Virtue ethics

Virtue ethics is an idea in philosophy. It is part of moral philosophy, which is ideas about right and wrong. Instead of telling people which things are good to do, virtue ethics tells people to become good on the inside. Then they will do good things because they are good people.^[1][2]

Virtue ethics talks about virtues, or good things to be. For example, courage, kindness, wisdom, and honesty are virtues. The virtue on the inside means the person does good things on the outside. For example, an honest person tells the truth and does not lie.^[3]

Virtue ethics also talks about "practical wisdom," or being wise in real life. A person needs practical wisdom to use their virtues in the real world. For example, people with the virtue honesty does not want to lie, and people with the virtue kindness don't want to hurt people's feelings. Sometimes telling the truth hurts people's feelings. An honest and kind person must use practical wisdom to tell when to tell the truth and when not to.^[3]

Virtue ethics says that people must practice to become virtuous. It says people can learn to be brave or wise by making good habits.^[2]

Virtue ethics is different from consequentialism and deontology. Consequentialism says an action is good if it causes good things to happen or stops bad things from happening. Deontology says an action is good if it follows the right rules.^[3]

1. ↑ "Virtue Ethics". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. ISSN 2161-0002. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "Virtue Ethics". Ethics Unwrapped. University of Texas. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} "Virtue Ethics". Stanford University. July 18, 2003. Retrieved January 10, 2022.