Synonyms
Introduction
Discussions about the ethics of food and agriculture are replete with virtue and vice language. In agricultural ethics, it is often claimed that farming promotes good character traits – e.g., self-reliance, fortitude, and patriotism – and that virtues such as diligence, ecological sensitivity, and patience are central to good agricultural practice. In food ethics discussions, it is often claimed that character traits such as temperance and compassion are crucial to healthy and ethical consumption, whereas other character traits, such as gluttony and thoughtlessness, are inimical to them. This entry focuses on what makes character traits agricultural virtues and consumptive virtues, as well as on the role of virtue within agricultural and food ethics.
Section “Character Traits, Virtue, and Virtue Theory” discusses what virtues are and what makes a character trait a virtue....
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Annas, J. (1993). The morality of happiness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Aristotle. (1900). The politics of Aristotle. New York: Colonial Press. Trans. B. Jowett.
Aristotle. (1985). Nicomachean ethics. Indianapolis: Hackett. Trans. T. Irwin.
Berry, W. (1997). The unsettling of America. Berkeley: Sierra Club Books.
Cafaro, P. (2005). Gluttony, arrogance, greed, and apathy: An exploration of environmental vice. In R. Sandler & P. Cafaro (Eds.), Environmental virtue ethics (pp. 197–214). Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.
Foot, P. (2001). Natural goodness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gottlieb, R., & Joshi, A. (2010). Food justice. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Hursthouse, R. (1999). On virtue ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jackson, W. (1985). New roots for agriculture. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Jamieson, D. (2007). When utilitarians should be virtue theorists. Utilitas, 19, 160–183.
Jefferson, T. (1984). Writings. In M. D. Peterson (Ed.), Literary classics of the United States/Library of America. New York.
Petrini, C. (2004). Slow Food: The Case for Taste. New York: Columbia University Press.
Pollan, M. (2007). The omnivore’s dilemma. New York: Penguin.
Sandler, R. (2007). Character and environment. New York: Columbia University Press.
Sandler, R. (2010). Ethical theory and the problem of inconsequentialism: Why environmental ethicists should be virtue oriented ethicists. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 23, 167–183.
Shiva, V. (2000). Stolen harvest: The hijacking of the global food supply. Cambridge: South End Press.
Singer, P. (1975). Animal liberation. New York: The New York Review.
Swanton, C. (2003). Virtue ethics: A pluralistic view. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thompson, P. (2000). Thomas Jefferson and agrarian philosophy. In P. Thompson & T. Hilde (Eds.), The agrarian roots of pragmatism (pp. 118–139). Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
Thompson, P. (2010). The agrarian vision: Sustainability and environmental ethics. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press.
Thoreau, H. D. (1951). Walden. New York: Bramhall House.
Treanor, B. (2010). Environmentalism and public virtue. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 23, 9–28.
Wenz, P. (2005). Synergistic environmental virtues: Consumerism and human flourishing. In R. Sandler & P. Cafaro (Eds.), Environmental virtue ethics (pp. 197–214). Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield. 197–214.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this entry
Cite this entry
Sandler, R. (2013). Virtue Theory, Food, and Agriculture. In: Thompson, P., Kaplan, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_365-2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_365-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6167-4
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities