School of thought
Virtue Ethics Revival
Movement
Classification
- Period
- c. 1958 CE onward
- Regions
- Europe (origin), North America
- Domains
- Ethics
Overview
The Virtue Ethics Revival puts character, practical wisdom, and human flourishing back at the centre of moral philosophy. Where deontology and consequentialism start from the question 'What should I do?', virtue ethics starts from 'What kind of person should I be?' and answers the first question through the second, by asking what a person of good character would do — centering ethics on the cultivation of excellent character traits.
Key ideas
- Character Over Rules: Ethics is fundamentally about developing virtuous character — courage, temperance, justice, generosity — not about following rules or maximizing outcomes.
- Practical Wisdom (Phronesis): The master virtue: the ability to perceive what the situation requires and respond appropriately. Virtue cannot be reduced to a formula; it requires judgment.
- MacIntyre's Narrative: Human life is a narrative quest for the good. Virtues are qualities that sustain us in that quest, and they can only be understood within specific practices and traditions.
Key figures
Elizabeth Anscombe · Alasdair MacIntyre · Philippa Foot · Rosalind Hursthouse · Martha Nussbaum
Positions held
- Virtue Ethics
Question scope: The Basis of Right Action
Influenced by
Reacts to
- Kantian Critical Philosophy
- Classical Utilitarianism
Anscombe's 1958 'Modern Moral Philosophy' argued that a morality fixated on rules and consequences is bankrupt without a prior account of human flourishing and character.
Renews after a break
- Peripatetic School
Anscombe's 1958 essay called for a return to Aristotle's ethical vocabulary — the virtues, practical wisdom (phronesis), and eudaimonia as flourishing — and Foot, MacIntyre and Hursthouse then rebuilt a full normative theory on those concepts.
References
- G. E. M. Anscombe, 'Modern Moral Philosophy', Philosophy 33 (1958)
- G. E. M. Anscombe, Modern Moral Philosophy, Philosophy 33 (1958), opening footnote — Formation: the founding paper was first read to the Voltaire Society at Oxford.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Virtue Ethics
- Julia Annas, Intelligent Virtue (Oxford University Press, 2011)
- After Virtue — Alasdair MacIntyre
- Natural Goodness — Philippa Foot
- On Virtue Ethics — Rosalind Hursthouse