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Virtue Ethics

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Contemporary European Perspectives on the Ethics of End of Life Care

Part of the book series: Philosophy and Medicine ((PHME,volume 136))

Abstract

This chapter provides an account of Virtue Ethics, describing its origins in the philosophy of Aristotle, and tracing the contemporary revival of interest in this ethical theory, assessing both its strengths and weaknesses. The approach is then applied to end of life care, in terms of accounts of the virtuous practitioner, the virtuous patient, and virtue politics. Finally, it is briefly related to three key ethical issues: decisions to discontinue or withhold potentially life-prolonging treatment, the relief of pain and suffering, and the challenge of facing up to one’s own death.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The authoritarian and elitist implications of this approach to ethics have not escaped the attention of subsequent critics of Plato, see especially Popper (2013).

  2. 2.

    This is termed phrónēsis, something that is often translated as wisdom.

  3. 3.

    Similarly, some ATM machines in Singapore have a feminine voice which closes the transaction with the words: It has been a joy serving you!

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Alastair V. Campbell

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  1. Alastair V. Campbell
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Nathan Emmerich

  2. The Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Bioethics Research Programme, University of Malta, Msida, Malta

    Pierre Mallia

  3. The Institute of Ethics, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Bert Gordijn

  4. Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, Neurological Institute, University of L’Aquila, Via Vetoio, L’Aquila, Italy

    Francesca Pistoia

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Campbell, A.V. (2020). Virtue Ethics. In: Emmerich, N., Mallia, P., Gordijn, B., Pistoia, F. (eds) Contemporary European Perspectives on the Ethics of End of Life Care. Philosophy and Medicine, vol 136. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40033-0_4

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