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The Virtues

A Very Short Introduction

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About this listen

From the philosophy of Aristotle and Confucius, to Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae, to the paintings of Raphael, Botticelli, and many more, fascination with the virtues has endured and evolved to fit a wide range of cultural, religious, and philosophical contexts through the centuries.

This Very Short Introduction audiobook introduces listeners to the various virtues: the moral virtues, the intellectual virtues, and the theological virtues, as well as the capital vices. It explores the role of the virtues in moral life, their cultivation, and how they offer ways of thinking and acting that are alternatives to mere rule-following. It also considers the relationship of the virtues to our own emotions, desires, and rational capacities.

©2021 Craig A. Boyd and Kevin Timpe (P)2021 Tantor Ethics & Morality History Philosophy Metaphysical
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Most relevant
As above… very comprehensive … especially the first chapter and conclusion… the comparative analysis with Nietzsche… very helpful, too

… a very comprehensive treatment of the subject

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I enjoyed the whole of this book. It draws together the virtues from Western antiquity, as well as from other cultures including China and the Islamic World, and explores them all in some detail. As a teacher of philosophy, and a fan of Aristotelian Virtue Theory, I appreciated the many references to later Western thinkers, such as Nietzsche and J. S. Mill, as it helped me to make links that I hadn’t thought of previously. Some basic grounding in philosophy is helpful here, but the prose style remains engaging and accessible, so I’m confident that anyone with an interest in Ethics or questions about ‘How to live’ would enjoy this book.

Excellent overview of the virtues

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