virtue
Quick Summary
In ethics, a moral virtue refers to qualities or character states that lead to morally good actions and intentions. These are consistent patterns of behavior and thought, not fleeting emotions or intelligence.1
Aristotle significantly influenced the understanding of moral virtue, viewing it as an excellence that strikes a "golden mean" between deficiency and excess. For example, courage is a virtue between the vices of cowardice and foolhardiness. Virtues are cultivated through practice and can be lost if neglected; they are not innate traits.12
Virtue ethics, a major school of thought in normative ethics, focuses on developing character rather than adhering to duties or calculating outcomes. It emphasizes that acting morally stems from possessing virtuous traits, making good actions feel natural. This approach contrasts with deontological ethics (duty-based) and consequentialism (outcome-based). Concepts similar to moral virtue are found across various cultures and religions, including Christianity, ancient Egyptian beliefs, and Indian philosophies.341
Ask Britannica AI about this topic
Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.
ethics…at happiness or at knowledge, virtue, or the creation of beautiful objects? If we choose happiness, will it be our own or the happiness of all? And what of the more particular questions that face us: is it right to be dishonest in a good cause? Can we justify living…
Read More…at happiness or at knowledge, virtue, or the creation of beautiful objects? If we choose happiness, will it be our own or the happiness of all? And what of the more particular questions that face us: is it right to be dishonest in a good cause? Can we justify living…
Read More
PlatoHappiness and virtueThe characteristic question of ancient ethics is “How can I be happy?” and the basic answer to it is “by means of virtue.” But in the relevant sense of the word, happiness—the conventional English translation of the ancient Greek eudaimonia—is not a matter of…
Read MoreThe characteristic question of ancient ethics is “How can I be happy?” and the basic answer to it is “by means of virtue.” But in the relevant sense of the word, happiness—the conventional English translation of the ancient Greek eudaimonia—is not a matter of…
Read More
AristotleVirtuePeople’s virtues are a subset of their good qualities. They are not innate, like eyesight, but are acquired by practice and lost by disuse. They are abiding states, and they thus differ from momentary passions such as anger and pity. Virtues are states of…
Read MorePeople’s virtues are a subset of their good qualities. They are not innate, like eyesight, but are acquired by practice and lost by disuse. They are abiding states, and they thus differ from momentary passions such as anger and pity. Virtues are states of…
Read More
Niccolò MachiavelliThe Prince of Niccolò Machiavelli…prince relies on his own virtue, but, if virtue is to enable him to acquire a state, it must have a new meaning distinct from the New Testament virtue of seeking peace. Machiavelli’s notion of virtù requires the prince to be concerned foremost with the art of war and to…
Read More…prince relies on his own virtue, but, if virtue is to enable him to acquire a state, it must have a new meaning distinct from the New Testament virtue of seeking peace. Machiavelli’s notion of virtù requires the prince to be concerned foremost with the art of war and to…
Read More
Alasdair MacIntyreAfter Virtue and later works…found in Aristotle’s theory of virtue. According to this theory, the authority of moral virtues and moral rules lies in the fact that habituation to such virtues and adherence to such rules enable humans to pass from a state of imperfection to perfection—from (as MacIntyre put it) “untutored human nature”…
Read More…found in Aristotle’s theory of virtue. According to this theory, the authority of moral virtues and moral rules lies in the fact that habituation to such virtues and adherence to such rules enable humans to pass from a state of imperfection to perfection—from (as MacIntyre put it) “untutored human nature”…
Read More
history of EuropeRousseau and his followersIf virtue were dependent on culture and culture the prerogative of a privileged minority, what was the prospect for the rest: “We have physicians, geometricians, chemists, astronomers, poets, musicians and painters in plenty; but no longer a citizen among us.” Rousseau is thus of the Enlightenment…
Read MoreIf virtue were dependent on culture and culture the prerogative of a privileged minority, what was the prospect for the rest: “We have physicians, geometricians, chemists, astronomers, poets, musicians and painters in plenty; but no longer a citizen among us.” Rousseau is thus of the Enlightenment…
Read More
SocratesLife and personality of Socrates…that, once one knows what virtue is, it is impossible not to act virtuously. Anyone who fails to act virtuously does so because he incorrectly identifies virtue with something it is not. This is what is meant by the thesis, attributed to Socrates by Aristotle, that virtue is a form…
Read More…that, once one knows what virtue is, it is impossible not to act virtuously. Anyone who fails to act virtuously does so because he incorrectly identifies virtue with something it is not. This is what is meant by the thesis, attributed to Socrates by Aristotle, that virtue is a form…
Read More- SocratesSocrates’ radical reconception of piety
…keeping with his conception of virtue as a form of knowledge he uses an intellectual test, not merely a ceremonial test, to determine whether someone is pious. You may participate in the conventional practices of civic religion, but can you say what piety is? If you cannot, do you at…
Read More…keeping with his conception of virtue as a form of knowledge he uses an intellectual test, not merely a ceremonial test, to determine whether someone is pious. You may participate in the conventional practices of civic religion, but can you say what piety is? If you cannot, do you at…
Read More - SocratesThe legacy of Socrates
…good man cannot be harmed; virtue, in other words, is by itself sufficient for happiness. That doctrine played a central role in a school of thought, founded by Diogenes of Sinope, that had an enduring influence on Greek and Roman philosophy: Cynicism. Like Socrates, Diogenes was concerned solely with ethics,…
Read More…good man cannot be harmed; virtue, in other words, is by itself sufficient for happiness. That doctrine played a central role in a school of thought, founded by Diogenes of Sinope, that had an enduring influence on Greek and Roman philosophy: Cynicism. Like Socrates, Diogenes was concerned solely with ethics,…
Read More 
SophistHumanistic issues…distinctive Sophistic tenets was that virtue can be taught, a position springing naturally from the Sophists’ professional claim to be the teachers of young men. But the word virtue (aretē) implied both success in living and the qualities necessary for achieving such success, and the claim that aretē could be…
Read More…distinctive Sophistic tenets was that virtue can be taught, a position springing naturally from the Sophists’ professional claim to be the teachers of young men. But the word virtue (aretē) implied both success in living and the qualities necessary for achieving such success, and the claim that aretē could be…
Read More
Western philosophyStoicismAll virtues are based exclusively on right knowledge, self-control (sōphrosynē) being the knowledge of the right choice, fortitude the knowledge of what must be endured and what must not, and justice the right knowledge “in distribution.” The passions, which are the cause of all evil, are…
Read MoreAll virtues are based exclusively on right knowledge, self-control (sōphrosynē) being the knowledge of the right choice, fortitude the knowledge of what must be endured and what must not, and justice the right knowledge “in distribution.” The passions, which are the cause of all evil, are…
Read More