Yale University Library Research Guides: Christian Ethics Guide: Virtue Ethics

Virtue Ethics: Getting Started

The Cambridge Companion to Virtue Ethics by Daniel C. Russell (Editor) A comprehensive overview of virtue ethics. Examines the theoretical structure of virtue ethics and its place in contemporary moral theory and other topics discussed include the history of virtue-based approaches to ethics, what makes these approaches distinctive, what they can say about specific practical issues and where we can expect them to go in the future.
Virtue Ethics: A Contemporary Introduction by Liezl van Zyl An accessible overview of central concepts, positions, and arguments in virtue ethics today. While it focuses primarily on Aristotelian virtue ethics, it also includes discussion of alternative forms of virtue ethics (sentimentalism and pluralism) and competing normative theories (consequentialism and deontology).
The Oxford Handbook of Virtue (Online) by Nancy E. Snow (Editor) A representative overview of philosophical work on virtue. It is divided into seven parts: conceptualizations of virtue, historical and religious accounts, contemporary virtue ethics and theories of virtue, central concepts and issues, critical examinations, applied virtue ethics, and virtue epistemology.
The Routledge Companion to Virtue Ethics by Lorraine Besser-Jones (Editor); Michael Slote (Editor) Emphasizes non-Western varieties of virtue ethics at the same time that it includes work in the many different fields or areas of philosophy where virtue ethics has recently become more prominent.

Intelligent Virtue (Online) by Julia Annas Presents a distinctive new account of virtue and happiness as central ethical ideas. Argues that exercising a virtue involves practical reasoning of a kind which can illuminatingly be compared to the kind of reasoning we find in someone exercising a practical skill.
A Theory of Virtue (Online) by Robert Merrihew Adams A comprehensive framework for thinking about the moral evaluation of character.
After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory by Alasdair MacIntyre Examines the historical and conceptual roots of the idea of virtue, diagnoses the reasons for its absence in personal and public life, and offers a tentative proposal for its recovery.
On Virtue Ethics by Rosalind Hursthouse A defense of a neo-Aristotelian version of virtue ethics. Shows how virtue ethics can provide guidance for action, illuminate moral dilemmas, and bring out the moral significance of the emotions.

The Cardinal Virtues by R. E. Houser (Translator) These translations from the Latin works of Thomas Aquinas, Albert the Great, and Philip the Chancellor concentrate on the four cardinal virtues - prudence, justice, courage, and temperance - first identified by Plato as essential requirements for living a happy and morally good life.
Putting on Virtue: The Legacy of the Splendid Vices by Jennifer A. Herdt Reveals how a distrust of learned and habituated virtue shaped both early modern Christian moral reflection and secular forms of ethical thought.
Longing for the Good Life: Virtue Ethics after Protestantism by Pieter Vos Argues that Protestant theological ethics not only reveals basic virtue ethical characteristics, but also contributes significantly to a viable contemporary virtue ethics.