How does virtue ethics determine morality?This character-based approach to morality assumes that we acquire virtue through practice. By practicing being honest, brave, just, generous, and so on, a person develops an honorable and moral character.
What is the morally right thing to do in virtue ethics?The right thing to do is whatever the virtuous person would do. The virtuous agent is a person whose character traits are virtues and does not have any vices. Virtues are character traits that are positively valued in a person. They are generally said to encompass traits such as honesty, kindness, and generosity.
How does virtue ethics enable one to make good moral decisions?The most significant contribution of virtue ethics is the role of discriminative intelligence (practical wisdom) in decision making. Decision making in virtue ethics is actually influenced by the acumen and discriminative intelligence of the agent concerned rather than rules and codes of morality.
How do you know when an action is right under virtue ethics?Rosalind Hursthouse argues: "An action is right iff it is what a virtuous agent would characteristically do in the circumstances, except for in tragic dilemmas, in which a decision is right if it is what the agent would choose, but the action decided upon may be too terrible to be deemed right or good."
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