Virtue ethics revival

What kind of person should I be?

In 1958 Elizabeth Anscombe argued that modern moral philosophy, both Kantian duty and consequentialism, relied on a notion of moral “obligation” left over from a divine-law ethics it no longer believed in. She urged a return to Aristotle’s questions about virtue and human flourishing, and Philippa Foot and Alasdair MacIntyre took up the call.

Virtues such as courage, justice and honesty are traits a human being needs in order to flourish, much as a wolf needs to hunt with its pack. A right action is what a virtuous person would characteristically do in the situation. Because virtues are learned within practices and communities, ethics cannot be separated from character, emotion and tradition.

1. Character, not rules, is the centre of ethics.
2. Virtues are the traits humans need to flourish.
3. Moral reasoning lives within practices and traditions.

It became one of the three main approaches in normative ethics, alongside consequentialism and deontology, and shapes medical, business and professional ethics.