Inner Virtue (Oxford Moral Theory)

Inner Virtue (Oxford Moral Theory)

What does it mean to be a morally good person? It can be tempting to think that it is simply a matter of performing certain actions and avoiding others. And yet, there is much more to moral character than our outward actions. We expect a good person to not only behave in certain ways, but also to experience the world in certain ways within. Pleasure, emotion, and attention are important parts of our moral character despite being involuntary inner states. Inner Virtue defends a theory of why and how such states are relevant to moral character: These states say something about what kind of person one is by manifesting our deepest cares and concerns. "This clear, engaging book proposes a manifest care account of inner virtue and vice -- an account explaining when and why inner states such as pleasure, pain, envy, and gratitude make us better or worse people... this book will appeal to non-philosophic and even non-academic audiences; the engaging style and numerous entertaining examples will make it easy and fun for readers to think about various inner virtues and join the search for a general account" -- Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews "Recommended." -- H. Oberdiek, Choice Nicolas Bommarito is a Bersoff Fellow in the philosophy department at NYU and an assistant professor at the University at Buffalo (SUNY).