You’re right that rule based ethics can’t generate real altruism, and that virtue ethics does better by rooting it in compassion and moral character. Without honesty and humility as lived virtues, altruism slides into manipulation or shallow compliance. A movement that sacrifices integrity for impact risks hollowing itself out from within.
Still, the dilemmas I raised pandemic messaging, climate framing, AI timelines show that groups need more than individual virtue. They also need decision rules for crises, where outcomes and constraints both matter. The balance, I think, is cultivating virtue as the culture, using deontological side-limits to guard against drift, and applying consequentialist reasoning to act effectively under pressure. That mix is messy, but it keeps us from either rigid legalism or expedient deceit.
You’re right that rule based ethics can’t generate real altruism, and that virtue ethics does better by rooting it in compassion and moral character. Without honesty and humility as lived virtues, altruism slides into manipulation or shallow compliance. A movement that sacrifices integrity for impact risks hollowing itself out from within.
Still, the dilemmas I raised pandemic messaging, climate framing, AI timelines show that groups need more than individual virtue. They also need decision rules for crises, where outcomes and constraints both matter. The balance, I think, is cultivating virtue as the culture, using deontological side-limits to guard against drift, and applying consequentialist reasoning to act effectively under pressure. That mix is messy, but it keeps us from either rigid legalism or expedient deceit.