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    A theory counts as an agent-based form of virtue ethics o... — Carmelics
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    Home/Virtue Ethics
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    A theory counts as an agent-based form of virtue ethics only if the normative properties of motivations and dispositions cannot be explained in terms of something more fundamental (such as eudaimonia or states of affairs).

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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.An agent-based approach must explain what one should do by reference to the motivational and dispositional states of agents.
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    • 2.This condition alone is insufficient to distinguish agent-based virtue ethics, since every virtue ethical account meets it.
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    • 3.A genuinely agent-based theory must treat the normative properties of motivations and dispositions as irreducible — not derivable from eudaimonia, states of affairs, or any other more fundamental normative ground.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.Aristotle's account treats virtuous motivation as both explanatorily basic for action-guidance and as constitutively tied to eudaimonia, without the latter reducing the former.
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    • 2.A theory can hold that motivations and eudaimonia are mutually constitutive rather than ordered by explanatory priority, making the irreducibility criterion rest on a false dichotomy between grounding and co-constitution.
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    • 3.Rosalind Hursthouse's agent-centered eudaimonism demonstrates that normative force can flow bidirectionally between character and flourishing, undermining the claim that derivability from eudaimonia disqualifies a theory from being genuinely agent-based.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.Michael Slote's agent-based sentimentalism grounds normative properties in caring motives, yet Slote himself acknowledges these motives track facts about well-being.
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    • 2.If even the paradigm case of agent-based virtue ethics covertly appeals to welfare facts, the proposed irreducibility criterion excludes the very theories it was designed to classify.
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    Topics

    Virtue Ethics

    Key Terms

    More fundamental(in philosophy)
    More basic or more basic-level in explanation; if X explains Y, then X is more fundamental than Y because it's the deeper reason why Y is true.
    Motivations(in ethics)
    The reasons or desires that drive a person to act in a certain way; what makes someone want to do something.
    Normative properties(in ethics)
    Qualities that tell us what we should do or what makes something good or bad—basically, the evaluative aspects of something rather than just describing how it is.
    Virtue ethics(in philosophy)
    An approach to ethics focused on developing good character traits (virtues like courage or honesty) rather than following rules or calculating outcomes.
    agent-based virtue ethics(Distinguished from other virtue ethical theories that ground normative properties in outcomes or flourishing)
    A form of virtue ethics in which the normative properties of motivations and dispositions are not explained by reference to anything more fundamental (e.g., eudaimonia or states of affairs); what one should do is explained solely by reference to the motivational and dispositional states of agents.
    dispositions(Used broadly by educational researchers)
    The habits of mind and attitudes that contribute causally to being a critical thinker.
    eudaimonia(Aristotle's ethical theory; the broadest sense of the good life)
    Often translated as 'happiness'; for Aristotle, consists in being a virtuous person over a complete life, requiring both virtuous qualities/dispositions and acting on them
    states of affairs(Stumpf's terminology in his contribution to logic)
    The specific content of judgment (belief)

    Related

    A genuinely agent-based theory must treat the normative properties of motivation...A theory can hold that motivations and eudaimonia are mutually constitutive rath...An agent-based approach must explain what one should do by reference to the moti...Aristotle's account treats virtuous motivation as both explanatorily basic for a...
    +4 moreShow less
    If even the paradigm case of agent-based virtue ethics covertly appeals to welfa...

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: ethics-virtue
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    However, there could also be less ambitious agent-based approaches to virtue ethics (see Slote 1997). At the very least, an agent-based approach must be committed to explaining what one should do by reference to the motivational and dispositional states of agents. But this is not yet a sufficient condition for counting as an agent-based approach, since the same condition will be met by every virtue ethical account. For a theory to count as an agent-based form of virtue ethics it must also be the
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Michael Slote's agent-based sentimentalism grounds normative properties in carin...
    Rosalind Hursthouse's agent-centered eudaimonism demonstrates that normative for...
    This condition alone is insufficient to distinguish agent-based virtue ethics, s...

    Similar

    A genuinely agent-based theory must treat the normative properties of ...87%This condition alone is insufficient to distinguish agent-based virtue...87%A virtue ethical theory can be both extensionally and explanatorily ad...82%A virtue ethical account only requires that virtue is not reduced to a...80%
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