Living Toward Virtue: Practical Ethics in the Spirit of Socrates

by Paul Woodruff

Overview

In Living toward Virtue, Paul Woodruff shows how we can set about living ethically through self-questioning, which enables us to avoid moral injury by getting clear about what we are doing and why we are doing it. Self-questioning also helps us recognize the limits of our knowledge and so to avoid the danger of self-righteousness. Using real-life examples, Woodruff shows how we can nurture our souls, enjoy a virtuous happiness, and avoid moral injury as much as possible.

This is in the spirit of Socrates, who urged everyone to commit to a lifelong activity of self-examination. By contrast, modern philosophers who follow Aristotle in ethics have mostly taught that living well depends on having virtues that are robust traits of character. Traits are not reliable in all situations, however, and they do not help us make hard decisions. Having a trait is no substitute for the activity we need to practice in order to live toward virtue.

Written for anyone interested in answers to ancient questions about how to live ethically, as well as those engaged with current debates, Living Toward Virtue represents the culmination of decades of scholarship by one of its most distinguished figures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780197672129
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/13/2022
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	5.79(w) x 8.32(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Paul Woodruff is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. His main goal is to make the ethical and political thinking of ancient Greeks accessible to modern readers. His work includes books on the virtues of reverence and justice, as well as on the ideas behind democracy. He has translated most of Thucydides' History, several Platonic dialogues, and a number of ancient Greek plays. He served in the U.S. Army as an officer during the American war in Vietnam, in 1969-70, gaining experience of both physical and moral danger. That experience informs this book.

Table of Contents

Preface
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
About the Author

1. Practical Ethics
1.1. Epimeleisthai
1.2. Ignorance
1.3. Injury: The Wounded Soul
1.4. Impractical Virtue
Appendix to Chapter 1: Moral Injury

2. The Spirit of Socrates
2.1. Socrates' Approach
2.2. Socrates' Way
2.3. Going Beyond Socrates

3. The Shape of Virtue
3.1. An Impossible Assignment: Confucius
3.2. An Activity Good in Itself: Socrates
3.3. The Adverb Problem
3.4. Virtues of Imperfection
3.5. Degrees of Human Virtue
3.6. Self-examination
3.7. Bad Luck and Moral Failure
3.8. The Tragic View of Human Life

4. Aiming at Virtue
4.1. Moral Holidays
4.2. Grand Aims
4.3. Aiming Well: Commitments
4.4. Competing Virtues
4.5. Avoidance: Dilemmas and Injuries
4.6 The Nature of Human Virtue
Appendix to Chapter 4: Moral Dilemmas

5. Human Wisdom and Practical Knowledge
5.1. Ignorance and Aporia
5.2 Self-knowing
5.3. The Limits of Knowledge in Ethics
5.4. The Theory Trap
5.5 Judgment
5.6. Virtues of Imperfection
Appendix 1 to Chapter 5: The Rectification of Names
Appendix 2 to Chapter 5: Socrates on Human Wisdom

6. Resources
6.1. Using Resources
6.2. Internal vs. External Resources
6.3. Community
6.4. Human Nature and Virtue
6.5. Justice
6.6. Differences in Human Environment
6.7. Friendship
6.8. Love
6.9. Expert Advice and Example
6.10. Emotions
6.11. Intuitions vs. Judgments
6.12. Orientation to the Good
Appendix 1 to Chapter 5: The Jewish-Christian Ethics of Love
Appendix 2 to Chapter 5: How Elenchus Succeeds

7. Living Toward Virtue
7.1. The Beautiful Soul
7.2. Love
7.2. Other-regarding Virtues
7.4 Rounding Up the Virtues
7.5 Growth
7.6. Self-repair
7.7. Looking Behind
7.8. Looking Ahead
7.9. Happiness: "Paradise within Thee"
Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

"This engaging, challenging, and timely book will be good supplementary reading for those interested in introductory ethics and ancient philosophy." — Choice

From the Publisher