Reconsidering Virtue: Differences of Perspective in Virtue Ethics and the Positive Social Sciences

David Bright (), Bradley Winn () and Jason Kanov ()

Journal of Business Ethics, 2014, vol. 119, issue 4, 445-460

Abstract: This paper describes differences in two perspectives on the idea of virtue as a theoretical foundation for positive organizational ethics (POE). The virtue ethics perspective is grounded in the philosophical tradition, has classical roots, and focuses attention on virtue as a property of character. The positive social science perspective is a recent movement (e.g., positive psychology and positive organizational scholarship) that has implications for POE. The positive social science movement operationalizes virtue through an empirical lens that emphasizes virtuous behaviors. From a virtue ethics perspective, a behaviorally based account of virtue is a weak theory of virtue. Observations are suggested for integrating the two perspectives. First, virtue should always be understood as an excellence and is often an optimal point between extreme dysfunctions on continuum of potential states. Second, an empirical exploration of virtue needs to account for character and context. Finally, the properties of organization-level virtue need to be further specified and explored. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Keywords: Positive organizational ethics; Positive psychology; Positive organizational scholarship; Organizational virtuousness; Positive social science; Virtue; Virtues; Virtue ethics; Organizational virtue; Virtue theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (29)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1832-x

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