1. Does virtue ethics offer good moral direction? Adapted from You Decide! Current Debates in Ethics, Bruce Waller, ed. Pearson-Longman, 2006.

2. What does virtue ethics claim? It identifies general moral rules, the virtues, that ought to govern human actions; Following these rules will make a person happy, fulfilled; And not following these rules will lead to unhappiness, a lack of fulfillment; The virtues are not only good for society, but the virtues actually benefit their possessors.

3. Do extreme counterexamples undermine the claims of virtue ethics? What about the Nazis who were never tried for their war crimes and escaped to South Africa with loads of money? What about corrupt bankers and businessmen, white collar criminals who have escaped to foreign lands? What about martyrs?

4. Possible response: Of course there will be outliers; Virtue ethics is supposed to provide a general rule or pattern of behavior that applies to most cases; Even though there are people who smoke, drink, eat red meat and live to 90, your doctor is right to tell you that these activities decrease your life expectancy.

5. In other words… The virtue theorist only needs to defend the following claims: Virtue is the most reliable path to happiness; And the greater the virtue, the more likely to promote happiness.

6. But… Would virtue be the most reliable path to happiness even during a period of widespread injustice? Consider the time of slavery in America: Wouldn’t a white, Southern land-owner in the middle of the 19 th century most likely benefit himself and his family and lead to flourishing if he—at least to some extent—embraced slavery?

7. Virtues and social norms: It seems that following social norms leads to flourishing; What happens when social norms go contrary to virtue? In times of injustice, does virtue reliably lead to greater happiness?

8. Is the slavery case all that unusual? Do we live in a just or an unjust time right now?