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Home | Philosopher | Rosalind Hursthouse
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Hursthouse's book, On Virtue Ethics develops a modern theory of virtue ethics. She has contributed to the philosophical debate about the morality of abortion, in her book Beginning Lives and elsewhere, and edited, and written commentary within, a volume of writings on the ethical treatment of animals in her book Ethics, Humans and Other Animals. Hursthouse presents an Aristotelian framework for her virtue ethics, although she departs from some of Aristotle's conclusions. Hursthouse's version of virtue ethics claims that virtues are virtues because they help people achieve eudaimonia, and that living a virtuous life is therefore a good thing for a human being. She sees the virtues as shaping virtuous people's practical reasoning in characteristic ways, and not simply as shaping their attitudes or actions. For Hursthouse virtue is the most reliable path to flourishing. She attempts to address the major criticism of virtue ethics (that it provides no guidance in moral dilemmas) by showing how a virtuous person would think about a moral dilemma. |
