Virtue - Philosophy Bites podcast review

Even though the podcast episodes of Philosophy Bites are concise and accessible, also to the not-so-well-versed in philosophy, the issues stay untouched in my playlist for a long time. Still, the podcast is for the discerning and need to be enjoyed with attention and interest. Hence it could happen that I got around listening to the issue about virtue, only a month after publication.

My favorite line about virtue is actually about vice and it comes from Rochefoucauld: L'hypocrisie est un hommage que le vice rend a la vertu (Hypocrisy is the homage which vice pays to virtue). It goes to show that in world of vices, there is still room for virtue, even if that is with the help of hypocrisy. That still leaves open the meaning of virtue. I was not aware of the role of virtue in philosophy until the podcast of Philosophy Bites.

It turns out, virtue is an important concept in the realm of moral philosophy. I was aware of the divide between consequentialism and ontologists. Which puts me on the level hosts Nigel Warburton and David Edmonds call the postage stamp philosophy, in other words: the over-simplified summary of philosophy for the average student. In this chapter virtue is introduced as yet another pointer for ethics, apart from consequences and a priori moral obligations. Close listening is advised as per normal.

More Philosophy Bites
Nietzsche,
Kierkegaard,
Machiavelli,
Rousseau,
Life on the Scales.