Virtue cannot be the ultimate good

[image: statue of Virtue at the Library of Celsus in Ephesus, photo by the Author]

Virtue ethics is, arguably, the most effective general framework for moral decision making. This is because it isn’t in the business of providing universal rules of behavior, since the real world is too complicated for that. And, perhaps most importantly, it doesn’t focus on judging actions (is X moral?) But rather on the ethical self-improvement of the moral agent (am I acting virtuously?).