Living toward virtue : practical ethics in the spirit of Socrates /

Living toward virtue : practical ethics in the spirit of Socrates /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Woodruff, Paul, 1943- author.
Imprint:	New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2023]
Description:	xvi, 227 pages ; 22 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	Socrates. Socrates. Ethics. Virtue. Ethics. Virtue.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12830109

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9780197672129 0197672124 9780197672143
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:	"Virtue ethics can be practical if we give it a new start, working from Socrates' approach to ethics as represented in Plato. This approach is more promising than that of most recent virtue ethicists, who begin from Aristotle. It is also more practical than modern ethical theories. Socrates asks us to nurture the moral health of our souls all our lives, whereas Aristotle teaches us to acquire virtues as traits. Traits are not reliable however, and false confidence in one's virtue is a major cause of moral error and the moral injury that results from error. I must never think with any certainty that I have a virtue. It is especially dangerous for me to think that I have the wisdom or moral knowledge that would keep me on the right path. Socrates sets an example by recognizing his ignorance through self-examination and by making that recognition a cornerstone of human wisdom. But Socrates does not explain how we can seek virtue when we do not know for sure what it is. This book goes beyond what we know of Socrates in order to show how we can seek virtue without having knowledge. Using real-life examples, some of them from warfare, the book shows how we can nurture our souls and avoid moral injury so far as possible. The outcome of a life on this Socratic model is beauty of soul and a special kind of happiness"--
Other form:	Online version: Woodruff, Paul, 1943- Living toward virtue New York, NY, United States of America : Oxford University Press, 2023 9780197672143

Description
Summary:	Socrates urged his followers to commit to a lifelong activity of nurturing the moral health of the soul through self-examination. By contrast, modern philosophers who follow Aristotle in ethics have mostly taught that living well depends on having virtues or traits that are robust traits of character. But traits are not reliable in all situations, and they do not help us make hard decisions. Having a trait is no substitute for the Socratic activity we need to practice in order to live toward virtue. In Living Toward Virtue, Paul Woodruff shows how we can set about living ethically, drawing on what Socrates called Human Wisdom - a philosophy centered on the recognition of the limits of our moral knowledge. Woodruff uses this ancient set of ideas to develop a practical approach to ethics that goes beyond what Plato tells us of Socrates, in order to show how we can nurture our souls, enjoy a virtuous happiness, and avoid moral injury. Paul Woodruff's Living Toward Virtue shows how richly a Socratic approach to the moral challenges of life can reward us.
Physical Description:	xvi, 227 pages ; 22 cm
Bibliography:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:	9780197672129 0197672124 9780197672143