Virtue Ethics

AbstractVirtue ethics is an approach to normative ethical theory that builds upon the notion that virtue evaluation isprimary. For this reason it is useful to distinguish virtue ethics itself from the broader category of virtue theory. Virtue theory is compatible with other normative ethical theories such as Kantian ethics and utilitarianism, both of which offer distinctive accounts of virtue (seeKant, Immanuel; Utilitarianism). However, on those theories, virtue evaluation is understood in terms of more basic normative notions. Virtue ethics is distinctive in treating virtue itself as basic. Different approaches to virtue ethics have developed this idea differently. Some hold that virtue evaluation replaces deontic action evaluation. Instead of “that was morally right” or “that is what he morally ought to do” we get evaluations of the sort “that was a kind act” or “what a kind person.” However, the more common view is that action evaluation must be understood in terms of virtue evaluation rather than the other way around.