Virtuee Theory's positive contribution to Ethics

Philosophy Forums Philosophy
1

Ethics as science explains why it is so important for people to have good characters, and to be wary of those who have predominantly bad characters.

Rosalind Hursthouse is a leading exponent of Virtue Ethics. [size=50]Here is a link reference to a book she wrote on Virtue Ethics Theory (on VT,) amazon.com/Virtue-Ethic=pla … merReviews[/size]

It may be of interest to you [size=50](with thanks to ChatGPT which informs us)[/size] that Dr. Richard Taylor [although VT was not his primary concern in philosophy] did write an essay on Virtue Ethics. In it he gave some arguments for what advocates of VT, such as Dr. Hursthouse, and Dr. Nussbaum would set forth.

{In the References listed below you will note a stress upon the significance in Ethics-as-science of moral character. Dr. Katz explains therein the importance of cultivating morally-good traits.} Ethical Science completely agrees with this.]

Taylor, in his brief summary, tells us that VT emphasizes the wisdom of developing good qualities within individuals, as opposed to focusing primarily on rules or consequences of actions. He argued that being a good person involves the cultivation of traits such as honesty, compassion, courage, and justice.

According to Taylor, as well as do Dr. Rosalind Hursthouse, Dr. Nussbaum, and many other prominent philosophers, ethics emphasizes the moral character of individuals and encourages them to strive for excellence in their actions and choices. Dr. Taylor in his writing highlighted the notion that these qualities are not mere external behaviors but rather internal dispositions. And it is these habits that shape one’s ethical conduct.

Taylor provides a framework for understanding ”morality” as an inherent aspect of an individual’s character, emphasizing the cultivation and practice of good traits to guide ethical decision-making and lead a morally-good life.

In a future post, I’ll refer to Dr. Bernard Gert’s definition of “morality.” Watch for it.
What do you thinks about VT’s case for character as the focus rather than ‘action.’?

2

You don’t develop character without action. And you don’t do that without an end. So I think VT only tells one third of the story.

Can you possibly go blank out your other two triplicates of this post?

Question: What puts ethics in the “realm” of science, for you?

3

There are two questions here, both good questions and both relevant.

  1. As is written in the early pages of the first Reference below, of course action will enter the picture. Cultivating a good character is only one aspect of the new science. Putting the good habits into action is ethical conduct. As one of the booklets cites a bit of wisdom attributed to Kant: just conceptiualizing without lived experience is mere intellectual play. The end-in-view is to live in an ethical world, and to continually aim to make the world a better place. As it says time and again in my writings, the ultimate aim is to provide a quality life for one and all.
    Good character traits are only a small part of the new science. They provide some of the data. Other data are acts of kindness, incidences of ‘paying it foreward,’ of extreme hypocrisy, of corruption, cheating, dishonesty, failure to trust, etc.

  2. WHAT IS “SCIENCE”?

let’s explain what we mean be the word “science.” By this word is meant a logical frame-of-reference, a set of data, and the bridge laws (rules of interpretation) that connect the two.

The framework – employing logical models, and often math models – when applied to the unordered, unexplained data by means of the bridge laws, serves to order and explain that data. It also, when a time factor is introduced, enables prediction. Sciences in this sense, such as Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Medicine, and Ethics are ypothetico-deductive disciplines employing induction along with deduction, and which involve emploting scientific methods as they proceed.
Soon, in a new thread, I shall describe more aspects of the new Science of Ethics.

I am confident that thinking people will have more questions.
So feel free to ask :exclamation:

4

For more details as to the nature of genuine science, and how scientific method can be applied to a field such as Ethics, see the chapter on the subject, titled What is Science in:
Marvin C. Katz - ETHICS: A College Course. Here is a link to it –
wadeharvey.myqol.com/wadeharvey/ … Course.pdf

Study it carefully. Keep in mind that the ideas have since been updated; and it is rather recently that I am able to annouunce that I see the big picture in a more-well-rounded manner. This makes me feel internally excited, though I am not at all sure that I will be able to express it fully in writing. I do feel like Galileo and Newton might have felt when they attempted to write about ‘natural philosophy.’ I feel very grateful to 'the meaning of the univeerse,'my-ever-present help, precious goodness, for inspiring me ! [I’m inspired presently beyond words.]