Introduction to Virtue Ethics: Insights of the Ancient Greeks

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Description

This fascinating examination of the development of virtue ethics in the early stages of western civilization deals with a variety of philosophers and schools of philosophy―from Socrates and the Stoics to Plato, Aristotle, and the Epicureans, among others. This introduction examines those human attributes that we’ve got come to know as the “stuff” of virtue: desire, happiness, the “good,” character, the role of pride, prudence, and wisdom, and links them to more current or up to date conceptions and controversies.

The tension between viewing ethics and morality as fundamentally religious or as fundamentally rational still runs deep in our culture. A second tension centers on whether we view morality primarily in the case of our obligations or primarily in the case of our desires for what is good. The Greek term arete, which we normally translate as “virtue,” will also be translated as “excellence.” Arete embraced both intellectual and moral excellence in addition to human creations and achievements. Useful, certainly, for classrooms, Virtue Ethics could also be for someone interested in the fundamental question Socrates posed, “What sort of life is worth living?”

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