Virtue Ethics
The last of the three ethical theories which we will examine is virtue ethics. This ethical framework emphasises the virtues, or character, of the individual as opposed to focusing on their actions.
In the previous ethical frameworks, a justification for helping someone may come in the form of a rule, as in deontology, or focus on the consequences of the action, as in consequential ethics. Virtue ethics in contrast would say that an individual should have a benevolent character and with this they will tend towards helping people. The more we experience in life and are faced with ethical dilemmas the more we habituate to tending towards the morally right action. Aristotle, claimed that by being a virtuous person and acting in accordance with reason individuals will flourish (which he refers to a ‘eudaimonia’).
The question is - what are the characteristics or virtues that we should adopt? Aristotle claims that virtuous characteristics lie between extremes. For example, on one hand we have recklessness and on the other we have cowardliness. The mean between these two extreme characteristics is courage which is a virtuous characteristic. This is known as the Golden Mean.
This form of ethical framework often guides which professional values we as healthcare professionals should adopt. These include values, or virtues, such as altruism, beneficence, non-maleficence, fidelity, candour and continued professional development to mention just a few. This we can trace back all the way back to Ancient Greece and to the Hippocratic Oath which is the first example we have of a formalised ethical code for those practicing medicine.
Another example of this at work is the Physicians charter:
“To maintain the fidelity of medicine’s social contract during this turbulent time, we believe that physicians must reaffirm their active dedication to the principles of professionalism, which entails not only their personal commitment to the welfare of their patients but also collective efforts to improve the health care system for the welfare of society. This Charter on Medical Professionalism is intended to encourage such dedication and to promote an action agenda for the profession of medicine that is universal in scope and purpose.”
Welie, 2004:
“[A profession is a] collective of expert service providers who have jointly and publicly committed to always give priority to the existential needs and interests of the public they serve above their own and who in turn are trusted by the public to do so.”
Nath et al., 2005:
“Higher professionalism may be defined as a service that transcends self-interest and manifests when the task is poorly defined, solutions are not available or affordable and rendering service is not in one’s own best financial, social, or physical interest.”
Within Dentistry the University of Cardiff, in association with the GDC, carried out research into the contemporary landscape of dental professionalism which you can find in the link below.
You can also find a summary of their findings in the video below:
For a summary of virtue ethics check out the video links below:
For more information on virtue ethics follow the links below: