Discover the Quest for a Moral Life

Understanding Virtue Ethics: A Guide to Living a Moral Life

• Virtue ethics is a philosophy developed by Aristotle and other ancient Greeks.
• It is the quest to understand and live a life of moral character, where the character becomes the identification mark of the person.
• A person acts virtuously if they "possess and live the virtues."
• A virtue is a moral character that a person needs to live well.
• An action is only right if it is an action that a virtuous person would carry out.
• Virtue ethics is person-based rather than action-based.
• It provides guidance as to the sort of characteristics and behaviors a good person will seek to achieve.
• A good person is someone who lives virtuously, who possesses and practices virtuous habits.
• Virtuous ethics helps us understand what it means to be a virtuous human being and gives us a guide for living life without giving us specific rules for resolving ethical dilemmas.
• For virtue theory to be useful, it needs to suggest only a minimum set of characteristics that a person needs to possess to be regarded as virtuous.
• Virtue is characterized by moderation or observance of the mean determined by reason, and vice is characterized by deficiency and excess.
• There are 12 Aristotelian moral virtues with 24 corresponding vices.

Understanding Virtue Ethics: A Guide to Living a Moral Life

• Virtue ethics is a philosophy developed by Aristotle and other ancient Greeks.
• It is the quest to understand and live a life of moral character, where the character becomes the identification mark of the person.
• A person acts virtuously if they "possess and live the virtues."
• A virtue is a moral character that a person needs to live well.
• An action is only right if it is an action that a virtuous person would carry out.
• Virtue ethics is person-based rather than action-based.
• It provides guidance as to the sort of characteristics and behaviors a good person will seek to achieve.
• A good person is someone who lives virtuously, who possesses and practices virtuous habits.
• Virtuous ethics helps us understand what it means to be a virtuous human being and gives us a guide for living life without giving us specific rules for resolving ethical dilemmas.
• For virtue theory to be useful, it needs to suggest only a minimum set of characteristics that a person needs to possess to be regarded as virtuous.
• Virtue is characterized by moderation or observance of the mean determined by reason, and vice is characterized by deficiency and excess.
• There are 12 Aristotelian moral virtues with 24 corresponding vices.

Understanding Virtue Ethics: A Guide to Living a Moral Life

• Virtue ethics is a philosophy developed by Aristotle and other ancient Greeks.
• It is the quest to understand and live a life of moral character, where the character becomes the identification mark of the person.
• A person acts virtuously if they "possess and live the virtues."
• A virtue is a moral character that a person needs to live well.
• An action is only right if it is an action that a virtuous person would carry out.
• Virtue ethics is person-based rather than action-based.
• It provides guidance as to the sort of characteristics and behaviors a good person will seek to achieve.
• A good person is someone who lives virtuously, who possesses and practices virtuous habits.
• Virtuous ethics helps us understand what it means to be a virtuous human being and gives us a guide for living life without giving us specific rules for resolving ethical dilemmas.
• For virtue theory to be useful, it needs to suggest only a minimum set of characteristics that a person needs to possess to be regarded as virtuous.
• Virtue is characterized by moderation or observance of the mean determined by reason, and vice is characterized by deficiency and excess.
• There are 12 Aristotelian moral virtues with 24 corresponding vices.