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Virtue ethics EssayCharacter-based ethicsA right act is the action a innocuous mortal would do in the same circumstances. Virtue ethics is someone quite a than action based it looks at the virtue or moral ac grappleledgment of the person carrying out an action, rather than at ethical duties and rules, or the consequences of particular actions.Virtue ethics not only deals with the rightness or wrongness of several(prenominal) actions, it provides guidance as to the sort of characteristics and behaviours a neat person will seek to achieve. In that way, virtue ethics is concerned with the whole of a persons life, rather than particular episodes or actions.A good person is someone who lives virginly who possesses and lives the virtues. Its a useful theory since human beings are often more provoke in assessing the character of another person than they are in assessing the goodness or badness of a particular action.This suggests that the way to build a good society is to help its members to be good people, rather than to use laws and punishments to prevent or deter bad actions.But it wouldnt be helpful if a person had to be a saint to count as virtuous. For virtue theory to be really useful it needs to suggest only a minimal prune of characteristics that a person needs to possess in order to be regarded as virtuous.being virtuous is more than having a particular tog of acting, e.g. generosity. Rather, it means having a fundamental set of related virtues that enable a person to live and act morally well. James F Keenan, Proposing Cardinal Virtues, theological Studies, 1995 PrinciplesVirtue ethics teachesAn action is only right if it is an action that a virtuous person would carry out in the same circumstances. A virtuous person is a person who acts virtuouslyA person acts virtuously if they possess and live the virtues A virtue is a moral characteristic that a person needs to live well. Most virtue theorists would also insist that the virtuous person i s one who acts in a virtuous way as the result of rational thought (rather than, say, instinct).The three questionsThe novel philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre proposed three questions as being at the heart of moral thinkingWho am I?Who ought I to become?How ought I to get there?Lists of the virtuesWhat would a virtuous person do? Most virtue theorists say that there is a common set of virtues that all human beings would benefit from, rather than opposite sets for different sorts of people, and that these virtues are natural to mature human beings even if they are hard to acquire.This poses a problem, since lists of virtues from different times in history and different societies show significant differences.The traditional list of cardinal virtues wasPrudenceJusticeFortitude / BraveryTemperanceThe modern theologian James F Keenan suggestsJusticeJustice requires us to treat all human beings equally and impartially. fidelityFidelity requires that we treat people impendent to us with s pecial care.Self-careWe each have a unique responsibility to care for ourselves, affectively, mentally, physically, and spiritually.PrudenceThe prudent person must always consider Justice, Fidelity and Self-care. The prudent person must always look for opportunities to acquire more of the other three virtues Good points of virtue ethicsIt centres ethics on the person and what it means to be human It includes the whole of a persons lifeBad points of virtue ethicsit doesnt provide clear guidance on what to do in moral dilemmas although it does provide general guidance on how to be a good person presumably a totally virtuous person would know what to do and we could consider them a suitable role model to guide us there is no general agreement on what the virtues areand it whitethorn be that any list of virtues will be relative to the culture in which it is being drawn up.