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Does virtue ethics demand too much of us? Why or why not?

Virtue ethics theories mostly took inspiration from Aristotle, and he defined the virtuous person has the ideal character traits. These traits are derived from natural internal tendencies; however, these traits need to be nurtured. After proper nourishment these traits become stable. The aim of theories of virtue ethics is not to identify the universal principles which can be applied in a moral situation. The virtue ethics theories explain broad concepts such as; how a person should live? What is the good life? Aristotle proposed a theory of virtue ethics named as agent-centered theory, the primary focus of this theory is on the people and their characters instead of a single action (Shafer-Landau, 2012). According to Aristotle morality is more than an action, as it addresses “what should I be” rather than "what should I do." According to virtue ethics, a person should always act the same in a particular situation to ensure unbiasedness and good for others. It is true that virtue ethics demands too much from us.

Virtue is a good trait of our character. It is an act to notice, value, expect, desire, choose, feel, act and react in certain ways. Virtue is differentiated from the bad actions which are not welcomed in society. Agent-based virtue ethics is another Aristotelian theory of virtue ethics which treats the characters or traits as the basis for rest or the ethics (Van Zyl, 2009). Virtue ethics emphasis on the role of the character and virtue of the person for a long time and permanently. It doesn't focus only on the consequences and results. According to this theory the moral status of actions of a person is entirely dependent on the morality of the agent, and his character traits. Another theory is duty-based ethics or deontology which states that we must act according to the certain set of principles without considering the outcomes. For instance, the rules of deontology are; it is wrong to kill innocent people, it is wrong to tell lies, and it is right to keep promises.

Ethics care is the powerful version of virtue ethics. This form of virtue ethics is motivated by the thoughts that man thinks in masculine terms awhile woman thinks in feminine terms (Ude, 2016). The masculine names are justice and autonomy while the female term is caring, patience, self-sacrifice, etc. It shows how the virtues are different according to the genders. For judging virtues of a person, the observant must consider the background of the person. As the sex of a person influences the virtues, there are other classifications of demography as well which influence the virtues of the person. Virtuous people disagree with each other because of their personal believes and difference in their ethical considerations. They disagree with others due to the difference in their ethical judgment. From all these discussions and theories it is proved that virtue ethics demands too much from us. It is not easy to sustain the status of a virtuous person. Once the habit is developed, then a person can pertain that specific virtue.

References

Shafer-Landau, R. (2012). The Fundamentals of Ethics (2nd ed.) New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.

Ude, P. (2016). Virtues and Character in Social Work Practice. Social Work, 61(3), 283-284.

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Van Zyl, L. (2009). Agent-based Virtue Ethics and the Problem of Action Guidance. Journal Of Moral Philosophy, 6(1), 50-69.