Uneasy Virtue

Erscheinungsjahr 2014
ISBN: 978-0-521-78172-5
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 156 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 389 g

Reihe: Cambridge Studies in Philosophy

The predominant view of moral virtue can be traced back to Aristotle. He believed that moral virtue must involve intellectual excellence. To have moral virtue one must have practical wisdom - the ability to deliberate well and to see what is morally relevant in a given context. Julia Driver challenges this classical theory of virtue, arguing that it fails to take into account virtues which do seem to involve ignorance or epistemic defect. Some 'virtues of ignorance' are counterexamples to accounts of virtue which hold that moral virtue must involve practical wisdom. Modesty, for example, is generally considered to be a virtue even though the modest person may be making an inaccurate assessment of his or her accomplishments. Driver argues that we should abandon the highly intellectualist view of virtue and instead adopt a consequentialist perspective which holds that virtue is simply a character trait which systematically produces good consequences.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Driver, Julia

Sosa, Ernest

Dancy, Jonathan

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. The Aristotelian conception of virtue; 2. The virtues of ignorance; 3. Dubious virtue psychology; 4. A consequentialist theory of virtue; 5. Virtue and the will; Conclusion; Notes; References; Index.