Virtue Ethics: A Contemporary Introduction

by Liezl Van Zyl

Overview

This volume provides a clear and accessible overview of central concepts, positions, and arguments in virtue ethics today. While it focuses primarily on Aristotelian virtue ethics, it also includes discussion of alternative forms of virtue ethics (sentimentalism and pluralism) and competing normative theories (consequentialism and deontology).

The first six chapters are organized around central questions in normative ethics that are of particular concern to virtue ethicists and their critics:

• What is virtue ethics?
• What makes a trait a virtue?
• Is there a link between virtue and happiness?
• What is involved in being well-motivated?
• What is practical wisdom?
• What makes an action right?

The last four chapters focus on important challenges or objections to virtue ethics:

• Can virtue ethics be applied to particular moral problems?
• Does virtue ethics ultimately rely on moral principles?
• Can it withstand the situationist critique?
• What are the prospects for an environmental virtue ethics?

　

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415836173
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/26/2018
Series:	Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Liezl van Zyl is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She works primarily in ethics, in particular virtue ethics and applied ethics.

　

Table of Contents

Preface; Acknowledgements; Plan of the Book;  1. Virtue Ethics  2. Virtue  3. Virtue and Happiness  4. Virtuous Motives  5. Practical Wisdom  6. Virtue and Right Action  7. Applying Virtue Ethics  8. Virtue-ethical Particularism  9. The Situationist Critique  10. Virtue and Environmental Ethics; Bibliography; Index

Editorial Reviews

"Highly recommended as both a textbook and a research monograph, Van Zyl's Virtue Ethics is at once a thorough, up-to-date, and even-handed survey of the current state of the art and an argumentative contribution to the field. Her book shows not just what virtue ethics as a broad normative theory is, but also what it could become via application to various thorny questions and contexts. Enlightening and edifying: I can't think of a better introduction!"
Mark Alfano, Associate Professor at Delft University of Technology and Professor at Australian Catholic University　

"In this admirably clear and comprehensive introduction, Van Zyl masterfully articulates and evaluates the rationales underlying the most prominent forms of contemporary virtue ethics. While fully accessible to beginners, this book will also be appreciated by those who have long been engaged in ethical theory."
Nicholas Ryan Smith, Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York, USA

　

From the Publisher