1. Virtue Theory Composed by: Cole Garrow, Heydy Baca, Barb Surwillo, Katie Johnson. LP 5 March 25, 2008

2. Virtue Theory… …the path to eudaimonia

3. Virtue & Ethics ► What is ethical is what develops moral virtues in ourselves and our communities http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/approach.html http://www.scu.edu/ethicks/practicin/decision/ethicsandvirture.html http://www.usafa.edu.isme/JSCOPE98/PFAFF98.htm

4. What’s a virtue? Virtues are attitudes or character traits that enable us to be and to act in ways that develop our highest potential http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/thinking.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue_ethics

5. Huh? Some examples of virtue that we can relate to: Honesty Courage Compassion Generosity Fidelity Integrity Fairness Self-Control Prudence The bodhisattva of compassion; one virtuous dude

6. Modern contributors to Virtue ethics (above) Alasdair Mcintyre (below) Bernard Williams

7. Alasdair McIntyre ► Moral and political Philosophy ► Importance of moral goods ► Dialectic ► Moral Goods http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alasdair_MacIntyre

8. Bernard Arthur Owen Williams Supportive of Women Morality should be vital and compelling. “Analytic Philosopher” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Williams

9. Williams ► "Understands what you're going to say better than you understand it yourself, and sees all the possible objections to it, all the possible answers to all the possible objections, before you've got to the end of your sentence." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Williams

10. The shortcomings of virtue…  Unable to provide “action-guidance’. Does not provide guidelines on how to behave. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-virtue

11. Two good examples… President George W. Bush and the Easter Bunny have something in common besides warm blood and bipedal movement…

12. In the best interests of virtue… ► No formula for deciding conflict cases. Honesty says to tell the hurtful truth, kindness & compassion say to remain silent or lie. http://www.helium.com/items/880446-virtue-ethice-independent-moral

13. And another thing…  Virtue ethics leaves us hostage to luck. Some may not receive help & encouragement to attain moral maturity. (and this is such an awesome segway)

14. Application of virtue theory to an ethical dilemma ► Let’s talk about the virtues (or lack of virtues) of the Higher Education Act’s (HEA) current policy when dealing with students convicted of drug-related crimes.

15. Quick History ► The HEA was signed into effect in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson ► In 1998, amendments attached to the HEA made it much more difficult for people with prior drug sale or possession offenses to obtain any federal financial aid http://ssdp.org

16. History ► In 2006, Congress revised the aid elimination language to only exclude people who are convicted of drug offenses while in school and receiving financial aid… ► So, Congress scaled it back so that taxpayers are not ‘subsidizing substance abuse’ did they stop to examine the virtue of only scaling it back that far?

17. The ‘virtue’ of a federal aid elimination policy ► Taxpayers are not subsidizing someone’s addictions or exploitations. ► Federal aid is still available to those that undergo an approved treatment program ► An up-front policy reduces the number of potential applicants which will just serve to bog down the system

18. More virtues of a federal aid elimination policy ► Consistent approach to controlled substance enforcement policy. ► Reduces the incidences of drug sale and possession on college grounds

19. On and on ► Federal aid elimination policy helps to uphold virtues of prudence, self-control, honesty and integrity in the student body… ► What do you think happens when legislators are acting ‘virtuously’ on behalf of special interests and reactionary constituents?

20. So what would be some virtues of eliminating the federal aid elimination language from the HEA?

21. Virtue of elimination ► Fiscally responsible; an educated workforce earns more and pays more in taxes. ► Current law serves as a double-punishment. ► Current law does not address more-violent or criminal acts. http://ssdp.org

22. virtue virtue virtue ► Need-based eligibility unfairly discriminates. ► Increased criminality, recidivism. ► Causes disengagement from community, government. ► Punishes hard-working students http://ssdp.org

23. Name that virtue ► By repealing the language that eliminates Federal aid to drug offenders, what kinds of virtue would congress be demonstrating?  Honesty  Courage  Compassion  Generosity  Fidelity  Integrity  Fairness  Self-control  Prudence

24. Review Questions ► What are the strengths of the Virtue Theory? ► What are some applications to this theory? ► What is the attraction to this theory?