Modern Perspectives on Virtue Ethics Flashcards
How did Elizabeth Anscombe criticize the older ethical systems?
She believed that they each relied on the idea of punishment and reward ( i.e. they were heteronomous) and therefore couldn’t provide a basis for the moral life.
She also thought that other ethical theories were too focused on autonomous actions, whilst disregarding the social aspect of morality that unites a community.
What did Elizabeth Anscombe believe?
She believed that we need to return to the ideals of eudaimonia and to morality that is agent centered.
What does Philipa Foot suggest?
She believes that virtues don’t necessarily guarantee happiness, but they do help in moving towards achieving it.
She also emphasizes that virtues are only virtuous as long as they are used in the correct way to bring about a good outcome, therefore someone who requires courage to rob a bank cannot be seen as virtuous.
What does Alasdair MacIntyre believe?
He believes that modern ethical morality has lost its way - most people’s attitudes are based on emotivism.
He suggests that morality should be based on developing your ‘telos’ as otherwise we’d lose our ‘moral wisdom’.
He also thinks that society should assist us in developing the virtues that are relevant to the contemporary times.
What did Richard Taylor suggest?
He believed that humans should flourish and achieve eudaimonia, but religious teachings encourage just the opposite.
He referred to the Christian teaching of ‘‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth’’. If the meek inherit the earth, what encouragement is there than to be a good person and to strive for moral excellence if all that you need to do is lie back and wait for the inheritance.
Finish the quote: ‘‘Blessed are the meek…
…for they shall inherit the earth’’.
What does Rosalind Hursthouse say about virtue ethics?
She thinks that virtue ethics doesn’t provide moral guidance in dilemmas. She says that it doesn’t explain how a person would or should act, but instead how a virtuous person would think about the moral dilemma.
However, she believes that virtuous people will ‘just know’ what to do if a moral dilemma occurs.
