11.4 Contemporary Work in Virtue Ethics

Contemporary virtue ethics emerged as a distinct approach in moral philosophy in the mid-20th century, largely as a response to the perceived shortcomings of consequentialist and deontological ethical theories. Neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics aims to revive and update Aristotle’s ethical framework. Among its important thinkers are Alasdair MacIntyre, whose 1981 book After Virtue was instrumental in reviving interest in virtue ethics. He emphasizes the importance of moral traditions and practices in shaping virtues. Rosalind Hursthouse developed a systematic neo-Aristotelian approach, arguing in her On Virtue Ethics (1999) that right actions are those a virtuous person would characteristically perform. Martha Nussbaum’s works in Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, feminist philosophy, political philosophy, and philosophy and the arts often combine virtue ethics with political philosophy, focusing on human capabilities, the emotions, and flourishing. Another school of modern virtue theory, sentimentalist virtue ethics emphasizes the role of emotions and sentiments in moral reasoning. Michael Slote, for example, advocates in his Ethics of Care and Empathy (2007) for an ethics of care based on empathy and agent-based virtue ethics. Jesse Prinz, in his Beyond Human Nature (2012), explores the relationship between emotions, moral judgments, and virtues from a naturalistic perspective. The Pluralistic school of contemporary virtue ethics recognizes multiple sources of moral value beyond just virtues. Christine Swanton, in her Virtue Ethics: A Pluralistic View (2005), proposes a pluralistic virtue ethics that incorporates elements from other ethical theories, while Robert Merrihew Adams, in his Finite and Infinite Goods (2002), integrates virtue ethics with theistic ethics, exploring the concept of excellence. Cross-cultural virtue ethic examines virtue concepts across different cultural and philosophical traditions. Lee H. Yearley, for example, compares Aristotelian and Confucian conceptions of virtues in his work, while Bryan Van Norden explores virtue ethics in Chinese philosophy and its relevance to contemporary debates. Future work in virtue ethics will likely involve increased dialogue with other ethical theories, greater emphasis on empirical research to support philosophical claims about virtues and character, exploration of virtue ethics’ relevance to pressing social and global issues like climate change and social justice and renewed interest in practical wisdom (phronesis) as a key concept in moral decision-making.