Virtue ethics Flashcards
As a general approach to ethics, virtue ethics…(3)
a. Virtue ethics is an ethics of character, not duty or goals.
b. Growing in virtue requires practice.
c. Importance of community and culture
Cicero’s 4 cardinal virtues
temperance, courage, prudence, justice
regulating and balancing all enjoyable things
temperance
the ability to face difficult challenges and not back down or give up.
courage
the habit of choosing wise, effective responses and actions in pursuit of a particular good.
prudence
the appropriate choice of which goods and goals to pursue.
justice
Problems with virtue theory standing alone (4)
a. Deontologists and teleologists argue that virtue theories do not give concrete guidance for solving moral dilemmas.
b. Virtue ethicists stress the actor over the actions, but the only way to grow in virtue is to observe and emulate the actions of others.
c. Good persons can sometimes do bad things.
d. Deontologists and teleologists maintain that virtue ethics cannot function for society as a whole.
concerned with fairness and equality among two persons or parties in a society
Commutative justice
_________________justice demands that Bill Gates and a poor beggar on the street be treated in the same way
Commutative justice
Commutative justice is the primary concern of
American individualism.
——————— is concerned with how a society distributes goods (e.g., social benefits) and burdens (e.g., taxation) for the good of society as a whole.
Distributive justice
example of Distributive justice
affirmative action
two views of agape
self-sacrifice
mutuality
