Theories that fall under the heading of virtue ethics are all an evolution and exploration of philosophical themes first outlined thousands of years ago in the writings of Aristotle. In virtue ethics, moral fortitude is based on rules, but only because the rules are applied by the agent, or person. Virtue ethics is agent based, because agents use a moral code they’ve adopted for themselves, and that moral code is made up of true, honorable, and just virtues that guide their actions. Most of these virtues are qualities (which are, by nature, positive or “quality” character traits) that the individual’s culture or society has ingrained upon him or her as being very important. These virtues are the building blocks of a truly moral individual.
Understanding virtue ethics begins by recalling deontological theories. Like virtue ethics, deontological theories involve living by steadfastly held moral truths. In deontology, these virtues are examined closely so as to become second nature, and used to develop good, moral character habits. In virtue ethics, by contrast, those ethics don’t require thought or careful planning or thinking because they become second nature and affect, in theory, every thought and action an individual undertakes without the individual even realizing it.
Although it’s difficult to find universal truths about most any aspect of ethics, the same cannot be said for virtues. How virtues are applied and defined may vary wildly from person to person, culture to culture, or era to era, but certain character traits nonetheless have become bona fide virtues due to their almost universal acceptance and admiration. Such character traits that are turned into virtues include things like wisdom, generosity, justice, temperance, keeping a level head, and kindness. Another virtue that’s important in applied ethics is passing on those virtues: it’s virtuous for adults to pass on virtues to their children, as it is their responsibility to do so.
Some of the ethical notions that come under the “virtue ethics” umbrella that we’ll discuss in this chapter include:
• Divine command theory, the idea that all good behaviors—and the virtues that guide them—are laid out explicitly by a divine figure, such as God. If God said it’s good, it’s good, and if God said it’s bad, it’s bad.
• Natural law ethics, a theory developed by Thomas Aquinas that finds human nature is one and the same with the ethical goodness, and that it is human nature to adopt virtues and act virtuously.
• Relativism, the notion that virtues—and thus ethical strictures—can vary from culture to culture because of the different values and needs of each culture. Relativism holds that it’s not correct to judge or make statements about absolutes.
• Moral realism is an opposing viewpoint to relativism. Under this philosophy, there are some moral truths and values that are objectively good, whether or not an individual or even community chooses to accept them as such. (Moral antirealism then is the idea that there are no objectively morally right virtues.)