The Skill of Virtue - Moral Virtues as Practical Skills

The concepts of 'virtue' and 'the virtuous person' despite their prominence incurrent ethical theory are still not well understood. Although the virtuousperson is defined as someone who knows how to act in a morally appropriateway and is reliable in acting accordingly it is usually mysterious how an averageperson could ever achieve such an ideal state. Accounts of virtue haveleft readers with the impression that the virtuous person is an unattainableideal or just psychologically implausible. This book argues that reviving theancient Greek idea that virtues are similar to practical skills can provide amore plausible account of virtue and the virtuous person. The moral knowledgeof the virtuous person is analogous to the practical knowledge of anexpert in a skill. Learning how to be kind or honest turns out to have a lot incommon with learning how to drive or play chess. The research on practicalskills can illuminate the otherwise murky aspects of virtue and so the skillmodel of virtue offers the most promising direction for contemporary virtuetheory. This book is addressed to researchers in both philosophy and moraldevelopment.