This document summarizes key points from a chapter on virtue ethics and feminist ethics. It discusses Aristotle's view that virtue ethics focuses on becoming a virtuous person rather than following rules. It outlines Aristotle's ideas of virtues, the golden mean, and eudaimonia. It also examines criticisms of virtue ethics and comparisons to other theories. Additionally, it outlines general traits of feminist ethics like its emphasis on relationships, emotions, and non-ideal aspects of life. It introduces the ethics of care perspective and contrasts it with traditional ethical theories.

1. Chapter 7
Virtue Ethics: Be a Good Person
Copyright © 2019 W. W. Norton & Company
Virtue Ethics
Both consequentialist and nonconsequentialist moral theories
are concerned with action and attempt to answer the question
“What should I do?”
Virtue ethics is a theory of morality that makes virtue the
central concern.
Virtue ethics attempts to answer the question “What should I
be?”
Discussion Question: How could a utilitarian (who asks, “What
should I do?”) incorporate virtues (that ask, “What should I
be?”) into his theory without doing violence to the principle of
utility?
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Aristotle’s Ethics – 1
Almost all modern virtue ethicists trace their theoretical roots
back to Aristotle. His ethics consists not in following moral
rules that stipulate right actions but in striving to be a particular

2. kind of person—a virtuous person whose actions stem naturally
from virtuous character.
Discussion Questions: How does Kant's idea of duty differ from
Aristotle's conception of virtue? Which do you find more
compelling?
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Aristotle’s Ethics – 2
For Aristotle, every living thing has an end toward which it
naturally aims, the thing that represents its greatest good.
The greatest good for humans—their true goal—is eudaimonia,
which means “happiness” or “flourishing” and refers to the true
realization of the good life.
Discussion Question: Does your life have a chief end (a state or
point of great value) toward which you strive?
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Eudaimonia
To achieve eudaimonia, human beings must fulfill the function
that is natural and distinctive to them: living fully in accordance
with reason.
The life of reason entails a life of virtue because the virtues
themselves are rational modes of being.
Discussion Question: According to Aristotle, the virtuous life

3. both helps us to achieve happiness and is happiness. What does
this mean?
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Virtues
To Aristotle, a virtue is a stable disposition to act and feel
according to some ideal or model of existence.
It is a deeply embedded character trait that can affect actions in
countless situations.
Aristotle distinguishes between intellectual and moral virtues.
Intellectual VirtuesMoral
VirtuesWisdomFairnessPrudenceBenevolenceRationalityHonest
yLoyaltyConscientiousnessCourage
Discussion Questions: Can virtues be acquired over time? Must
we be born with virtues in order to have them? If they can be
acquired, how should this be done? Is a lecture on virtues
helpful?
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The Golden Mean – 1
Moral virtues occupy what Aristotle calls the “Golden Mean”—
a balance between two behavioral extremes.
For example, a moral virtue such as courage is the midpoint
between the extremes of recklessness, on one side, and
cowardice, on the other.
Discussion Question: Are all virtues a balance between two
behavioral extremes?
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4. The Golden Mean – 2
For Aristotle, the Golden Mean expresses a fundamental truth:
the virtuous—and happy—life is a life of moderation in all
things.
Discussion Question: What persons in the past or in the present
day seem to live their lives according to Aristotle’s notion of
moral virtues?
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Modern Virtue Ethics
Contemporary virtue ethicists agree with Aristotle on these
points:
The cultivation of virtues is not only a moral requirement but
also a way to ensure human flourishing and a good life.
A fully developed ethics must take into account motives,
feelings, intentions, and moral wisdom.
Acting only out of duty is a barren and one-dimensional
approach to living a virtuous life.
Discussion Question: Which of these points do you agree or
disagree with? Why?
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Evaluating Virtue Ethics
Virtue ethics seems to meet the minimum requirements of
coherence.
It seems consistent with our considered moral judgments
(Criterion 1) and with our moral experiences (Criterion 2).
The main critique of virtue ethics centers on Criterion 3: the
usefulness of the theory in moral problem solving.

5. Discussion Question: What is the fundamental difference
between virtue ethics and utilitarianism?
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The Usefulness of Virtue Ethics – 1
According to virtue ethics, when faced with a moral dilemma,
we should do what a virtuous person would do.
But how do we determine this?
The right action is the one performed by the virtuous person,
and the virtuous person is the one who performs the virtuous
action. However, this is circular reasoning.
Discussion Question: Is it possible to coherently combine both
virtues and principles of duty in the same moral theory? If so,
how?
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The Usefulness of Virtue Ethics – 2
Another problem is the possible conflict of virtues i n a
particular context.
Loyalty, for example, may conflict with honesty when the fate
of a friend is on the line and your testimony will make the
difference between life and death.
How do you choose between being loyal and being honest in
this case?
Discussion Questions: Does morality require both virtues and

6. principles of duty? Do we always look to moral exemplars or
specific virtues to determine what to do? Explain.
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Learning from Virtue Ethics
Regardless of its value as a stand-alone theory of ethics, virtue
ethics forces us to acknowledge that virtue and character are
large, unavoidable constituents of our moral experience.
Virtue ethics has forced many thinkers to reexamine the place
of principles in morality.
Discussion Question: Would a moral theory that ignores either
virtues or principles of moral action be an adequate moral
theory? Why or why not?
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Credits
This concludes the PowerPoint slide set for Chapter 7
Doing Ethics: Moral Reasoning and Contemporary Issues
Fifth Edition (2019) by Lewis Vaughn.
Copyright © 2019 W. W. Norton & Company
Chapter 8
Feminist Ethics and the Ethics of Care
Copyright © 2019 W. W. Norton & Company

7. Feminist Ethics – 1
An alternative way of looking at the concepts and concerns of
the moral life
An approach focused on women’s interests and experiences and
devoted to promoting the moral equality of men and women
A response to theories of ethics that have emphasized those
characteristics believed to be distinctive to men and ignored or
rejected ways of thinking and feeling believed to be distinctive
of women
Discussion Question: How do you think the possession or lack
of power might affect one’s theory of ethics?
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Feminist Ethics – 2
An approach that takes into account moral issues that are more
likely to arise from the experiences of women
Traditional moral philosophy’s devaluation of the domestic
realm made it impossible to raise questions about the domestic
division of labor or domestic abuse.
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8. General Traits of Feminist Ethics – 1
An emphasis on personal relationships
Traditional moral theories have been mostly concerned with
“public life,” the realm in which unrelated individuals try to
figure out how to behave toward one another.
Feminist ethics narrows down the area of moral concern to the
interconnected and familiar small group—to the people with
whom we have close personal relationships.
Discussion Questions: How much should our ethics be
influenced by the recognition that we all have personal
relationships that are messy, filled with emotion, and partial?
Would we be more moral if we rejected all personal
relationships?
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General Traits of Feminist Ethics – 2
Differing views on moral principles
Some feminist philosophers resist the temptation to map out
moral actions according to moral principles.
They argue that such principles are too general to be useful in
the complicated arena of the domestic, social, and personal.
Discussion Question: How does feminist ethics’ regard for
moral principles compare with Kant’s view?
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General Traits of Feminist Ethics – 3
Contrasting attitudes toward impartiality
Impartiality says that from the moral point of view, all persons
are considered equal and should be treated accordingly; but in

9. the domestic sphere, we are anything but impartial.
Some feminists make our moral duties to the people we care
about central to their moral outlook.
Discussion Question: Do you believe there are situations in
which impartiality is important in moral reasoning? If not, why
not?
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General Traits of Feminist Ethics – 4
A higher regard for emotions
Feminist philosophers have greater respect for the emotional
side of our lives than many non-feminist ethicists do.
Discussion Question: What part do you think emotions should
play in morality?
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General Traits of Feminist Ethics – 5
An emphasis on the nonideal
Feminist ethicists take issue with the tendency of traditional
moral theories to assume an idealized view of human beings.
Many feminist ethicists acknowledge that real life is messy and
involves humans who are often irrational, and they appreciate
the value of these nonideal aspects to life.

10. ‹#›
The Ethics of Care – 1
Emphasizes close personal relationships and moral virtues such
as compassion, faithfulness, kindness, love, and sympathy
Contrasts with traditional moral theories preoccupied with
principles and legalistic reasoning
Discussion question: Can one emphasize love and sympathy and
still hold to utilitarianism? Kant’s duty ethics? Virtue ethics?
Why or why not?
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The Ethics of Care – 2
Originates from the contrast between:
Traditionally male “ethic of justice”
Traditionally female “ethic of care”
The argument is that both justice and care, which are not
inherently linked to gender, are needed.
Discussion question: How do you think justice and care relate to
each other? Can you think of a situation in which they
complement each other? What about one in which they conflict?
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The Ethics of Care – 3
An ethic of care concerns itself with the experiences of being
dependent and the morality of relating to dependents.
A morality built on the image of the independent, autonomous,
rational individual often overlooks the extensive human
experience of dependence.

11. Discussion Questions: Does an ethic of justice suffice when
talking of a parent caring for a child? Does an ethic of care
suffice when talking of two independent strangers interacting in
a business transaction? Which situation is most important to
who we are as humans?
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Credits
This concludes the PowerPoint slide set for Chapter 8
Doing Ethics: Moral Reasoning and Contemporary Issues
Fifth Edition (2019) by Lewis Vaughn.
Copyright © 2019 W. W. Norton & Company