I quite liked this article by Martha Nussbaum: Virtue Ethics is a Misleading Category. She points out that both the classical utilitarians and Kant talked extensively about virtues. On the other hand, there’s great variation among those who call themselves ‘virtue ethicists’, such that it’s not clear if virtue ethics is really a thing.
But the point I want to make is: a good utilitarian has to acknowledge the role of virtue, and I think a lot of modern utilitarians have forgotten this. We want to use utility-calculation to guide our actions, but humans can’t think like calculators all the time.
I’m not really into deontological constraints myself. Rules of thumb, yes, but they should always be open to revision. Exceptional circumstances can always justify breaking rules—and in those cases, I will refer to what maximizes utility.
I quite liked this article by Martha Nussbaum: Virtue Ethics is a Misleading Category. She points out that both the classical utilitarians and Kant talked extensively about virtues. On the other hand, there’s great variation among those who call themselves ‘virtue ethicists’, such that it’s not clear if virtue ethics is really a thing.
But the point I want to make is: a good utilitarian has to acknowledge the role of virtue, and I think a lot of modern utilitarians have forgotten this. We want to use utility-calculation to guide our actions, but humans can’t think like calculators all the time.
I’m not really into deontological constraints myself. Rules of thumb, yes, but they should always be open to revision. Exceptional circumstances can always justify breaking rules—and in those cases, I will refer to what maximizes utility.