds.), 1999, Virtue Ethics and Moral Education, New York: Routledge.
27. Chappell, T. (ed.), 2006, Values and Virtues, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
28. Chappell, Sophie Grace, 2015, “Lists of the Virtues,” Ethics and Politics, 17: 74–93.
29. Clarke, Bridget, 2010, “Virtue and Disagreement,” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 13: 273–91.
30. Cline, Erin, 2015, Families of Virtue: Confucian and Western Views on Childhood Development, New York: Columbia University Press.
31. Cocking, Dean and Justin Oakley, 2001, Virtue Ethics and Professional Roles, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
32. Cokelet, Bradford, 2012, “Two-Level Eudaimonism and Second-Personal Reasons,” Ethics, 122: 773–780.
33. Crisp, Roger (ed.), 1996, How Should One Live?, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
34. Curren, Randall, 2015, “Virtue Ethics and Moral Education,” in Besser-Jones and Slote (2015), pp. 459–470.
35. Curzer, Howard, 2012, Aristotle and the Virtues, New York: Oxford University Press.
36. Darr, Ryan, 2020, “Virtues as Qualities of Character: Alasdair MacIntyre and the Situationist Critique of Virtue Ethics,” Journal of Religious Ethics, 48: 7–25.
37. Davis, Leesa, 2014, “Mindfulness, Non-Attachment and Other Buddhist Virtues,” in van Hooft (2014), pp. 306–317.
38. Dent, N.J.H., 1984, The Moral Psychology of the Virtues, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
39. DePaul, Michael and Linda Zagzebski (eds.), 2003, Intellectual Virtue: Perspectives from Ethics and Epistemology, New York: Oxford University Press.
40. Doris, John M., 1998, “Persons, Situations and Virtue Ethics,” Noûs, 32 (4): 504–30.
41. Driver, Julia, 2001, Uneasy Virtue, New York: Cambridge University Press.
42. Dumler-Winckler, Emily, 2015, “Putting on Virtue without Putting off Feminists,” Journal of Religious Ethics, 43: 342–367.
43. Fernando, Mario and Geoff Moore, 2015, “MacIntyrean Virtue Ethics in Business: A Cross-Cultural Comparison,” Journal of Business Ethics, 132: 185–202.
44. Finnigan, Bronwyn, 2015, “Phronesis in Aristotle: Reconciling Deliberation with Spontaneity,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 91: 674–697.
45. Glanagan, Owen, 2015, “It Takes a Metaphysics: Raising Virtuous Buddhists,” in Snow (2015), pp. 171–196.
46. Moot, Philippa, 1978, Virtues and Vices, Oxford: Blackwell.
Published
2022-01-30
How to Cite
Singh, M. (2022). A Brief Study of Virtue Ethics in Greek Philosophy. Central Asian Journal of Literature, Philosophy and Culture, 3(1), 20-29. Retrieved from https://cajlpc.centralasianstudies.org/index.php/CAJLPC/article/view/282
Section
Articles
