Full Idea
Any codification ranking the virtues, like any codification ranking the rules, is bound to come up against cases where we will want to change the rankings.
Gist of Idea
Any strict ranking of virtues or rules gets abandoned when faced with particular cases
Source
Rosalind Hursthouse (On Virtue Ethics [1999], Ch.2)
Book Reference
Hursthouse,Rosalind: 'On Virtue Ethics' [OUP 2001], p.57
A Reaction
This seems right, and yet it feels like a slippery slope. Am I supposed to be virtuous and wise, but have no principles? Infinite flexibility can lead straight to wickedness. Even the wise need something to hang on to.