Aretaic turn

The aretaic turn is a movement in contemporary moral philosophyand ethicsto emphasize characterand human excellenceor virtue, as opposed to moral rules or consequences. This movement has been extended to other disciplines, including epistemology, politics, and jurisprudence.

The meaning of aretaic

Aretaic is from the Greek arete, meaning excellence or virtue. Aretaic thus means of or pertaining to virtue or excellence. In contemporary philosophy, aretaic approaches are those which focus on human excellence or virtue.

The aretaic turn in moral philosophy

In moral philosophy, the phrase aretaic turn refers to the renewed emphasis on human excellence or virtue in moral theory and ethics. One important moment in the aretaic turn was the publication by the Oxford philosopher G. E. M. Anscombeof Modern Moral Philosophy, which criticized utilitarianand deontologicalapproaches to moral theory and suggested a return to Aristoteleanthemes in moral philosophy. In the 1960s and 1970s, this led to the emergence of virtue ethics, an approach to moral philosophy that emphasizes the virtues. Important work was done by Philippa Foot, Peter Geach, John McDowell, and others. Contemporary philosophers working on virtue ethics include Rosalind Hursthouse, Michael Slote, and Christine Swanton.

In 'The Schizophrenia of Modern Ethical Theories' [Crisp and Slote 1997] Michael Stocker summarises the main aretaic criticisms of Deontological and Consequentionalist ethics.

Aretaic approaches to other philosophical problems

The aretaic turn in moral philosophy is paralleled by analogous developments in other philosophical disciplines. These include epistemology, where a distinctive virtue epistemology has been developed by Linda Zagzebskiand others. In political theory, there has been discussion of virtue politics, and in legal theory, there is a small but growing literature on virtue jurisprudence.

Criticisms

Aretaic approaches to morality, epistemology, and jurisprudence have been the subject of intense debates. One criticism that is frequently made focuses on the problem of guidance. How does the idea of virtuous moral actor, believer, or judge provide the guidance necessary for action, belief formation, or the decision of legal disputes?

Bibliography

• Kyron Huigens, Nietzsche and Aretaic Legal Theory(2003).
  
• Rosalind Hursthouse, On Virtue Ethics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999) ISBN 0198238185.
• Lawrence Solum, The Aretaic Turn in Constitutional Theory(2004).
• Linda Zagzebski, Virtues of the Mind (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996).
• Virtue Epistemology: Essays on Epistemic Virtue and Responsibility, edited by Abrol Fairweather and Linda Zagzebski (New York: Oxford UP, 2001).
• Virtue Ethics, edited by Roger Crisp and Michael Slote (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997) ISBN 0-19-875188-5.

See also

• Virtue
• Virtue ethics
• Virtue jurisprudence

External links

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Entry on Virtue Ethics by Rosalind Hursthouse
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Entry on Virtue Epistemology by Joan Greco

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretaic+turn Wikipedia article Aretaic turn.