Virtue Ethics

Virtue Ethics is a major approach to normative ethical theory that takes the consideration of character as fundamental to ethical reflection. Philosophers who seek an alternative to the main deontological and consequentialist traditions in modern moral theory have looked to this perspective, especially in the last twenty years. Virtue Ethics collects, for the first time, the main classical sources and the central contemporary expressions of this increasingly important tradition. In addition to Aristotle, the classical source of "nonmoral" virtue theory, it includes the esteem–based virtue ethics of Francis Hutcheson and David Hume. Contemporary virtue ethicists included are Philippa Foot, John McDowell, Alasdair MacIntyre, Annette Baier, Rosalind Hursthouse, and Michael Slote. There is also an important discussion of character and virtue by Gary Watson. Edited and introduced by Stephen Darwall, these readings are essential for anyone interested in normative theory.

Acknowledgments. Introduction. PART I. CLASSICAL SOURCES. 1. From The Nicomachean Ethics (Aristole). 2. From An Inquiry into the Original of Our Idea of Virtue (Francis Hutcheson). 3. From Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (David Hume). PART II. CONTEMPORARY EXPRESSIONS. 4. Virtues and Vices (Philippa Foot). 5. Virtue and Reason (John McDowell). 6. The Nature of the Virtues (Alasdair MacIntyre). 7. What Do Women Want in a Moral Theory (Annette Baier). 8. Normative Virtue Ethics (Roaslind Hursthouse). 9. Agent–Based Virtue Ethics (Michael Slote). PART III. CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION. 10. On the Primacy of Character (Gary Watson). Index.

Stephen Darwall is the John Dewey Collegiate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan. He has written widely on moral philosophy and its history, and is the author of Impartial Reason (1983), The British Moralists and the Internal ′Ought′: 1640–1740 (1995), Philosophical Ethics (1998), and Welfare and Rational Care (2002). He is the editor, with Allan Gibbard and Peter Railton, of Moral Discourse and Practice (1997).

“Finally, here′s a book that can get one well launched on the study of virtue ethics. Containing classical texts and groundbreaking contemporary essays, it reprints some of the great pivotal pieces that showcase the theory′s appeal. Unlike other readers, it represents both the Aristotelian and sentiment–based virtue traditions. It is high time we had such a unique and useful collection available.” Rachel Cohon, The University at Albany, State University of New York <!––end––>