Uneasy Virtue by Julia Driver

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Summary

Driver challenges Aristotle's classical theory of virtue, arguing that it fails to take into account virtues which do seem to involve ignorance or epistemic defect. She argues that we should abandon the highly intellectualist view of virtue and instead adopt a consequentialist perspective which holds that virtue is simply a character trait which systematically produces good consequences.

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Uneasy Virtue by Julia Driver

The predominant view of moral virtue can be traced back to Aristotle. He believed that moral virtue must involve intellectual excellence. To have moral virtue one must have practical wisdom - the ability to deliberate well and to see what is morally relevant in a given context. Julia Driver challenges this classical theory of virtue, arguing that it fails to take into account virtues which do seem to involve ignorance or epistemic defect. Some 'virtues of ignorance' are counterexamples to accounts of virtue which hold that moral virtue must involve practical wisdom. Modesty, for example, is generally considered to be a virtue even though the modest person may be making an inaccurate assessment of his or her accomplishments. Driver argues that we should abandon the highly intellectualist view of virtue and instead adopt a consequentialist perspective which holds that virtue is simply a character trait which systematically produces good consequences.
"Uneasy Virtue is required reading for those interested in virtue theory, consequentialism, and normative ethics in generalI recommend it in the warmest terms." Metaphilosophy, Leonard A. Kahn

Julia Driver is Professor of Philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis, USA. She is the author of Uneasy Virtue (2001) and Ethics: The Fundamentals (2006), and is co-editor of the Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy, as well as co-editor of the Normative Ethics section of The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780521034067
ISBN 10 052103406X
Title Uneasy Virtue
Author Julia Driver
Series Cambridge Studies In Philosophy
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Year published 2007-02-12
Number of pages 160
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.