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Virtue Ethics

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  • First Online:
Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

  • 108 Accesses

Synonyms

Character; Goodness; Integrity; Nobility

Definition

Aristotle defined virtue as “a purposive disposition, lying in a mean that is relative to us, and determined by a rational principle, and by that which a prudent man would use to determine it. It is a mean between two kinds of vice, one of excess and the other of deficiency” (as cited in Van Hooft 2006, p. 60).

Introduction

This entry focuses on virtue ethics as a branch of moral philosophy. It provides an overview of virtue theory, definition of key terms, and an account of its relevance to contemporary public administration. Many different theories have resulted from virtue theory, but this entry does not attempt to account for them. Not all virtue theory emanates directly from Aristotle – for example, ancient Persian philosophy emphasized virtue ethics in both public and private life (Frye 1975). While this entry’s account of virtue comprises largely of Aristotelian concepts, it does, occasionally, refer to ancient...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Chris Russell

Authors
  1. Chris Russell
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Correspondence to Chris Russell .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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Russell, C. (2018). Virtue Ethics. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3609-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3609-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

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