Qualified-agent virtue ethics

Abstract

Qualified-agent virtue ethics provides an account of right action in
terms of the virtuous agent. It has become one of the most popular,
but also most frequently criticized versions of virtue ethics. Many of
the objections rest on the mistaken assumption that proponents of
qualified-agent virtue ethics share the same view when it comes to
fundamental questions about the meaning of the term ‘right action’
and the function of an account of right action. My aim in this paper is
not to defend qualified-agent virtue ethics but to correct this misunderstanding, and this will hopefully leave us in a better position to
evaluate it.