4.7 Michele Mangini – Etica delle virtù: appunti di viaggio

The revival of EV takes place on the background of modern moral theories which neglect the agent’s character, the value of emotions and rational deliberation on the good life. In the multifarious number of contributions that have been brought to the new EV by authors well-known also because of other theoretical interests, such as B. Williams and A. MacIntyre, and in the plethora of contributions offered by scholars specialized on the virtues in a variety of contemporary collections we can identify spot out some issues of ancient ethics – already sketched out above – that have been neglected by dominant moral theories of a Kantian and utilitarian brand. However, we should not forget that major utilitarian authors and Kant have not neglected the virtues and specially in the latter we can find a EV which should induce to reflection on how misleading sometimes the contemporary debate can be. It is also noteworthy the importance of virtues in Christian (thomistic) ethics that has much in common with the EV of Aristotelian legacy: it is possible to argue for a common line able to overcome the present divide. Finally, the revival of virtues brought about also a revival of interest in the field of political philosophy with a lively debate between liberal and republican authors.