3.1 Normative Ethics --- Value Theory and Virtue Theory --- What is Virtue Ethics?
Theory of Value and Virtue
“Virtue Ethics, Value Theory and Virtue Theory”
Teaching objectives:
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Understand the definitions of Virtue Ethics, Value Theory
and Virtue Theory
Value Theory and Virtue Theory are concerned with how a
moral person would live
Scholars of Value Theory and Virtue Theory believe that
morality includes many grey areas
Virtue can be classified as intrinsic value and instrumental
value
Understand the difference among Value Theory, Virtue
Theory, Utilitarianism and Deontology
Suggested teaching period: 5 lessons
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3.1 Normative Ethics --- Value Theory and Virtue Theory --- What is Virtue Ethics?
Teacher shall first prepare:
 Knowledge Content of the Subject (1): What are “Virtue Ethics, Value
Theory and Virtue Theory”?
 Knowledge Content of the Subject (2): Differences among Value Theory,
Virtue Theory, Utilitarianism and Deontology
 Discussion log: Differences among Value Theory, Virtue Theory,
Utilitarianism and Deontology
 Worksheet (1): Story -- Mr Ho’s Cornea
Teaching processes:
1. This chapter is the first part of “Virtue Ethics, Value Theory and Virtue
Theory”. The teacher should first explain Knowledge Content of the Subject
(1): What are “Virtue Ethics, Value Theory and Virtue Theory”?
2. The teacher may ask students to give the three definitions of Virtue Ethics,
Value Theory and Virtue Theory and provide a summary:
 Value Theory and Virtue Theory are concerned with how a moral person
would live.
 Scholars of Value Theory and Virtue Theory believe that morality
includes many grey areas.
 Virtue can be classified as intrinsic value and instrumental value.
3. The teacher may ask students to give definitions of “Utilitarianism” and
“Deontology”, in order to introduce the second topic --- “Differences among
Value Theory, Virtue Theory, Utilitarianism and Deontology”.
4. The students are divided into groups of 4 or 5 and given approximately 5
minutes to discuss the differences among Virtue Ethics, Value Theory,
Virtue Theory, Utilitarianism and Deontology. The key points should be
recorded in the discussion log.
5. After the discussion, each group is asked to choose a representative to
report the group’s answers.
6. The teacher should summarise by explaining Knowledge Content of the
Subject (2): Differences among Value Theory, Virtue Theory, Utilitarianism
and Deontology”.
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3.1 Normative Ethics --- Value Theory and Virtue Theory --- What is Virtue Ethics?
7. The students are divided into groups of 4 or 5 to briefly discuss and
complete Worksheet (1): Story: Mr. Ho’s Cornea.
8. After the discussion, each group is asked to choose a representative to
report the group’s views.
9. The teacher may explain and distribute the answers.
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3.1 Normative Ethics --- Value Theory and Virtue Theory --- What is Virtue Ethics?
Knowledge Content of the Subject (1)
What are “Virtue Ethics, Value Theory and Virtue Theory”?
Virtue Ethics
“Value Ethics”, along with Utilitarianism and Deontology, is one of the major
schools of thought in Ethics. The ancient Greek thoughts of Plato and Aristotle, as
well as ancient Chinese Confucian thinking, can all be considered representative of
Virtue Ethics. Virtue Ethics proposes two concepts: “Value” and “Virtue”.
What are “Value” and “Virtue”
“Value” starts from the individual, so that the individual is driven to take certain
actions because he or she holds or agrees with certain values. For example, if a
person believes in “respecting the elderly”, they will give their seat to an elderly on
the bus.
“Virtue” means taking a certain person’s behaviour as an indicator of their
character, such that we can suppose from their actions that they have certain
virtues. For example, if a certain person often gives their seat to an elderly, we can
suppose that they have the virtue of “respecting the elderly”.
In addition to proposing the concepts of “Value” and “Virtue”, Virtue Ethics also has
the following key characteristics:
1. Individual actions Vs overall behaviour and the complete individual
“Virtue Ethics” does not decide based on individual actions whether an action
is moral. Instead, it makes judgements regarding the person carrying out the
action, and their motives, environment, personal relationship networks, identity and
other factors, and then analyses the situation from the person’s own perspective,
before finally deciding whether the action is moral. Virtue Ethics is concerned with
how a moral person would live. How to make moral choices is a higher priority than
seeking moral principles to judge between right and wrong.
The Analects: Zilu brings up the example of Confucius’ belief that if the father
steals a sheep, the son should conceal his actions. Virtue Ethics would ask why the
father stole the sheep, whether the father’s character was usually good, how kind
the father had been to his son, how the father’s relationship with his son and family
were, and why the son had informed on his father. Supposing the father was a
caring and responsible man who loved his family, who had lost his job a year ago in
unfortunate circumstances, and whose poverty now left his family cold and hungry
to the point of starvation; he therefore went out and stole a sheep, hoping to feed
and clothe his family. If the son informed on his father in such circumstances,
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3.1 Normative Ethics --- Value Theory and Virtue Theory --- What is Virtue Ethics?
proponents of Virtue Ethics would feel that the son was immoral.
2. Is there an inevitable answer to whether something is moral or immoral?
Proponents of Virtue Ethics believe that morality includes many grey areas, as
when people of supposedly moral character make moral choices, they take
different factors into account, making it difficult to find an unchanging principle. As
described in the case of the son concealing the father’s theft of a sheep, many
different factors must be considered to decide whether an action or a person is
moral. For this reason, if different people do the same thing in the same
circumstances, or the same person does something similar in different
circumstances, there may be different answers to the question of whether the
person or action is moral.
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3.1 Normative Ethics --- Value Theory and Virtue Theory --- What is Virtue Ethics?
Knowledge Content of the Subject (2)
Differences among Value Theory, Virtue Theory, Utilitarianism
and Deontology
Differences among Virtue Ethics, Value Theory, Virtue Theory and Utilitarianism
1.
2.
Utilitarianism determines whether an action is moral based on the principle that
a moral action “brings happiness for the majority”. However, Value Theory and
Virtue Theory cannot judge right or wrong using any particular principle as a
single standard.
Utilitarianism judges right and wrong based on the consequences of an action,
ignoring motives, intentions and other factors, and is therefore also known as
Consequentialism. Value Theory and Virtue Theory, however, stress the need
to weigh all the relevant factors and judge from the individual’s position. To a
certain degree, Value Theory and Virtue Theory reduce the importance of
3.
“consequences” in making moral judgments.
Utilitarianism appears to regard morality as an inhuman mathematical formula,
concerned only with calculating the degree of benefit or harm of a result. By
contrast, Value Theory and Virtue Theory always require people to put
themselves in someone else’s place and take into account the overall
situation, and are thus more consistent with human ways of moral thinking.
Differences among Virtue Ethics, Value Theory, Virtue Theory and Deontology
1.
2.
3.
Deontology and the theories of Kant in particular, place special emphasis on
the importance of responsibility and rationality. Kant believes that any rational
action that stems from duty/responsibility is necessarily moral. Virtue Ethics,
however, states that any action must be comprehensively analysed, and one
cannot consider only a single factor.
According to Deontology, an action is either moral or immoral because it
already has inherent moral factors, and therefore an action is moral because it
is already moral in itself. Value Theory and Virtue Theory, however,
acknowledge that there are many grey areas in the real world, and consider
that the morality of an action may be different depending on the time, place,
person, and so on.
Deontology emphasises universal values and equal treatment, while Value
Theory and Virtue Theory also consider the idea that relationships between
people can affect the morality of an action. For example, let us suppose your
own mother and a total stranger are both drowning; neither can swim, and you
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3.1 Normative Ethics --- Value Theory and Virtue Theory --- What is Virtue Ethics?
can only save one of them. A deontologist may save the stranger due to the
principle of “unconditional obligation”, while a proponent of Virtue Ethics might
save his/her mother, because of their mother’s kindness to them.
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3.1 Normative Ethics --- Value Theory and Virtue Theory --- What is Virtue Ethics?
Discussion Log:
Differences among Value Theory, Virtue Theory, Utilitarianism
and Deontology
Differences among Utilitarianism, Virtue Ethics, Virtue Theory and Value Theory
Differences among Deontology, Virtue Ethics, Virtue Theory and Value Theory
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3.1 Normative Ethics --- Value Theory and Virtue Theory --- What is Virtue Ethics?
Story - Mr Ho’s Cornea
In Hong Kong in the 1980s, very few people were willing to donate their organs
when they died, and so eye-disease patients could wait for up to ten years for
someone to donate their cornea for a transplant.
Mr Ho, was a kind, public-spirited, life-loving young man in his twenties.
Although he was worried about pain and disliked the sight of blood, he accepted
the idea of organ donation, and believed that he had a responsibility to help others
in need. Therefore, after careful consideration, he signed an organ donor card. One
day, Mr Ho sustained severe head injuries in a car accident, leaving him in a coma.
Two days later, he became brain-dead and was put on a life-support machine to
sustain his breathing, pulse and other essential bodily functions. One month later,
despite the doctors’ best efforts to save him, he died from organ failure.
Mr Ho’s wife mentioned to the doctor that her husband had signed a donor
card and indicated that she would respect her husband’s wishes, as she also
approved of the idea of helping other patients in need. After thinking it over
repeatedly, she therefore agreed to donate all her husband’s organs. However, as
Mr Ho’s vital organs had failed and were unsuitable for donation, only his cornea
was to be transplanted to another patient. The doctor told Mrs Ho that the removal
of the cornea from the body would be virtually undetectable to the naked eye, and
would not damage the external appearance of the body.
However, Mr Ho’s father found out about the proposed transplant, and refused
to give permission for his son’s organs to be donated to those in need on the
principle of “keeping the body whole”.
Put yourself in Mrs Ho’s place, and analyse the situation from the perspectives
of Utilitarianism, Deontology and Virtue Ethics respectively. Assess the events
described above, and explain your position and your reasoning. Put your
answers in the following worksheet.
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3.1 Normative Ethics --- Value Theory and Virtue Theory --- What is Virtue Ethics?
Utilitarianism
Deontology
Principles
(Position)
Reasoning
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Virtue Ethics
3.1 Normative Ethics --- Value Theory and Virtue Theory --- What is Virtue Ethics?
Suggested Answers
Utilitarianism
Principles
(Position)
Does the action of
donating organs bring
happiness for the majority
of people?
Reasoning From the perspective of
Rule Utilitarianism, in
overall terms, the action of
donating organs brings
happiness to the majority
of people in society.
- The recipient’s
disease is treated
- The donor can
obtain happiness
by helping those
-
-
-
in need
An atmosphere of
pulling together in
difficult times
spreads through
society
The government
can save on
palliative medical
costs, as citizens’
diseases can be
cured by organ
transplants
The elder Mr Ho
was the only
person not to
agree
Deontology
Virtue Ethics
1. Would all rational
1. Does the action of
people consider organ
donating organs
donation to be moral?
involve any virtues?
2. Does organ donation
2. If you put yourself in
stem from a sense of
their place, would you
duty?
donate your organs?
1. Mr and Mrs Ho hoped 1. Mr and Mrs Ho
to help those in needs,
donated organs
and they took the
action of donating
organs only out of a
sense of duty and
responsibility, and so
their actions are
moral.
2. Everyone agrees that
“helping others” is
because they
believed they had a
responsibility to help
people in need, and
“helping others” and
“being responsible” is
a type of virtue, so
organ donation is
moral.
moral, especially
2. Before he died, Mr Ho
when it does not affect
made a promise by
oneself, and so
signing an organ
donation is moral.
donor card, and
3. Mr and Mrs Ho only
“keeping promises” is
decided to donate
a type of virtue, so
organs after “careful
donating his organs is
consideration” and
moral.
“thinking it over
3. Mrs Ho consents to
repeatedly”, and so it
donating her
was a rational and
therefore moral
decision.
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husband’s organs
because she respects
his wishes, and
“respecting others” is
a type of virtue, so
donating his organs is
moral.
3.1 Normative Ethics --- Value Theory and Virtue Theory --- What is Virtue Ethics?
Consequently, organ
donation is moral.
From the perspective of
Act Utilitarianism, if we
look at the issue of
whether Mrs Ho should
donate her husband’s
cornea in isolation,
donating could certainly
bring happiness for the
aforementioned majority,
4. The elder Mr Ho’s
opposition to organ
donation in order to
“keep the body whole”
was a “selfish” and
“superstitious”
decision, and the vast
majority of rational
people in society
would consider it
immoral.
4. The elder Mr Ho’s
opposition to organ
donation in order to
“keep the body whole”
was a “selfish” and
“superstitious”
decision, and as a
form of evil behaviour,
is therefore immoral.
5. If we put ourselves in
the place of a moral
and would bring
unhappiness only to the
elder Mr Ho.
person in this
situation, we would
console the elder Mr
Consequently, it can also
be moral according to this
perspective.
Ho and then donate
the organs, and so
donating organs in
this situation is moral.
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