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Ethics and Virtue

Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre,
Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer

For many of us, the fundamental question of ethics is, "What should I
do?" or "How should I act?" Ethics is supposed to provide us with "moral
principles" or universal rules that tell us what to do. Many people, for
example, read passionate adherents of the moral principle of
utilitarianism: "Everyone is obligated to do whatever will achieve the
greatest good for the greatest number." Others are just as devoted to the
basic principle of Immanuel Kant: "Everyone is obligated to act only in
ways that respect the human dignity and moral rights of all persons."

Moral principles like these focus primarily on people's actions and
doings. We "apply" them by asking what these principles require of us in
particular circumstances, e.g., when considering whether to lie or to
commit suicide. We also apply them when we ask what they require of us as
professionals, e.g., lawyers, doctors, or business people, or what they
require of our social policies and institutions. In the last decade,
dozens of ethics centers and programs devoted to "business ethics", "legal
ethics", "medical ethics", and "ethics in public policy" have sprung up.
These centers are designed to examine the implications moral principles
have for our lives.

But are moral principles all that ethics consists of? Critics have
rightly claimed that this emphasis on moral principles smacks of a
thoughtless and slavish worship of rules, as if the moral life was a
matter of scrupulously checking our every action against a table of do's
and don'ts. Fortunately, this obsession with principles and rules has been
recently challenged by several ethicists who argue that the emphasis on
principles ignores a fundamental component of ethics--virtue. These
ethicists point our that by focusing on what people should do or how
people should act, the "moral principles approach" neglects the more
important issue--what people should be. In other words, the fundamental
question of ethics is not "What should I do?" but "What kind of person
should I be?"

According to "virtue ethics", there are certain ideals, such as
excellence or dedication to the common good, toward which we should strive
and which allow the full development of our humanity. These ideals are
discovered through thoughtful reflection on what we as human beings have
the potential to become.

"Virtues" are attitudes, dispositions, or character traits that enable
us to be and to act in ways that develop this potential. They enable us to
pursue the ideals we have adopted. Honesty, courage, compassion,
generosity, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence are
all examples of virtues.

How does a person develop virtues? Virtues are developed through
learning and through practice. As the ancient philosopher Aristotle
suggested, a person can improve his or her character by practicing
self-discipline, while a good character can be corrupted by repeated
self-indulgence. Just as the ability to run a marathon develops through
much training and practice, so too does our capacity to be fair, to be
courageous, or to be compassionate.

Virtues are habits. That is, once they are acquired, they become
characteristic of a person. For example, a person who has developed the
virtue of generosity is often referred to as a generous person because he
or she tends to be generous in all circumstances. Moreover, a person who
has developed virtues will be naturally disposed to act in ways that are
consistent with moral principles. The virtuous person is the ethical
person.

At the heart of the virtue approach to ethics is the idea of
"community". A person's character traits are not developed in isolation,
but within and by the communities to which he or she belongs, including
family, church, school, and other private and public associations. As
people grow and mature, their personalities are deeply affected by the
values that their communities prize, by the personality traits that their
communities encourage, and by the role models that their communities put
forth for imitation through traditional stories, fiction, movies,
television, and so on. The virtue approach urges us to pay attention to
the contours of our communities and the habits of character they encourage
and instill.

The moral life, then, is not simply a matter of following moral rules
and of learning to apply them to specific situations. The moral life is
also a matter of trying to determine the kind of people we should be and
of attending to the development of character within our communities and
ourselves.

This article appeared originally in Issues in Ethics V1 N3
(Spring 1988)

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Markkula Center for Applied Ethics does not advocate particular positions
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