Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics is a philosophy developed by Aristotle and other ancient Greeks. It is the quest to understand and
live a life of moral character.

This character-based approach to morality assumes that we acquire virtue through practice. By practicing being
honest, brave, just, generous, and so on, a person develops an honorable and moral character. According to
Aristotle, by honing virtuous habits, people will likely make the right choice when faced with ethical
challenges.

To illustrate the difference among three key moral philosophies, ethicists Mark White and Robert Arp refer to
the film The Dark Knight where Batman has the opportunity to kill the Joker. Utilitarians, White and Arp
suggest, would endorse killing the Joker. By taking this one life, Batman could save multitudes. Deontologists,
on the other hand, would reject killing the Joker simply because it’s wrong to kill. But a virtue ethicist “would
highlight the character of the person who kills the Joker. Does Batman want to be the kind of person who takes
his enemies’ lives?” No, in fact, he doesn’t.
So, virtue ethics helps us understand what it means to be a virtuous human being. And, it gives us a guide for
living life without giving us specific rules for resolving ethical dilemmas.

Introduction to Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who lived around 350 B.C.E. Along with studying philosophy, Aristotle was an
astronomer, a writer, a biologist, and a geologist. He was a student of Plato and is known for his ideas on politics,
government, and often most notably, ethics.

Virtue Ethics vs. Other Theories

In Aristotle's time, most philosophers were focused on one of two types of ethics. One is called deontological ethics,
which judges ethics by how well a person follows the laws and rules of society. Deontologists would say, ''it doesn't
matter what happens, following the rule is always the right thing to do.'' The second, teleological ethics, judges ethics
based on the outcomes of a person's actions. Teleological ethicists would say, ''If what you do leads to something good,
you did the right thing.'' There are flaws in both types of thinking, so Aristotle introduced a third option.

Aristotle's perspective on ethics was based on the virtue of being human; in other words,  virtue ethics. There are two
important distinctions between Aristotle's approach to ethics and the other predominant perspectives at the time. First,
Aristotle did not consider ethics just a theoretical or philosophical topic to study. To understand ethics, Aristotle argued,
you actually have to observe how people behave.

That led to the second distinction. Ethics weren't about ''what if'' situations for Aristotle; instead, he took a very practical
approach and much of his ideas on ethics were based on what someone did and how their virtues impacted their actions.

Virtue Ethics
Virtue ethics is a broad term for theories that emphasize the role of character and virtue in moral philosophy
rather than either doing one’s duty or acting in order to bring about good consequences. A virtue ethicist is
likely to give you this kind of moral advice: “Act as a virtuous person would act in your situation.”
Most virtue ethics theories take their inspiration from Aristotle who declared that a virtuous person is someone
who has ideal character traits. These traits derive from natural internal tendencies, but need to be nurtured;
however, once established, they will become stable. For example, a virtuous person is someone who is kind
across many situations over a lifetime because that is her character and not because she wants to maximize
utility or gain favors or simply do her duty. Unlike deontological and consequentialist theories, theories of
virtue ethics do not aim primarily to identify universal principles that can be applied in any moral situation. And
virtue ethics theories deal with wider questions—“How should I live?” and “What is the good life?” and “What
are proper family and social values?”
Since its revival in the twentieth century, virtue ethics has been developed in three main directions:
Eudaimonism, agent-based theories, and the ethics of care. Eudaimonism bases virtues in human flourishing,
where flourishing is equated with performing one’s distinctive function well. In the case of humans, Aristotle
argued that our distinctive function is reasoning, and so the life “worth living” is one which we reason well. An
agent-based theory emphasizes that virtues are determined by common-sense intuitions that we as observers
judge to be admirable traits in other people. The third branch of virtue ethics, the ethics of care, was proposed
predominately by feminist thinkers. It challenges 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.
Here are some common objections to virtue ethics. Its theories provide a self-centered conception of ethics
because human flourishing is seen as an end in itself and does not sufficiently consider the extent to which our
actions affect other people. Virtue ethics also does not provide guidance on how we should act, as there are no
clear principles for guiding action other than “act as a virtuous person would act given the situation.” Lastly, the
ability to cultivate the right virtues will be affected by a number of different factors beyond a person's control
due to education, society, friends and family. If moral character is so reliant on luck, what role does this leave
for appropriate praise and blame of the person?

What is Natural Law Theory?

Have you ever told a lie? Or taken something that didn't belong to you? If so, you probably weren't proud of
how you acted in those moments. But why? What was it about doing something 'wrong' that made you feel bad
deep, down inside?
Natural law theory is a legal theory that recognizes law and morality as deeply connected, if not one and the
same. Morality relates to what is right and wrong and what is good and bad. Natural law theorists believe that
human laws are defined by morality, and not by an authority figure, like a king or a government. Therefore, we
humans are guided by our human nature to figure out what the laws are, and to act in conformity with those
laws.
The term 'natural law' is derived from the belief that human morality comes from nature. Everything in nature
has a purpose, including humans. Our purpose, according to natural law theorists, is to live a good, happy life.
Therefore, actions that work against that purpose -- that is, actions that would prevent a fellow human from
living a good, happy life -- are considered 'unnatural', or 'immoral'.
Laws have a purpose too: to provide justice. From a natural law perspective, a law that doesn't provide justice
(an unjust law) is considered 'not a law at all.' Therefore, a law that is flawed is one that no one should follow.
In short, any law that is good is moral, and any moral law is good. Legal positivism is a legal theory that is the
opposite of the natural law theory. Legal positivists believe that a law can be deeply flawed, and yet still be
considered a law.

Ethics
The concept of morality under the natural law theory is not subjective. This means that the definition of what is
'right' and what is 'wrong' is the same for everyone, everywhere.
The natural law approach to solving ethical dilemmas begins with the basic belief that everyone has the right to
live their life. From there, natural law theorists draw a line between an innocent life and the life of an 'unjust
aggressor.' The natural law theory recognizes the legal and moral concept of self-defense, which is often used to
justify acts of war.
Natural law theory is not always a simple school of thought. It should come as no surprise that the ethics
associated with natural law are equally complicated. The idea that the definition of what is 'right' and what is
'wrong' is the same for 'every person' is sometimes difficult to apply to complex ethical dilemmas.

Examples
Consider the following examples…
Example 1:
You are a passenger on a ship sailing across the ocean. Suddenly, your ship is overtaken in a powerful storm.
You escape to a lifeboat with 25 other passengers. You notice that four of the passengers are badly injured, and
unlikely to survive for more than a week. You also know that the lifeboat only has enough food and water to
sustain 22 passengers. Some of the other passengers are considering throwing the four injured passengers
overboard in order to save the other survivors. If you were a natural law theorist, how would you solve this
ethical dilemma?

What Is Natural Law?

Natural law is a theory in ethics and philosophy that says that human beings possess intrinsic values that govern
our reasoning and behavior. Natural law maintains that these rules of right and wrong are inherent in people and
are not created by society or court judges.

Understanding Natural Law

Natural law holds that there are universal moral standards that are inherent in humankind throughout all time,
and these standards should form the basis of a just society. Human beings are not taught natural law per se, but
rather we “discover” it by consistently making choices for good instead of evil. Some schools of thought believe
that natural law is passed to humans via a divine presence. Although natural law mainly applies to the realm of
ethics and philosophy, it is also used extensively in theoretical economics.

Natural Law vs. Positive Law

The theory of natural law believes that our civil laws should be based on morality, ethics, and what is inherently
correct. This is in contrast to what is called "positive law" or "man-made law," which is defined by statute and
common law and may or may not reflect the natural law.
Examples of positive law include rules such as the speed that individuals are allowed to drive on the highway
and the age that individuals can legally purchase alcohol. Ideally, when drafting positive laws, governing bodies
would base them on their sense of natural law.
For St. Thomas Aquinas (1224/25–1274 CE), natural law and religion were inextricably connected. He believed
that natural law "participates" in the divine "eternal" law. Aquinas thought eternal law to be that rational plan by
which all creation is ordered, and natural law is the way that human beings participate in the eternal law. He
further posited that the fundamental principle of natural law is that we should do good and avoid evil.

Ontological arguments
Ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that God exists, from premises which are supposed to
derive from some source other than observation of the world—e.g., from reason alone. In other words,
ontological arguments are arguments from what are typically alleged to be none but analytic, a priori and
necessary premises to the conclusion that God exists.
The first, and best-known, ontological argument was proposed by St. Anselm of Canterbury in the 11th century
C.E. In his Proslogion, St. Anselm claims to derive the existence of God from the concept of a being than which
no greater can be conceived. St. Anselm reasoned that, if such a being fails to exist, then a greater being—
namely, a being than which no greater can be conceived, and which exists—can be conceived. But this would
be absurd: nothing can be greater than a being than which no greater can be conceived. So a being than which
no greater can be conceived—i.e., God—exists.
In the seventeenth century, René Descartes defended a family of similar arguments. For instance, in the Fifth
Meditation, Descartes claims to provide a proof demonstrating the existence of God from the idea of a
supremely perfect being. Descartes argues that there is no less contradiction in conceiving a supremely perfect
being who lacks existence than there is in conceiving a triangle whose interior angles do not sum to 180
degrees. Hence, he supposes, since we do conceive a supremely perfect being—we do have the idea of a
supremely perfect being—we must conclude that a supremely perfect being exists.
In the early eighteenth century, Gottfried Leibniz attempted to fill what he took to be a shortcoming in
Descartes’ view. According to Leibniz, Descartes’ arguments fail unless one first shows that the idea of a
supremely perfect being is coherent, or that it is possible for there to be a supremely perfect being. Leibniz
argued that, since perfections are unanalysable, it is impossible to demonstrate that perfections are incompatible
—and he concluded from this that all perfections can co-exist together in a single entity.
In more recent times, Kurt Gödel, Charles Hartshorne, Norman Malcolm and Alvin Plantinga have all presented
much-discussed ontological arguments which bear interesting connections to the earlier arguments of St.
Anselm, Descartes and Leibniz. Of these, the most interesting are those of Gödel and Plantinga; in these cases,
however, it is unclear whether we should really say that these authors claim that the arguments are proofs of the
existence of God.
Critiques of ontological arguments begin with Gaunilo, a contemporary of St. Anselm. Perhaps the best known
criticisms of ontological arguments are due to Immanuel Kant, in his Critique of Pure Reason. Most famously,
Kant claims that ontological arguments are vitiated by their reliance upon the implicit assumption that
“existence” is a predicate. However, as Bertrand Russell observed, it is much easier to be persuaded that
ontological arguments are no good than it is to say exactly what is wrong with them. This helps to explain why
ontological arguments have fascinated philosophers for almost a thousand years.

Immanuel Kant – Duty Ethics/Deontology

The term deontology comes from the Greek word deon, meaning duty. The theory of deontology states we are
morally obligated to act in accordance with a certain set of principles and rules regardless of outcome. In
religious deontology, the principles derive from divine commandment so that under religious laws, we are
morally obligated not to steal, lie, or cheat. Thus, deontological theories and duties have existed for many
centuries. Immanuel Kant, the theory’s celebrated proponent, formulated the most influential form of a secular
deontological moral theory in 1788. Unlike religious deontological theories, the rules (or maxims) in Kant’s
deontological theory derive from human reason.

To better understand deontology, compare it to some opposing theories, such as utilitarianism, which says we
have an obligation to take the course of action that achieves the most positive outcome or consequence.
According the theory of utility, the best consequence is happiness/pleasure, because it is considered the absolute
good. Consequentialism tells us we need to take into account the final consequence of our action, even if the act
itself is not morally good.
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was born in 1724 in the Prussian city of Königsberg. He essentially spent his whole adult life at
the university and never truly travelled outside of the city. He only stopped working at the university three years
before his death. He was a philosopher and scientist specializing in many areas, including mathematics,
astrophysics, geography and anthropology. He wrote several dense, difficult-to-read but highly influential texts
regarding metaphysics, metaethics and practical morality, science, history and politics. He was the first recorded
scholar to suggest that some of the faint nebulae visible with a telescope are actually separate universes in the
sky.
As with many scholars of his time, Kant’s new ideas and published works about the nature of reality and free
will were widely condemned, but they have remained prominently influential to this day. In terms of ethics, the
most significant of his works are Groundwork in the Metaphysics of Morals (1785), Critique of Practical
Reason (1788), and Metaphysics of Morals (1798). These texts constitute the foundation of Kant’s own moral
philosophy.
A Theory of Duty
Some terminology to consider:
Moral agent: An agent is a person who performs an action; a moral agent is a person with the capacity to act morally.

Maxim: rule or principle

Will: the faculty of deciding, choosing, or acting

Deontological theories differ from utilitarian theories in several key ways. The most notable difference is
utilitarianism aims at a goal of greatest happiness (or the best consequence) and justifies any act that achieves
that goal. Deontological theories hold that some acts are always wrong, even if the act leads to an admirable
outcome. Actions in deontology are always judged independently of their outcome. An act can be morally bad
but may unintentionally lead to a favorable outcome.
 Kant is responsible for the most prominent and well-known form of deontological ethics. Kant’s moral theory is
based on his view of the human being as having the unique capacity for rationality. No other animal possesses
such a propensity for reasoned thought and action, and it is exactly this ability that requires human beings to act
in accordance with and for the sake of moral law or duty. Kant believes human inclinations, emotions and
consequences should play no role in moral action; therefore, the motivation behind an action must be based on
obligation and well thought out before the action takes place. Morality should, in theory, provide people with a
framework of rational rules that guide and prevent certain actions and are independent of personal intentions
and desires.
According to Kant, the moral worth of an action is determined by the human will, which is the only thing in the
world that can be considered good without qualification. Good will is exercised by acting according to moral
duty/law. Moral law consists of a set of maxims, which are categorical in nature – we are bound by duty to act
in accordance with categorical imperatives.

Duty-based or Deontological ethics

Deontological (duty-based) ethics are concerned with what people do, not with the consequences of their
actions.

 Do the right thing.

 Do it because it's the right thing to do.
 Don't do wrong things.
 Avoid them because they are wrong.
Under this form of ethics you can't justify an action by showing that it produced good consequences, which is
why it's sometimes called 'non-Consequentialist'.

The word 'deontological' comes from the Greek word deon, which means 'duty'.

Duty-based ethics are usually what people are talking about when they refer to 'the principle of the thing'.

Duty-based ethics teaches that some acts are right or wrong because of the sorts of things they are, and people
have a duty to act accordingly, regardless of the good or bad consequences that may be produced.

Deontologists live in a universe of moral rules, such as:

 It is wrong to kill innocent people

 It is wrong to steal
 It is wrong to tell lies
 It is right to keep promises
Someone who follows Duty-based ethics should do the right thing, even if that produces more harm (or less
good) than doing the wrong thing:

People have a duty to do the right thing, even if it produces a bad result.

So, for example, the philosopher Kant thought that it would be wrong to tell a lie in order to save a friend from
a murderer.

If we compare Deontologists with Consequentialists we can see that Consequentialists begin by considering
what things are good, and identify 'right' actions as the ones that produce the maximum of those good things.

Deontologists appear to do it the other way around; they first consider what actions are 'right' and proceed from
there. (Actually this is what they do in practice, but it isn't really the starting point of deontological thinking.)

So a person is doing something good if they are doing a morally right action.

The History of Utilitarianism

First published Fri Mar 27, 2009; substantive revision Mon Sep 22, 2014
Utilitarianism is one of the most powerful and persuasive approaches to normative ethics in the history of
philosophy. Though not fully articulated until the 19th century, proto-utilitarian positions can be discerned
throughout the history of ethical theory.
Though there are many varieties of the view discussed, utilitarianism is generally held to be the view that
the morally right action is the action that produces the most good. There are many ways to spell out this
general claim. One thing to note is that the theory is a form of consequentialism: the right action is
understood entirely in terms of consequences produced. What distinguishes utilitarianism from egoism has
to do with the scope of the relevant consequences. On the utilitarian view one ought to maximize the
overall good — that is, consider the good of others as well as one's own good.
The Classical Utilitarians, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, identified the good with pleasure, so, like
Epicurus, were hedonists about value. They also held that we ought to maximize the good, that is, bring
about ‘the greatest amount of good for the greatest number’.
Utilitarianism is also distinguished by impartiality and agent-neutrality. Everyone's happiness counts the
same. When one maximizes the good, it is the good impartially considered. My good counts for no more
than anyone else's good. Further, the reason I have to promote the overall good is the same reason anyone
else has to so promote the good. It is not peculiar to me.
All of these features of this approach to moral evaluation and/or moral decision-making have proven to be
somewhat controversial and subsequent controversies have led to changes in the Classical version of the
theory.
Philosophical and Religious Traditions
The following is an overview of the major Eastern philosophic traditions. Each tradition has a separate article
with more detail on sects, schools, etc. (c.f.) 
Hinduism
Hinduism (San?tana Dharma, roughly Perennial Faith) is generally considered to be the oldest major world
Religionstill practised today and first among Dharma faiths. Hinduism is characterized by a diverse array of
belief systems, practices and scriptures. It has its origin in ancient Vedic culture at least as far back as 2000 BC.
It is the third largest Religion with most of them living in the Indian Subcontinent. 

Hinduism rests on the spiritual bedrock of the Vedas, hence Veda Dharma, and their mystic issue,
the Upanishads, as well as the teachings of many great Hindu gurus through the ages. Many streams of thought
flow from the six Vedic/Hindu schools, Bhakti sects and Tantra Agamic schools into the one ocean of
Hinduism, the first of the Dharma Religions. 

What can be said to be common to all Hindus is belief in Dharma, Reincarnation, Karma,

and Moksha (liberation) of every soul through a variety of moral, action-based, and meditative Yogas. Still
more fundamental principles include Ahimsa (non-violence), the primacy of the Guru, the Divine Word
of Aum and the power of mantras, love of Truth in many manifestations as gods and goddessess, and an
understanding that the essential spark of the Divine (Atman/Brahman) is in every human and living being, thus
allowing for many spiritual paths leading to the One Unitary Truth. 

Confucianism
Confucianism developed around the teachings of Confuciusand is based on a set of Chinese classic texts. It was
the mainstream ideology in China and the sinized world since the Han Dynasty and may still be a major founder
element in Far-East culture. It could be understood as a social Ethic and Humanism focusing on human beings
and our relationships. Confucianism emphasizes formal rituals in every aspect of life, from quasi-religious
ceremonies to strict politeness and deference to one's elders, specifically to one's parents and to the state in the
form of the Emperor. 

Taoism
Taoism is the traditional foil of Confucianism. Taoism's central books are the Tao Te Ching, traditionally
attributed to Lao Zi (Lao Tse) and the Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tse). The core concepts of Taoism are traced far in
Chinese History, incorporating elements of Mysticism dating back to prehistoric times, linked also with
the Book of Changes (I Ching), a divinatory set of 64 geometrical figures describing states and evolutions of the
world. Taoism emphasizes Nature, individual freedom, refusal of social bounds, and was a doctrine professed
by those who "retreated in mountains". At the end of their lives --or during the night, Confucian officers often
behaved as Taoists, writing poetry or trying to "reach immortality". Yet Taoism is also a government doctrine
where the ruler's might is ruling through "non-action" (Wuwei). 

Buddhism
Buddhism is a system of beliefs based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha, a Lumbini (in modern day Nepal)
Prince and philosopher, later known simply as the Buddha - one who is Awake, derived from the Sanskrit 'bud',
'to awaken'. Buddhism is a non-theistic Religion, one whose tenets are not especially concerned with the
existence or nonexistence of a God or Gods. The Buddha himself expressly disavowed any special divine status
or inspiration, and said that anyone, anywhere could achieve all the insight he found. The question of God is
largely irrelevant in Buddhism, though some sects (notably Tibetan Buddhism) do venerate a number of Gods
drawn in from local indigenous belief systems. 

The Buddhist Soteriology is summed up in the Four Noble Truths: 

1. Dukkha: All worldly life is unsatisfactory, disjointed, containing suffering.

2. Samudaya: There is a cause of suffering, which is attachment or desire (tanha) rooted in ignorance.
3. Nirodha: There is an end of suffering, which is Nirvana.
4. Marga: There is a path that leads out of suffering, known as the Noble Eightfold Path.

However, Buddhist Philosophy as such has its foundations more in the doctrines of Anatta, which specifies that
all is without substantial metaphysical being, Pratitya-Samutpada, which delineates the Buddhist concept
of Causality, and Buddhist phenomenological analysis of Dharmas, or phenomenological constituents. 

Most Buddhist sects believe in Karma, a cause-and-effect relationship between all that has been done and all
that will be done. Events that occur are held to be the direct result of previous events. One effect of Karma is
rebirth. At death, the Karma from a given life determines the nature of the next life's existence. The ultimate
goal of a Buddhist practitioner is to eliminate Karma (both good and bad), end the cycle of rebirth and
suffering, and attain Nirvana, translated asnothingness or blissful oblivion and characterized as the state of being
one with the entire Universe. 

Zen Buddhism
Zen is a fusion of Mahayana Buddhism with Taoist principles. Bodhidharma was a semilegendary Indian Monk
who traveled to China in the 5th century. There, at the Shaolin Temple, he began the Ch'an School of
Buddhism, known in Japan and in the West as Zen Buddhism. Zen Philosophy places emphasis on existing in
the moment, right now. Zen teaches that the entire Universe is one's mind, and if one cannot realize
enlightenment in one's own mind now, one cannot ever achieve Enlightenment. 

Zen practitioners engage in Zazen (just sitting) meditation. Several schools of Zen have developed various other
techniques for provoking Satori, or Enlightenment, ranging from whacking acolytes with a stick to shock them
into the present moment to Koans, Zen riddles designed to force the student to abandon futile attempts to
understand the nature of the universe through Logic. Entheogens are also used in some Zen sects, especially in
the West. 

Maoism
Maoism is a Communist Philosophy based on the teachings of 20th century Communist Party of
China revolutionary leader Mao Zedong. It is based partially on earlier theories by Karl Marx and Vladimir
Lenin, but rejects the urban Proletariat and Leninism, the emphasis on heavy industrialization, in favor of a
Revolution supported by the Peasantry, and a decentralized agrarian economy based on many collectively
worked farms. 
Many people believe that though the implementation of Maoism in Mainland China led to the victory of
Communist Revolution, it also contributed to the widespread famine, with millions of people starving to death.
Chinese Communist leader Deng Xiaoping reinterpreted Maoism to allow for the introduction of
Market Economics, which eventually enabled the country to recover. As a philosophy, Deng's chief contribution
was to reject the supremacy of theory in interpreting Marxism and to argue for a policy of seeking truth from
facts. Despite this, Maoism has remained a popular ideology for various Communist revolutionary groups
around the world, notably the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, Sendero Luminoso in Peru, and an ongoing (as of
early 2005) Maoist insurrection in Nepal. 
Shinto
Shinto is the indigenous Religion of Japan, a sophisticated form of Animism that holds that spirits
called Kami inhabit all things. Worship is at public shrines, or in small shrines constructed in one's home. 
Shintō, indigenous religious beliefs and practices of Japan. The word Shintō, which literally means “the way of
kami” (generally sacred or divine power, specifically the various gods or deities), came into use in order to
distinguish indigenous Japanese beliefs from Buddhism, which had been introduced into Japan in the 6th
century CE. Shintō has no founder, no official sacred scriptures in the strict sense, and no fixed dogmas, but it
has preserved its guiding beliefs throughout the ages.

Taoism (also known as Daoism) is a Chinese philosophy attributed to Lao Tzu (c. 500 BCE) which
contributed to the folk religion of the people primarily in the rural areas of China and became the
official religion of the country under the Tang Dynasty. Taoism is therefore both a philosophy and a
religion. It emphasizes doing what is natural and "going with the flow" in accordance with the Tao
(or Dao), a cosmic force which flows through all things and binds and releases them.

The philosophy grew from an observance of the natural world, and the religion developed out of a
belief in cosmic balance maintained and regulated by the Tao. The original belief may or may not
have included practices such as ancestor and spirit worship but both of these principles are observed
by many Taoists today and have been for centuries.

Taoism exerted a great influence during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) and the emperor Xuanzong
(reigned 712-756 CE) decreed it a state religion, mandating that people keep Taoist writings in their
home. It fell out of favor as the Tang Dynasty declined and was replaced
by Confucianism and Buddhism but the religion is still practiced throughout China and other
countries today.