Right action and the non-virtuous agent

Journal of Applied Philosophy 28 (1):80-92 (2010)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

According to qualified-agent virtue ethics, an action is right if and only if it is what a virtuous agent would characteristically do in the circumstances. I discuss two closely related objections to this view, both of which concern the actions of the non-virtuous. The first is that this criterion sometimes gives the wrong result, for in some cases a non-virtuous agent should not do what a virtuous person would characteristically do. A second objection is it altogether fails to apply whenever the agent, through previous wrongdoing, finds herself in circumstances that a virtuous person cannot be in. I focus on Rosalind Hursthouse's account of right action, and argue that it can provide a satisfactory response to both these objections. I do so by drawing attention to the distinction between action guidance and action assessment, and arguing that while the above criterion is adequate as a means of action assessment, we should turn to the virtue- and vice-rules (v-rules) for action guidance.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 107,499

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Agent-based Virtue Ethics and the Problem of Action Guidance.Liezl van Zyl - 2009 - Journal of Moral Philosophy 6 (1):50-69.
Virtue Ethics and Right Action.Diana Courtney Fleming - 2003 - Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley
Virtue Ethics and the Search for an Account of Right Action.Frans Svensson - 2010 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 13 (3):255-271.
Right Action as Virtuous Action.Nicholas Ryan Smith - 2017 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 96 (2):241-254.
Wisdom and Action Guidance in the Agent-Based Virtue Ethics of Aristotle.S. Thomas Sherman - 2006 - American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 80 (4):481-506.
Qualified-agent virtue ethics.Liezl van Zyl - 2011 - South African Journal of Philosophy 30 (2):219-228.
Virtues, Skills, and Right Action.Matt Stichter - 2011 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 14 (1):73-86.

Analytics

Added to PP
2010-12-23

Downloads
199 (#133,808)

6 months
9 (#577,454)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Liezl van Zyl
University of Stellenbosch (PhD)

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references