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Single Idea 16956
[filed under theme 23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / d. Virtue theory critique
]
Full Idea
It cannot be explained what it is for a person to be generous without first explaining what it is for an action to be generous.
Gist of Idea
To explain generosity in a person, you must understand a generous action
Source
Michael Dummett (Could There Be Unicorns? [1983], 4)
Book Ref
Dummett,Michael: 'The Seas of Language' [OUP 1993], p.336
A Reaction
I presume a slot machine can't be 'generous', even if it favours the punter, so you can't specify a generous action without making reference to the person. A benign circle, as Aristotle says.
The
20 ideas
with the same theme
[reasons against virtue theory]:
3548
|
Aristotle neglects the place of rules in the mature virtuous person
[Annas on Aristotle]
|
1581
|
Greeks elevate virtues enormously, but never explain them
[Descartes]
|
3544
|
Kant thinks virtue becomes passive, and hence morally unaccountable
[Kant, by Annas]
|
5289
|
When aristocracy or the bourgeoisie dominate, certain values dominate with them
[Marx/Engels]
|
20375
|
Virtues must be highly personal; if not, it is merely respect for a concept
[Nietzsche]
|
2881
|
Virtue has been greatly harmed by the boringness of its advocates
[Nietzsche]
|
24132
|
After Socrates virtue is misunderstood, as good for all, not for individuals
[Nietzsche]
|
20198
|
Many virtues are harmful traps, but that is why other people praise them
[Nietzsche]
|
20103
|
You are mastered by your own virtues, but you must master them, and turn them into tools
[Nietzsche]
|
7165
|
Virtue is wasteful, as it reduces us all to being one another's nurse
[Nietzsche]
|
7193
|
Virtue for everyone removes its charm of being exceptional and aristocratic
[Nietzsche]
|
22476
|
Nietzsche thought our psychology means there can't be universal human virtues
[Nietzsche, by Foot]
|
9260
|
Virtues won't generate an obligation, so it isn't a basis for morality
[Prichard]
|
23692
|
Good and bad are a matter of actions, not of internal dispositions
[Foot]
|
16956
|
To explain generosity in a person, you must understand a generous action
[Dummett]
|
7097
|
Virtue is secondary to a role-figure, defined within a culture
[MacIntyre, by Statman]
|
7101
|
Virtue theory needs an external standard to judge behaviour and character
[Inwagen, by Statman]
|
4334
|
Virtue ethics is open to the objection that it fails to show priority among the virtues
[Hursthouse]
|
7100
|
Virtue theory isn't a genuine ethical theory, because it doesn't have universal application
[Statman]
|
7102
|
Promises create moral duties that have nothing to do with character
[Statman]
|