Human Excellence: Dialogues on Virtue Theory

Human Excellence introduces the basic ideas of virtue theory, the branch of ethics that analyzes character. The author accomplishes this by systematically and carefully exploring the role of character in ethics through a series of dialogues. He begins by contrasting virtue ethics with other ethical views such as egoism, utilitarianism, and rights theories. Then he explores issues including the nature of courage, the problem of healthy versus unhealthy self-love, character and parenting techniques, the nature of friendship, and the relationship of virtue to the current debate on the "ethics of care." The advantage of the author's approach is its practicality, making the material not only understandable, but applicable to exploring the self and systems in place in the world.