Question

How does virtue theory contrast with the other normative ethical theories? Does it have any significant differences?

Answer 1

According to me,

Unlike deontological and consequentialist theories, theories of virtue ethics do not aim primarily to identify universal principles that can be applied in any moral situation. And virtue ethics theories deal with wider questions—“How should I live?” and “What is the good life?” and “What are proper family and social values?”

The virtue ethical theory judges a person by his/her character rather than by an action
that may deviate from his/her normal behavior. It takes the person’s morals, reputation,
and motivation into account when rating an unusual and irregular behavior that is con-
sidered unethical. For instance, if a person plagiarized a passage that was later detected by
a peer, the peer who knows the person well will understand the person’s character and will
judge the friend accordingly. If the plagiarizer normally follows the rules and has good
standing amongst his colleagues, the peer who encounters the plagiarized passage may be
able to judge his friend more leniently. Perhaps the researcher had a late night and simply
forgot to credit his or her source appropriately. Conversely, a person who has a reputation
for academic misconduct is more likely to be judged harshly for plagiarizing because of
his/her consistent past of unethical behavior.
One weakness of virtue ethical theory is that it does not take into consideration a person’s
change in moral character. For example, a scientist who may have made mistakes in the
past may honestly have the same late night story as the scientist in good standing. Neither
of these scientists intentionally plagiarized, but the act was still committed. On the other
hand, a researcher may have a sudden change from moral to immoral character may go
unnoticed until a significant amount of evidence mounts up against him/her.