Description
Book SynopsisThe distinguished philosopher Robert M. Adams presents a major work on virtue, which is once again a central topic in ethical thought. A Theory of Virtue is a systematic, comprehensive framework for thinking about the moral evaluation of character. Many recent attempts to stake out a place in moral philosophy for this concern define virtue in terms of its benefits for the virtuous person or for human society more generally. In Part One of this book Adams presents and defends a conception of virtue as intrinsic excellence of character, worth prizing for its own sake and not only for its benefits. In the other two parts he addresses two challenges to the ancient idea of excellence of character. One challenge arises from the importance of altruism in modern ethical thought, and the question of what altruism has to do with intrinsic excellence. Part Two argues that altruistic benevolence does indeed have a crucial place in excellence of character, but that moral virtue should also be expe
Trade ReviewIn A Theory of Virtue, Adams works to provide an account of the virtues, which is a major contribution to the field, both in its subtle engagement with the detail of ethical lif and with the challenges it raises to the predominantly Aristotelian assumptions of most virtue ethics. * Stephen Watt The Philosophical Quarterly *
Table of ContentsPART ONE: WHAT IS VIRTUE?; PART TWO: SELF AND OTHER; PART THREE: ARE THERE REALLY ANY VIRTUES?
