Daniel C Russell
Biographic Data
| ID | 3874977 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Daniel C Russell |
| GIVEN NAMES | Daniel C |
| FAMILY NAME | Russell |
| SIGNATURE | RUSSELL D C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Wichita State University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 51 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1990 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Phronesis and the Virtues ( NE vi 12–13)
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What virtue ethics can learn from utilitarianism
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The Cambridge Companion to Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism, the approach to ethics based on the maximization of overall well-being, continues to have great traction in moral philosophy and political thought. This Companion offers a systematic exploration of its history, themes, and applications. First, it traces the origins and development of utilitarianism via the work of Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Henry Sidgwick, and others. The volume then explores issues in the formulation of ut…
The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is the first and arguably most important treatise on ethics in Western philosophy. It remains to this day a compelling reflection on the best sort of human life and continues to inspire contemporary thought and debate. This Cambridge Companion includes twenty essays by leading scholars of Aristotle and ancient philosophy that cover the major issues of this text. The essays in this volume shed light on Aristotle's ri…
Virtue, Skill and Intelligence: Julia Annas's Intelligent Virtue
Journal Article Virtue, Skill and Intelligence: Julia Annas's Intelligent Virtue Get access Intelligent Virtue. By Annas Julia. (Oxford: OUP, 2011. Pp. x + 189. Price £49 cloth, £21 paper.) Daniel C. Russell Daniel C. Russell University of Arizona, USA; University of Melbourne, Australia E-mail: [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 64, Issue 255, …
The Cambridge Companion to Virtue Ethics
Virtue ethics has emerged from a rich history, in which both Aristotle and Aquinas have played an important role, to become one of the fastest-growing fields in contemporary ethics. In this volume of newly commissioned essays, leading moral philosophers offer a comprehensive overview of virtue ethics. They examine the theoretical structure of virtue ethics and its place in contemporary moral theory and other topics discussed include the history o…
Cambridge Companion to Virtue Ethics
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII
Situations and Dispositions: Examining the Evidence
This chapter examines a body of social-psychological experiments that appear to give evidence against dispositionist accounts of personality and in favor of the importance of situation construal for behavior — a central situationist claim. The interpretation of this evidence has been the subject of enormous recent philosophical controversy. Consequently, the chapter begins by examining the methodology behind these experiments. It then reviews a s…
From Situationism to Virtue Theory
This chapter turns from social psychology to philosophical psychology, arguing that the positive account of personality suggested by situationism is one that virtue theory can naturally embrace, provided that virtues are forms of responsiveness to reasons. It begins by further defending the empirical adequacy of such a personality theory, which some philosophical psychologists have ignored, played down, or explicitly rejected. The rest of the cha…
Right Action and ‘The Virtuous Person’
People often describe virtue ethics as holding that an action is right if and only if it is what an agent with a virtuous character would do in the circumstances. Nonetheless, virtue ethicists in recent years have increasingly retreated from ideas about what “the virtuous person” would do, viewing such ideas as too abstract and idealized to be of much real use. This chapter explores these objections, and particularly Christine Swanton's virtue et…
Phronesis and the Unity of the Virtues
The thesis that the virtues form a unity — in particular, that to have any virtue is to have them all — has struck many as hopelessly ambitious: isn't it obvious that people have some virtues and even the phronesis that goes with them, while nonetheless lacking other virtues? This chapter first considers whether the virtues conflict and whether the development of different virtues may be zero-sum, defending a negative answer in each case. It then…
Practical Intelligence and the Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach
This chapter sets forth the main aim of the book, viz. to argue that virtue ethics cannot survive without the thesis that phronesis, much as Aristotle conceived of it, is a crucial part of all the virtues, and that this thesis is defensible and attractive. It examines Aristotle's account of deliberation and phronesis in some detail. The chapter concludes by summarizing some of the main contemporary controversies surrounding the view that phronesi…
Responsibility for Character
Phronesis involves self-construction that is responsive to reasons, so the question arises whether and how far humans are capable of self-construction. This chapter considers that question with respect in particular to the possibility of being responsible for one's character. It begins by contrasting compatibilist and incompatibilist views of responsibility for character, and then rejects the common incompatibilist view that genuine responsibilit…
Right Action for Virtue Ethics
This chapter explores the basic shape of virtue ethical approaches to right action and develops a framework for assessing them for adequacy without begging any questions against them. It focuses on two main issues: whether we should take seriously the idea that the virtues have anything to do with rightness, and the role of consequences and outcomes in a virtue ethical theory of action. It also develops an account of what conditions are necessary…
Individuating the Virtues
This chapter proposes resolving the enumeration problem (explained in Chapter 5) by sorting the virtues into a structure of “cardinal” and “subordinate” virtues, and it examines three main issues in support of such an approach. First, the chapter considers various criteria for individuating virtues, and defends the view that virtues are individuated by the kinds of reasons to which the virtues are responsive. Second, since such a criterion relies…
The Enumeration Problem
This chapter articulates a problem that virtue ethicists and their critics alike have almost entirely ignored, but which if unresolved would jeopardize the very possibility of virtue ethics. This problem stems from the conjunction of a necessary feature of virtue ethics and a commonplace one. The necessary feature is that virtue ethics understands right actions and virtuous persons in terms of the virtues, in the plural; and the commonplace is th…
Situations and Broad‐Based Dispositions
Philosophical psychologists have told us that “situationism” is bad news for virtue ethics and virtue theory more generally. Situationism is a research paradigm in social psychology that holds that situational variables have an impact on behavior that tells against disposition-based explanations of behavior. Some philosophical psychologists have argued that since there is little evidence for psychological dispositions, and since virtue theory as …
Magnificence, Generosity, and Subordination
Aristotle's introduction of “magnificence” — a virtue concerned with large-scale public spending — into his list of virtues raises a question pertinent to the enumeration problem: given the lack of cardinality in Aristotle's list, what principle if any could be given for recognizing magnificence as a primitive virtue, without also paving the way for infinitely many other primitive virtues? This chapter argues that, in light of the enumeration pro…
Right Action and Virtuous Motives
In his recent book Morals from Motives, Michael Slote defends what he calls “agent-based virtue ethics”. This view consists of two theses: one about the nature of rightness and one about the nature of virtuousness. The thesis about rightness is that a right action is right solely on account of the virtuous motivations that produced it. The thesis about virtuousness is that, on the one hand, actions become virtuous only on account of the virtuousn…
Colloquium 3: Happiness and Agency in the Stoics and Aristotle
Practical Intelligence and the Virtues
One of the most important developments in modern moral philosophy is the resurgence of interest in the virtues. This book explores two important hopes for such an approach to moral thought: that starting from the virtues should cast light on what makes an action right, and that notions like character, virtue, and vice should yield a plausible picture of human psychology. The book argues that the key to each of these hopes is an understanding of t…
Book and Text in France, 1400-1600: Poetry on the Page . Adrian Armstrong , Malcolm Quainton
Plato on Pleasure and the Good Life
This book examines Plato's subtle and insightful analysis of pleasure and explores its intimate connections with his discussions of value and human psychology. The book offers a fresh perspective on how good things bear on happiness in Plato's ethics, and shows that for Plato, pleasure cannot determine happiness because pleasure lacks a direction of its own. Plato presents wisdom as a skill of living that determines happiness by directing one's l…
Virtue as "Likeness to God" in Plato and Seneca
Virtue as "Likeness to God" in Plato and Seneca Daniel C. Russell (bio) In The Center Of Raphael's Famous Painting "The School of Athens," Plato stands pointing to the heavens, and Aristotle stands pointing to the ground; there stand, that is, the mystical Plato and the down-to-earth Aristotle. Although it oversimplifies, this depiction makes sense for the same reason that Aristotle continues to enjoy a presence in modern moral philosophy that Pl…
Practical Intelligence and the Virtues
One of the most important developments in modern moral philosophy is the resurgence of interest in the virtues. This book explores two important hopes for such an approach to moral thought: that starting from the virtues should cast light on what makes an action right, and that notions like character, virtue, and vice should yield a plausible picture of human psychology. The book argues that the key to each of these hopes is an understanding of t…
Emblème et mentalité symbolique
The emblem is the most prominent symptom of a symbolic mentality that characterises the period between the late Middle Ages and the coming of Romanticism in the middle of the eighteenth century ; it is a transitional form between late medieval allegory and the Romantic metaphor, and this form was shaped by the techniques and possibilities of the new print culture in sixteenth-century Europe. The process by which emblematic images are created enta…
Aristotle on Rights and Natural Justice
Socrates, Pleasure, and Value
Protagoras and Socrates on Courage and Pleasure: Protagoras 349d ad finem
Epicurus and Lucretius on Saving Agency
Virtue as "Likeness to God" in Plato and Seneca
Virtue as "Likeness to God" in Plato and Seneca Daniel C. Russell (bio) In The Center Of Raphael's Famous Painting "The School of Athens," Plato stands pointing to the heavens, and Aristotle stands pointing to the ground; there stand, that is, the mystical Plato and the down-to-earth Aristotle. Although it oversimplifies, this depiction makes sense for the same reason that Aristotle continues to enjoy a presence in modern moral philosophy that Pl…
Plato on Pleasure and the Good Life
This book examines Plato's subtle and insightful analysis of pleasure and explores its intimate connections with his discussions of value and human psychology. The book offers a fresh perspective on how good things bear on happiness in Plato's ethics, and shows that for Plato, pleasure cannot determine happiness because pleasure lacks a direction of its own. Plato presents wisdom as a skill of living that determines happiness by directing one's l…
Book and Text in France, 1400-1600: Poetry on the Page . Adrian Armstrong , Malcolm Quainton
Situations and Dispositions: Examining the Evidence
This chapter examines a body of social-psychological experiments that appear to give evidence against dispositionist accounts of personality and in favor of the importance of situation construal for behavior — a central situationist claim. The interpretation of this evidence has been the subject of enormous recent philosophical controversy. Consequently, the chapter begins by examining the methodology behind these experiments. It then reviews a s…
From Situationism to Virtue Theory
This chapter turns from social psychology to philosophical psychology, arguing that the positive account of personality suggested by situationism is one that virtue theory can naturally embrace, provided that virtues are forms of responsiveness to reasons. It begins by further defending the empirical adequacy of such a personality theory, which some philosophical psychologists have ignored, played down, or explicitly rejected. The rest of the cha…
Right Action and ‘The Virtuous Person’
People often describe virtue ethics as holding that an action is right if and only if it is what an agent with a virtuous character would do in the circumstances. Nonetheless, virtue ethicists in recent years have increasingly retreated from ideas about what “the virtuous person” would do, viewing such ideas as too abstract and idealized to be of much real use. This chapter explores these objections, and particularly Christine Swanton's virtue et…
Phronesis and the Unity of the Virtues
The thesis that the virtues form a unity — in particular, that to have any virtue is to have them all — has struck many as hopelessly ambitious: isn't it obvious that people have some virtues and even the phronesis that goes with them, while nonetheless lacking other virtues? This chapter first considers whether the virtues conflict and whether the development of different virtues may be zero-sum, defending a negative answer in each case. It then…
Practical Intelligence and the Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach
This chapter sets forth the main aim of the book, viz. to argue that virtue ethics cannot survive without the thesis that phronesis, much as Aristotle conceived of it, is a crucial part of all the virtues, and that this thesis is defensible and attractive. It examines Aristotle's account of deliberation and phronesis in some detail. The chapter concludes by summarizing some of the main contemporary controversies surrounding the view that phronesi…
Responsibility for Character
Phronesis involves self-construction that is responsive to reasons, so the question arises whether and how far humans are capable of self-construction. This chapter considers that question with respect in particular to the possibility of being responsible for one's character. It begins by contrasting compatibilist and incompatibilist views of responsibility for character, and then rejects the common incompatibilist view that genuine responsibilit…
Right Action for Virtue Ethics
This chapter explores the basic shape of virtue ethical approaches to right action and develops a framework for assessing them for adequacy without begging any questions against them. It focuses on two main issues: whether we should take seriously the idea that the virtues have anything to do with rightness, and the role of consequences and outcomes in a virtue ethical theory of action. It also develops an account of what conditions are necessary…
Individuating the Virtues
This chapter proposes resolving the enumeration problem (explained in Chapter 5) by sorting the virtues into a structure of “cardinal” and “subordinate” virtues, and it examines three main issues in support of such an approach. First, the chapter considers various criteria for individuating virtues, and defends the view that virtues are individuated by the kinds of reasons to which the virtues are responsive. Second, since such a criterion relies…
The Enumeration Problem
This chapter articulates a problem that virtue ethicists and their critics alike have almost entirely ignored, but which if unresolved would jeopardize the very possibility of virtue ethics. This problem stems from the conjunction of a necessary feature of virtue ethics and a commonplace one. The necessary feature is that virtue ethics understands right actions and virtuous persons in terms of the virtues, in the plural; and the commonplace is th…
Situations and Broad‐Based Dispositions
Philosophical psychologists have told us that “situationism” is bad news for virtue ethics and virtue theory more generally. Situationism is a research paradigm in social psychology that holds that situational variables have an impact on behavior that tells against disposition-based explanations of behavior. Some philosophical psychologists have argued that since there is little evidence for psychological dispositions, and since virtue theory as …
Magnificence, Generosity, and Subordination
Aristotle's introduction of “magnificence” — a virtue concerned with large-scale public spending — into his list of virtues raises a question pertinent to the enumeration problem: given the lack of cardinality in Aristotle's list, what principle if any could be given for recognizing magnificence as a primitive virtue, without also paving the way for infinitely many other primitive virtues? This chapter argues that, in light of the enumeration pro…
Right Action and Virtuous Motives
In his recent book Morals from Motives, Michael Slote defends what he calls “agent-based virtue ethics”. This view consists of two theses: one about the nature of rightness and one about the nature of virtuousness. The thesis about rightness is that a right action is right solely on account of the virtuous motivations that produced it. The thesis about virtuousness is that, on the one hand, actions become virtuous only on account of the virtuousn…
Colloquium 3: Happiness and Agency in the Stoics and Aristotle
Practical Intelligence and the Virtues
One of the most important developments in modern moral philosophy is the resurgence of interest in the virtues. This book explores two important hopes for such an approach to moral thought: that starting from the virtues should cast light on what makes an action right, and that notions like character, virtue, and vice should yield a plausible picture of human psychology. The book argues that the key to each of these hopes is an understanding of t…
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII
The Cambridge Companion to Virtue Ethics
Virtue ethics has emerged from a rich history, in which both Aristotle and Aquinas have played an important role, to become one of the fastest-growing fields in contemporary ethics. In this volume of newly commissioned essays, leading moral philosophers offer a comprehensive overview of virtue ethics. They examine the theoretical structure of virtue ethics and its place in contemporary moral theory and other topics discussed include the history o…
Cambridge Companion to Virtue Ethics
Philosophy (27 works) · Epistemology (26 works) · Philosophical Ethics and Theory (20 works) · Virtue (17 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Free Will and Agency (14 works) · Classical Philosophy and Thought (10 works) · Psychology (10 works) · Virtue ethics (10 works) · Environmental ethics (8 works)