Virtue: From Plato to White

Laurisse Sossah, PhD Candidate

Abstract

Introduction

The world is falling apart. from the global warning to the conflict between nations, the degradation of the earth has always been a great issue because it is so obvious. However, what seems to bring more interest is the nature of man. Is the man good or bad? What does it take to make a good man? What are the characteristics of a good man? So many questions can be asked in relation to the values that need to be passed from generation to generation. In this, virtues are proposed as part of the solution. The field of education and its philosophers has been greatly influenced very early by questions related to virtue. The literature has been offering a great range of terms (or group of terms) to label the important values in our society. One of the terms dominant in late 1950s was virtue ethics. Its emergence during the fifties was due to dissatisfaction from Deontology and Utilitarianism, previous basic theories and their variants that had long been dominating modern moral philosophy (Anscombe, 1958).