Single Idea 4351

[catalogued under 20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 3. Acting on Reason / b. Intellectualism]

Full Idea

It is a fantasy that only through the study of philosophy can one become virtuous.

Gist of Idea

It is a fantasy that only through the study of philosophy can one become virtuous

Source

Rosalind Hursthouse (On Virtue Ethics [1999], Ch.6)

Book Reference

Hursthouse,Rosalind: 'On Virtue Ethics' [OUP 2001], p.137


A Reaction

I personally believe that philosophy is the best route yet devised to the achievement of virtue, but it is clearly not essential. All the philosophers I meet are remarkably virtuous, but that may be a chicken/egg thing.