Essay On Virtue Ethics

Virtue is a broad term used in ethics, it identifies with the moral character of a person where some other ethic theories focus on duties and roles or the consequences of an action. Virtue ethics has been broken down into three main theories: eudaimonism, agent-based theories, and the ethics of care. Eudaimonism is based on human flourishing or a person achieving their purpose well. An agent-based theory are based on what other people think are admirable traits in people that are thought to be common-sense intuitions. The third type is ethics of care which came from the feminist thinkers, it challenged the “idea that ethics should focus solely on justice and autonomy; it argues that more feminine traits, such as caring and nurturing, should also be considered” (Athanassoulis, N. (n.d.). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.).
Aristotle was one of the founders of the theory of virtue. He thought that a virtuous person is someone who has ideal character traits.
If a person is in need it might be obvious that they should be helped. In this situation a utilitarian will point out to the fact that the consequences of doing so will maximize well-being, a deontologist to the fact that, in doing so the agent will be acting in accordance with a moral rule as “do unto others as you would be done by” and a virtue to the fact that helping the person would be charitable or compassionate (Hursthouse). Virtue is the moral character of a person. A virtuous person will try to live up to a high moral standard. A person of virtue is who thought to be kind they we would expect this person to be kind in all different situations. This ethical theory is different from other theories because virtue does not focus on duties and rules or the consequences of an action of helping