Virtue, vice and value

Abstract

This account was accepted by many early 20th-century philosophers, including Brentano, Moore, Rashdall, and Ross. Hurka elaborates it further than has been done before, describing its mathematical structure, connecting it to individual virtues and vices, and applying it to specific issues such as the morality of fantasy and the proper roles of private charity and the welfare state. While doing so, he argues for its superiority over rival accounts of virtue, including those defended under the heading of virtue ethics. Virtue, Vice, and Value makes a novel contribution to virtue theory and the theory of value, defending views unlike those most discussed in contemporary ethics.