The Concept of Virtue

A virtue is an admirable, stable character trait that disposes its possessor to characteristic patterns of perception, emotion, choice, and action that are excellent of their kind.

Definition

A virtue is an entrenched disposition of character, going all the way down, that involves not only reliably right action but also appropriate emotions, perceptions, and motivations, and that is exercised intelligently under the guidance of practical wisdom.

Scope

This topic covers the analysis of virtue itself: what distinguishes a virtue from a mere habit or skill, the affective and cognitive components of virtue, the unity or reciprocity of the virtues, the relation between virtue and practical wisdom, and the contrast between virtues and vices. It abstracts from any single virtue-ethical theory to examine the central concept all of them employ.

Core questions

• What distinguishes a virtue from a mere behavioural habit or a morally neutral skill?
• Must a virtue include appropriate emotions, or only reliably right action?
• Are the virtues unified, so that having one fully requires having them all?
• How does practical wisdom relate to the individual virtues?

Key theories

Virtue as a multi-track disposition

Hursthouse's analysis of a virtue as a complex disposition involving characteristic actions, emotions, desires, perceptions, and reasons, rather than a simple tendency to perform a single type of act.

The unity of the virtues

The Aristotelian thesis that the virtues are interconnected through practical wisdom, so that fully possessing any one virtue requires the others, since wise judgment cannot be partitioned.

History

Aristotle's analysis of virtue as a mean disposition tied to practical wisdom set the terms for later inquiry. Foot (1978) revived the topic in analytic philosophy, treating the virtues as correctives to characteristic human temptations and deficiencies, and Hursthouse (1999) refined the concept into a multi-track disposition central to contemporary virtue theory.

Debates

Whether virtue requires right emotion

On Aristotle's view the fully virtuous person acts gladly, whereas the merely continent person acts rightly against contrary desire; this raises the question of how far correct feeling is essential to virtue.

The reality of robust character traits

Situationist critics drawing on social psychology argue that cross-situationally stable virtues may be empirically rare; virtue theorists dispute the interpretation of these findings.

Key figures

• Aristotle
• Philippa Foot
• Rosalind Hursthouse
• Julia Annas

Seminal works

• aristotleNE
• foot1978
• hursthouse1999

Frequently asked questions

Is a virtue just a good habit?

Not quite. While virtues are acquired through habituation, they are more than habits: a virtue involves correct perception, emotion, and reasoned choice, and is exercised intelligently rather than automatically.

What is the unity of the virtues?

It is the thesis that the virtues are so bound together through practical wisdom that one cannot fully possess a single virtue, such as courage, without possessing the others, since wise judgment cannot be confined to one domain.