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122Virtue Ethics vs. Rule-Consequentialism: A Reply to Brad Hooker: Rosalind HursthouseUtilitas 14 (1): 41-53. 2002.In On Virtue Ethics I offered a criterion for a character trait's being a virtue according to which a virtuous character trait must conduce to, or at least not be inimical to, four ends, one of which is the continuance of the human species. I argue here that this does not commit me to homosexuality's being a vice, since homosexuality is not a character trait and hence not up for assessment as a virtue or a vice. Vegetarianism is not up for such assessment either, for the same reason, but, as a p…Read more
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95Fallacies and moral dilemmasArgumentation 9 (4): 617-632. 1995.The continuing debate between utilitarians and deontologists often takes the form of disagreement over how particular moral dilemmas are to be resolved, but protagonists on both sides tend to overlook the possibility of resolving a dilemma “with remainder”, such as regret. The importance of “remainder” is also overlooked by critics of some “absolutist” ways of resolving or slipping between the horns of certain moral dilemmas. Moreover, deontologists, if not utilitarians, can be criticised for ov…Read more
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26Applying virtue ethicsIn Rosalind Hursthouse, Gavin Lawrence & Warren Quinn (eds.), Virtues and Reasons: Philippa Foot and Moral Theory: Essays in Honour of Philippa Foot, Clarendon Press. pp. 57--75. 1995.
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24Two Ways of Doing the Right ThingIn Colin Patrick Farrelly & Lawrence Solum (eds.), Virtue jurisprudence, Palgrave-macmillan. 2008.
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37The Uses and Abuses of Argument.Introduction to Philosophy.Key Concepts.Work, Morality and Human NaturePhilosophical Quarterly 31 (123): 184-187. 1981.
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230Intention (review)Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 46 83-. 2000.When I first read Intention as a student it seemed misnamed, since, I thought, it gave an account of intentional action all right, but left me still wondering what an intention was. It was only with years of rereading that I came to see that one beauty of the account was that it eliminated the need to ask.
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57Doctor‐assisted suicide: a commentary on LesserJournal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 16 (2): 335-336. 2010.
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1213Virtue Theory and AbortionPhilosophy and Public Affairs 20 (3): 223-246. 1991.The sort of ethical theory derived from Aristotle, variously described as virtue ethics, virtue-based ethics, or neo-Aristotelianism, is becoming better known, and is now quite widely recognized as at least a possible rival to deontological and utilitarian theories. With recognition has come criticism, of varying quality. In this article I shall discuss nine separate criticisms that I have frequently encountered, most of which seem to me to betray an inadequate grasp either of the structure of v…Read more
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178The central doctrine of the meanIn Richard Kraut (ed.), The Blackwell Guide to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Wiley-blackwell. pp. 96--115. 2006.The prelims comprise: The Doctrine of the Mean outside Aristotle's Ethical Works The “Mean” in Action and Feeling The Central Doctrine of the Mean Virtue as a Mean Disposition and the Moral Education of the Passions Acknowledgments References Further reading.
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37Menschliche Natur und aristotelische TugendethikIn Martin Hähnel & Markus Rothhaar (eds.), Normativität des Lebens - Normativität der Vernunft?, De Gruyter. pp. 13-36. 2015.
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212Are virtues the proper starting point for morality?In James Lawrence Dreier (ed.), Contemporary Debates in Moral Theory, Wiley-blackwell. pp. 99--112. 2006.
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285Virtue Ethics and Human NatureHume Studies 25 (1): 67-82. 1999.In this paper, I begin by outlining some basic features of the version of virtue ethics I espouse, and then turn to exploring what light may be shed on our understanding and interpretation of Hume when he is viewed from that perspective.
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567Arational actionsJournal of Philosophy 88 (2): 57-68. 1991.According to the standard account of actions and their explanations, intentional actions are actions done because the agent has a certain desire/belief pair that explains the action by rationalizing it. Any explanation of intentional action in terms of an appetite or occurrent emotion is hence assumed to be elliptical, implicitly appealing to some appropriate belief. In this paper, I challenge this assumption with respect to the " arational " actions of my title---a significant subset of the set…Read more
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268Practical wisdom: A mundane accountProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 106 (3). 2006.The prevailing accounts of Aristotle's view of practical wisdom pay little attention to all the intellectual capacities discussed in Nicomachean Ethics Book 6. They also contrast the phronimos with the wicked, the continent or the incontinent, rather than with those who have 'natural virtue' (innate or habituated), and thereby they neglect the importance of experience, through which those capacities are acquired. When we consider them, we can see what sort of experience is needed and hence what …Read more
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90IV*—A False Doctrine of the MeanProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 81 (1): 57-72. 1981.Rosalind Hursthouse; IV*—A False Doctrine of the Mean, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 81, Issue 1, 1 June 1981, Pages 57–72, https://doi.org/10.
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72Ethics, Humans and Other Animals: An Introduction with ReadingsRoutledge. 2000.This introductory textbook is ideally suited to newcomers to philosophy and ethical problems. Rosalind Hursthouse carefully introduces the three standard approaches in current ethical theory: utilitarianism, rights, and virtue ethics. She links each chapter to readings from key exponents such as Peter Singer and Mary Midgley and asks students to think critically about these readings for themselves. Key features include clear activities and activities, chapter summaries and guides to further read…Read more
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44The Logic of Decision and Action (review)Philosophical Books 10 (1): 24-26. 1969.The bulk of this book is made up of four substantial papers, originally presented at a conference in 1966, followed by comments from fellow-symposiasts. Three of the papers are formal and/or technical; the fourth is an excellent piece of analysis by Donald Davidson followed by illuminating remarks from the late E. J. Lemmon.
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220On Virtue EthicsOxford University Press. 1999.Virtue ethics is perhaps the most important development within late twentieth-century moral philosophy. Rosalind Hursthouse, who has made notable contributions to this development, here presents a full exposition and defense of her neo-Aristotelian version of virtue ethics. She shows how virtue ethics can provide guidance for action, illuminate moral dilemmas, and bring out the moral significance of the emotions
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375Human Nature and Aristotelian Virtue EthicsRoyal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 70 169-188. 2012.Given that it relies on claims about human nature, has Aristotelian virtue ethics been undermined by evolutionary biology? There are at least four objections which are offered in support of the claim that this is so, and I argue that they all fail. The first two maintain that contemporary AVE relies on a concept of human nature which evolutionary biology has undercut and I show this is not so. In Part 2, I try to make it clear that Foot's Aristotelian ethical naturalism, often construed as purpo…Read more
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288Virtue Ethics and the Treatment of AnimalsIn Beauchamp Tom & Frey R. G. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics,, Oxford University Press. 2011.
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Action |
Applied Ethics |
Normative Ethics |
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Action |
Normative Ethics |