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stealing is not treating his or her victims as ends in themselves. According to rule
utilitarianism, stealing is wrong because the long-term consequences of everybody
stealing all the time would produce more harm than good. The explanation from
the perspective of virtue ethics is much simpler: stealing to satisfy a selfish desire is
wrong because it disrupts one's acquisition of the virtue of honesty.
2.
Personal relationships can be morally relevant to decision making.
Recall that utilitari-
anism, Kantianism, and social contract theory require us to be completely impartial
and treat all human beings as equal. This assumption leads to conclusions that are
hard for most people to accept. For example, when a couple is faced with the choice
between using $5,000 to take their children to Disneyland for a week or feeding
1,000 starving refugees for a month, the calculus of utility would conclude sav-
ing 1,000 lives was the better option. When evaluating the same choice from the
perspective of virtue ethics, the relationship the couple has with their children is
morally relevant. Parents are supposed to be partial toward their own children, and
this can be taken into account when determining the best action to take.
3.
Virtue ethics recognizes that our moral decision-making skills develop over time.
People
develop moral virtues by making habits of the appropriate acts. It takes time for a
person's character to develop. Moral wisdom is an intellectual virtue that also takes
time to develop. Each of us is on the journey from the-person-I-am to the-person-I-
am-meant-to-be, and if I am confused about the right action to take in a particular
circumstance, I can go ask someone who is further along in the journey. In this way
virtue ethics aligns with our everyday experience. People commonly ask someone
“older and wiser” when they truly want to do the right thing and feel uncertain
about the best course of action.
4.
There are no irresolvable moral dilemmas.
Recall that a weakness of Kantianism is
that if there is conflict between perfect duties, there is no way to choose between
them. Virtue ethics does not have this defect. Different virtues may tug a person
in different directions, but the right action can always be determined by a person
with sufficient moral wisdom. This is not to say that there are no dilemmas. Bad
things can happen to good people, and sometimes people face tragic dilemmas,
where every conceivable alternative is bad. The emotional consequences of making
decisions under these circumstances is addressed in the next point.
5.
Virtue ethics recognizes the important role that emotions play in living a moral life.
Virtue ethics recognizes that humans are not dispassionate calculating machines.
They are flesh-and-blood creatures with feelings, and when things are going right,
their feelings and thoughts are in alignment. As noted before, virtuous people do
the right things at the right times for the right reasons. They feel satisfied doing
good. When faced with difficult decisions, they are deeply affected.
1.
Different people may have quite different conceptions of human flourishing.
According
to virtue ethics, virtues are character traits that humans need in order to flourish.
We do not live in a homogeneous society, and there are a wide variety of perspectives
about what character traits lead to the most fulfilling life. If we cannot agree on
