Re: Virtue Ethics, Deontological Ethics, and Biotechnology

I'm notso sure Dave -- I think it goes a bit further than just a renaming.

*What is a virtuous life but the constant practice of proper actions,
whether these are determined by duty or by value?*

The constant practice or proper actions with proper motivations.

On 5/13/06, D. F. Siemens, Jr. <dfsiemensjr@juno.com> wrote:
>
> Might have known it. What we have is a renaming of a subdivision of
> teleological ethics with /eudaimonia/ as the value prized. I'm reminded of a
> statement by a sociological colleague who noted that there were many of his
> discipline who were actively publishing the same-old-same-old using
> different terminology in the hope that they would reap an evanescent glory
> by having someone cite their label. As far as that goes, the anti-ethic I
> noted, based on the intensity of feeling, is an axiological type with the
> value elevated to supremacy being emotion, which is purely subjective.
>
> What is a virtuous life but the constant practice of proper actions,
> whether these are determined by duty or by value? If my memory serves, it
> was in such a connection that Aristotle noted that one swallow does not make
> a summer. So it is necessary to determine the basis of ethical behavior
> before trying to make it habitual. Aristotle based much on the three
> convertibles, truth, beauty, good. These are clearly values. The nine
> versions George cites also fit the traditional classification, although
> there may be su=ome ambiguity of emphasis in some.
> Dave
>
> On Sat, 13 May 2006 09:06:09 -0400 "David Opderbeck" <dopderbeck@gmail.com>
> writes:
>
> Dave -- Virtue Ethics is a third option besides deontology and
> consequentialism (a form of teleological ethics). Virtue Ethics go back to
> Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics and are prominent in thought of Thomas
> Acquinas. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue_ethics One of
> the leading modern works on Virtue Ethics is Alisdair MacIntyre's "After
> Virtue." I'm finding the notion of virtue ethics attractive because it
> seems to give a proper place to both deontology and consequentialism: the
> development of virtues or character in people and communities. This seems
> consistent with a wholistic view of Biblical ethics, which aren't sets of
> rules for their own sake, but are part of God's plan to bring us and all of
> creation into shalom -- everything right, good, as it should be.
>
>
>
Received on Sat May 13 17:17:46 2006