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Chapter 10 Essay Questions
1. How does the approach of virtue ethics differ from that of the moral theories discussed in previous chapters? In what ways is this difference important to how we assess the plausibility of virtue ethics? Do you think the virtue ethical approach is the right one? Defend your answers.
2. What are virtues, and how (according to virtue ethics) do we acquire them? Do you find this story plausible? Do you think it makes sense of who the moral exemplars are, and why they are role models? Defend your answers.
3. Write an essay explaining the priority problem for virtue ethics, illustrating the problem with at least one example. Does this objection succeed in refuting virtue ethics? Why or why not?
4. What does Aristotle mean when he says that “virtue is a kind of mean”? Do you find this claim plausible? Does it help us to understand how to live our lives? Explain and defend your response.
5. Write an essay discussing Aristotle’s conception of virtue. What exactly is a virtue, according to Aristotle? Give an example of a virtue and explain why it is a virtue, in Aristotle's view. Is his account plausible? Why or why not?