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J Ethics (2009) 13:243255
DOI 10.1007/s10892-009-9051-5
Joel J. Kupperman
Published online: 23 June 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009
Abstract This paper represents two polemics. One is against suggestions (made by Harman and others) that recent psychological research counts against any claim that there is such a thing as genuine virtue (Cf. Harman, in: Byrne, Stalnaker, Wedgwood (eds.) Fact and value, pp 117127, 2001). The other is against the view that virtue ethics should be seen as competing against such theories as Kantian ethics or consequentialism, particularly in the specication of decision procedures.
Keywords Character Lapse Psychological Situation Traits
Virtue
1 Virtue
Let us begin with three obvious truths, and a couple that are less obvious.
Obvious truth 1: No one is perfect. Everyone will, in some imaginable circumstances, behave in a morally inadequate way. For any X there is a situation S such that X in S is liable to behave badly.
Obvious truth 2: People do not always behave in the same (consistent) way. They sometimes act out of character.1 Further, character is rarely static. It can develop or be modied though a lifetime.
1 When people do act out of character, can we subject the actions to moral judgment? Hume (1978) insists that if any action be either virtuous or vicious, tis only as a sign of some quality or character. It must depend on durable principles of the mind Actions themselves, not proceeding from any constant principle, have no inuence on love or hatred, pride or humility; and consequently are never considerd in morality (Hume 1978, Book III, Part III, Section I, p. 575). What Hume says might seem plausible in relation to minor lapseswe often do forgive or write off minor lapses that are out of characterbut at
J. J. Kupperman (&)
University of Connecticut, 344 Manseld Road, U-2054, Stors, CT 06269-2054, USA e-mail: [email protected]
Virtue in Virtue Ethics
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244 J. J. Kupperman
Obvious truth 3: Nevertheless, in the vast majority of cases, choices we make are likely to represent carrying on in an already established pattern of life.2
One reason for stating these obvious truths, especially the rst two, at the outset is (to adopt the language of legal proceedings) to stipulate them, to regard them as...