Analysis Of Rosalind Hursthouse's On Virtue Ethics

VIRTUE ETHICS

A JOURNAL ENTRY BY ANASTACIA ALBINDA

In this article “On Virtue Ethics”, Rosalind Hursthouse attempts to formulate and defend her moral philosophy of neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics to its rivals utilitarianism and deontology. She is also interested in rebutting claims that virtue ethics cannot give us guidance on what to do in a particular situation because it emphasizes on character formation. She does this by saying that there are claims that virtue ethics cannot be a genuine rival towards utilitarianism and deontology (often referred to as duty ethics), because virtue ethics is “agent-centered” rather than “What sorts of actions should I do?” These claims state that ethical theories should be able to tell us about right actions which utilitarianism and deontology do. However, she fights back by saying that virtue ethics says that right action is an action that is among those available. It is an action that a virtuous human would do characteristically under the circumstances that they are in. She then goes on to say that with virtue ethics the agent is one who has, and exercises, certain character traits which are virtues. This means that virtue is a character trait a human being needs to flourish in life. She compares this with the other two saying that while utilitarianism and deontology introduce consequences and moral rule, virtue ethics does not focus on that and rather focuses on the virtuous agent and the criteria that person follows.

The conclusion to this article is that a virtuous person is someone who has the ideal characteristics and traits. These characteristics and traits are natural to the agent but it needs to be nurtured so that they can become stabilized according to Aristotle. It does not aim to...

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...Confucianism which strongly emphasized the idea of adult children taking care of their parents instead of sticking them in a home like quite a few Western adult children do. As a person, I am both Asian and white (American) because of my parents. And I think that the teachings that have come from both of my parents’ cultures are very beneficial. By my Filipino father, I was taught respect, the ability to work hard, and the need for family. By my American mother, I was taught how to volunteer, creativity, empathy, the need for friends, and how to have a fun life. So I would say I am well-rounded, but not perfect, when it comes to personality and my understanding what rights are and what they are not. If human rights organizations want to be well-rounded also, it should not just be pulling suggestions from just western countries. There should be a constant discussion.