From Morality to Virtue
About: This article is published in Social Theory and Practice.The article was published on 1994-07-01. It has received 74 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Virtue & Morality.
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TL;DR: The authors argued that Xunzǐ's implicit conception of happiness actually revolves around a way of life grounded in what Susan Wolf has called "reasons of love" and argued that his working conception of psychological happiness and individual well-being turns on aesthetic values that go beyond the universal prudential values to which his ethical theory appeals.
Abstract: This essay contributes to comparative inquiry concerning happiness through a case study of Xunzǐ, a major Confucian thinker. Xunzǐ’s ethical theory presents values and norms that fill the role of happiness indirectly, through the ideal figure of the gentleman. However, his working conception of psychological happiness and individual well-being turns on aesthetic values that go beyond the universal prudential values to which his ethical theory appeals. Hence I argue that his implicit conception of happiness actually revolves around a way of life grounded in what Susan Wolf has called “reasons of love.”
7 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present how the implementation of CSR principles in corporations can be an alternative to a global code of conduct for socialising TNCs, which is a reaction to this need; it assists the shift of the market centered focus of global regulatory framework initiatives to "people centered" concerns.
Abstract: The prolonged attempt to create a global code for TNCs was ultimately unsuccessful, yet the simultaneous rise of global frameworks and guidelines by various private bodies highlight the need for monitoring of the performance of TNCs in addition to evaluation of their accountability practice. But none of the current frameworks and guidelines has been successful in laying down a clear way forward for the creation of an accepted global code of conduct for TNCs. The corporate social responsibility movement is a reaction to this need; it assists the shift of the market centered focus of global regulatory framework initiatives to ‘people centered’ (as opposed to country-centered) concerns. Accordingly, the core CSR principles urge that TNCs must not only be compliant but also responsible to their wider stakeholders and the environment. This chapter presents how the implementation of CSR principles in corporations can be an alternative to a global code of conduct for socialising TNCs.
7 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Ovejero analyzes liberal explanations of social order and argues that sociability can not be explained as a result of exchange or bargaining among individuals, and analyzes too the alternatives to explain the existence of social cement: passions, in terms of emotions and instincts.
Abstract: This essay analyzes liberal explanations of social order. Throughout exposition, Ovejero suggests the convenience of reviewing two central insights of liberalism, related with the way that the "problem" of social order is stated and its "solution" through the market. The "problem" is based on the unsustainable idea of presocial individuals inherent to liberalism. The article develops some arguments that shows why it has no sense to ask for the foundation of social order in that way. It supports that sociability can not be chosen, as the language can no be chosen either, in other words sociability can not be explained as a result of exchange or bargaining among individuals. The paper analyzes too the alternatives to explain the existence of social cement: passions, in terms of emotions and instincts, as the central basis that explains the way in which personal interests and the market would guarantee the social order.
6 citations
TL;DR: Many defenders of contemporary virtue ethics contend that it directly competes with modern ethical theories such as consequentialism and deontology as mentioned in this paper, and one of the most common responses is that contemp...
Abstract: Many defenders of contemporary virtue ethics contend that it directly competes with modern ethical theories such as consequentialism and deontology. One of the most common responses is that contemp...
6 citations
Additional excerpts
...See Hursthouse (1987, 220, 245); Schneewind (1990, 43); Slote (1992, 89); Annas (1993, 4); Slote (1997, 177); Zagzebski (1996, 78); Slote (2001, 4)....
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Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the moral significance of the aesthetic dimension of works of art lies in its direct engagement with the affective or emotional aspects of moral development, and the danger of running these different senses together is explored.
Abstract: “Aesthetics” is often taken to be the study of art, but it has come to mean a variety of rather different things in contemporary educational theory and practice, such as: (i) sensory education; (ii) appreciation of beauty; (iii) education in appreciation of the arts. The danger of running these different senses together is explored and the main argument of this chapter is that the moral significance of the aesthetic dimension of works of art lies in its direct engagement with the affective or emotional aspects of moral development.
6 citations
Cites background from "From Morality to Virtue"
...…of the stature of Nicholas Dent (1984); Philippa Foot (1978); Peter Geach (1977); Rosalind Hursthouse (1999); Alasdair MacIntyre (1981, 1988, 1992); John McDowell (1979); Martha Nussbaum,(1993, 1995); Michael Slote (1983, 1992); Christine Swanton (2003); & James Wallace (1978) have contributed....
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...Since the publication of Anscombe’s seminal paper, virtue ethics has become something of a major contemporary ethical industry to which modern philosophers of the stature of Nicholas Dent (1984); Philippa Foot (1978); Peter Geach (1977); Rosalind Hursthouse (1999); Alasdair MacIntyre (1981, 1988, 1992); John McDowell (1979); Martha Nussbaum,(1993, 1995); Michael Slote (1983, 1992); Christine Swanton (2003); & James Wallace (1978) have contributed....
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References
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01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: A companion to bioethics, A companion to Bioethics as mentioned in this paper, a companion to the bioethic, and a companion of the humanist movement in the 21st century.
Abstract: A companion to bioethics , A companion to bioethics , کتابخانه مرکزی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی تهران
271 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that caring is a "threshold concept" by virtue of the "troublesome knowledge" with which students are confronted on meeting patients in practice, and suggest a number of ways in which students can be helped to move forward towards or through the threshold to a more cogent understanding of caring.
Abstract: This paper explores the ways in which student health professionals undergo a transformation in their sense of identity as they engage with caring discourses that underpin healthcare. I argue that caring is a ‘threshold concept’ by virtue of the ‘troublesome knowledge’ with which students are confronted on meeting patients in practice. When superimposed on commonsense understandings of caring, medical connotations of care and moral and ethical dilemmas challenge students to develop their own personal framework within which to operate. I suggest a number of ways in which students can be helped to move forward towards or through the threshold to a more cogent understanding of caring. Subsequent positioning in terms of caring discourses forms a facet of the students’ developing identities as healthcare professionals and therefore is a fundamental aspect of professional socialization.
169 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that in a complex socio-political world, social work ethics needs to re-cast the moral identity of the social worker in terms of virtue ethics, the acquired inner qualities of humans, the possession of which, if applied in due measure, will typically contribute to the realization of the good life or "eudaimonia".
Abstract: Summary This article argues that in a complex socio-political world, social work ethics needs to re-cast the moral identity of the social worker in terms of virtue ethics. We review virtue theory’s Aristotelian foundations and criticisms of Kantian and utilitarian theory and show how they apply to social work. Subsequently we offer an account of a virtuebased social work that questions the validity of several models of practice currently fashionable. Virtue theory emphasizes the priority of the individual moral agent who has acquired virtues commensurate with the pursuit of a revisable conception of the good life—the well-being of all in a defined community. The virtues are the acquired inner qualities of humans—character—the possession of which, if applied in due measure, will typically contribute to the realization of the good life or ‘eudaimonia’. The role of the virtuous social worker is shown to be one that necessitates appropriate application of intellectual and practical virtues such as justice, reflection, perception, judgement, bravery, prudence, liberality and temperance. This ‘self-flourishing’ worker,
159 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a quantitative analysis of authors, schools, themes, and publications of virtue ethics in business and management literature is presented, with a focus on the most prolific authors, most cited authors, the most cited articles, and journals with the most virtue ethics publications.
Abstract: Virtue ethics is generally recognized as one of the three major schools of ethics, but is often waylaid by utilitarianism and deontology in business and management literature. EBSCO and ABI databases were used to look for articles in the Journal of Citation Reports publications between 1980 and 2011 containing the keywords ‘virtue ethics’, ‘virtue theory’, or ‘virtuousness’ in the abstract and ‘business’ or ‘management’ in the text. The search was refined to draw lists of the most prolific authors, the most cited authors, the most cited articles, and the journals with the most virtue ethics publications. This information allows one to chart how virtue ethics articles have evolved through the decades and to establish ‘schools’ or clusters of authors as well as clusters of themes. The results of this quantitative analysis of authors, ‘schools’, themes, and publications provide a foundation for the future study of virtue ethics in business and management, identifying its achievements and potentials.
135 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the strategy of role-modeling, as explicated by the character education movement, is beset with three unsolved problems: an empirical problem of why this method is needed, a methodological problem of how students are to be inspired to emulate, and a substantive moral problem of what precisely should be taught.
Abstract: This article is about (1) the ancient (Aristotelian) emotional virtue of emulation, (2) some current character‐education inspired accounts of the use of role models in moral education and, most importantly, (3) the potential relevance of (1) for (2). The author argues that the strategy of role‐modelling, as explicated by the character‐education movement, is beset with three unsolved problems: an empirical problem of why this method is needed; a methodological problem of how students are to be inspired to emulation; and a substantive moral problem of what precisely should be taught. While the first of these three problems may perhaps be overlooked with impunity, the second and third problems stand in urgent need of rectification if role‐modelling is to retain its moral and educational import. After exploring Aristotle's notion of emulation, the author suggests that this rich and nuanced notion may hold the key to the solution of both problems. Such Aristotelian solutions are then spelled out and defended.
114 citations