7. Virtuous Consequentialism
7. Virtuous Consequentialism
A summary chapter that draws together the earlier strands of argument to expound and defend virtuous consequentialism. This approach more accurately captures the nature of moral reasoning than other theories by reflecting both the complexity and difficulty of our moral lives. Ethics is neither simple nor easy. A rich farrago of concepts is required to describe our ethical life. Virtuous consequentialism gives appropriate weight to all facets of moral agency: to both the internal qualities and the external consequences of our actions, as well as to the principles that guide those actions and the virtues needed to enact the principles in our daily lives. Drawing on such resources, virtuous consequentialism can adequately account for moral reasoning in both the private and the public realms, so avoiding the schism between the two worlds deemed necessary by other writers such as Hampshire, Nagel, and Bobbitt. Morality extends seamlessly from the private to public spheres.
Keywords: Philip Bobbitt, complexity of moral life, difficulty of moral life, Stuart Hampshire, Thomas Nagel, moral reasoning, private and public morality, virtues, virtuous consequentialism
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