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Virtue ethics (also aretaic ethics, [a] [1] from Greek ἀρετή []) is a philosophical approach that treats virtue and character as the primary subjects of ethics, in contrast to other ethical systems that put consequences of voluntary acts, principles or rules of conduct, or obedience to divine authority in the primary role.
Ethics and virtue are a much debated [13] and an evolving concept in ancient scriptures of Hinduism. [14] [15] Virtue, right conduct, ethics and morality are part of the complex concept Hindus call Dharma – everything that is essential for people, the world and nature to exist and prosper together, in harmony. [16]
They form a virtue theory of ethics. The term cardinal comes from the Latin cardo (hinge); [1] these four virtues are called "cardinal" because all other virtues fall under them and hinge upon them. [2] These virtues derive initially from Plato in Republic Book IV, 426-435. [a] Aristotle expounded them systematically in the Nicomachean Ethics.
Of these, they emphasized ethics as the main focus of human knowledge, although their logical theories were of more interest for later philosophers. Stoicism teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions ; the philosophy holds that becoming a clear and unbiased thinker allows one to ...
As Aristotle says in the Nicomachean Ethics: "at the right times, and on the right occasions, and towards the right persons, and with the right object, and in the right fashion, is the mean course and the best course, and these are characteristics of virtue." [10] For example, generosity is a virtue between the two extremes of miserliness and ...
In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Book 2, chapter 6: "Virtue (arete), then, is a habit or trained faculty of choice, the characteristic of which lies in moderation or observance of the mean relatively to the persons concerned, as determined by reason, i.e., by the reason by which the prudent man would determine it."
Influential schools of virtue ethics in ancient philosophy were Aristotelianism and Stoicism. According to Aristotle (384–322 BCE), each virtue [e] is a golden mean between two types of vices: excess and deficiency. For example, courage is a virtue that lies between the deficient state of cowardice and the excessive state of recklessness.
Religion (when discussed as a virtue) is a distinct moral virtue whose purpose is to render God the worship due to Him as the source of all being and the giver of all good things. As such, in Christianity it is part of the cardinal virtue of Justice , and falls under obedience to the First Commandment .