Two common doctrines in virtue ethics, eudaimonia and the unity of the virtues, simplify certain virtues that might otherwise prove troublesome. This dissertation is an exploration of what might become of those troublesome virtues in the absence of the doctrines of eudaimonia and the unity of the virtues. First, I review prominent accounts of both doctrines and rehearse objections to each. Second, I offer an account of what virtues could become in the absence of these two doctrines. Third, I turn to the specific, troublesome virtues that eudaimonia and the unity of the virtues artificially simplify, virtues that can stray far from other virtues without sliding into vice. These troublesome virtues, which include modesty, patience, and loyalty, are vexing because they do not require other important virtues and are actually more fully and more excellently realized when certain other virtues are comparatively neglected. I argue that recurring issues in medical ethics â including uncertainty in medical prognosis, lapses in emergent care, avoidable hospital readmissions, doctorâpatient confidentiality, and transplant evaluation â become both more explicable and more navigable when virtues are theorized without reference to eudaimonia or the unity of the virtues.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03172016-155216 |
| Date | 18 March 2016 |
| Creators | Murphy, Alan Christopher |
| Contributors | Larry Churchill, Victor Anderson, Volney Gay, Keith Meador |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03172016-155216/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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