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Virtue Theory

In: Philosophy and Psychology

Submitted By sherinichols
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Virtue ethics is a theory used to make moral decisions. It does not rely on religion, society or culture. The theory is the view that the foundation of morality is the development of good character traits, or virtues. A person is good, then, if he has virtues and lacks vices. There can be as many as 100 virtuous character traits, which contribute to making someone a “good” person. Examples of some virtues would be Integrity, Kindness, Gratitude, and Forgiveness. There are many more of course.

Virtue theory places special emphasis on moral education since virtuous character traits are developed in one's youth; adults, therefore, are responsible for instilling virtues in the young. The failure to properly develop virtuous character traits will result in the child acquiring vices or bad character traits instead. Vices include cowardice, insensibility, injustice, and vanity.

Virtue ethics says that it is not only important to do the right thing, but also to have the required dispositions, motivations, and emotions in being good and doing right. We should enjoy doing good, because we are good. It isn't only about action but also about emotions, character, and moral habits.
I believe if your parents instilled you with good charatertistics since birth, you will carry them on into adulthood. When you enter adulthood, you have a good understanding how society works and can desifer if something your parents said during childhood was not 100% true. For example, If your parents told you that stealing is acceptable; when you enter your teens and adult years you know 100% that stealing is totally unacceptable in society. Once we commit ourselves to a particular kind of moral action, once we have habituated ourselves to choosing it, we typically find that it becomes relatively easy to follow. . But this realisation is not solely the property of virtue ethics;

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