Virtue ethics: in pursuit of excellence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1679-9836.v99i6p591-600Keywords:
Virtue – Virtue ethics – Bioethics – Edmund PellegrinoAbstract
Virtue ethics is the oldest model of moral philosophy, but since the Renaissance it has been relegated to second place with the emergence of the Kantian duty-based ethics and the consequentialism of Bentham and Mill. In the context of healthcare, ethical theories centered on virtue and character continued to be prevalent until the 1970s, when bioethics emerged as a new area of knowledge that seeks to reflect on the ethical implications resulting from scientific and technological advances on human and animal life, and on the environment. There was a paradigm shift in healthcare ethics, from a model based on virtue and on the inviolability of human life, expressed in the Hippocratic Oath, to a model based on the autonomy and quality of life of the patient, to which contributed the principlism of Beauchamp and Childress and the growing influence of utilitarianism in the ethics committees. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest on virtue-based ethics due to the contribution of thinkers such as Elizabeth Anscombe, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Edmund D. Pellegrino. A review on virtue ethics was carried out from the works of Edmund D. Pellegrino and David C. Thomasma, pioneers of bioethics and the main promoters of virtue ethics in clinical practice, as well as after research on the subject in the NCBI/PubMed (National Center for Biotechnology Information) and SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online) databases. After a presentation of the history of the philosophical concept of virtue and the most representative aspects of virtue ethics, eight virtues particularly relevant to clinical practice are emphasized: fidelity to promise, compassion, prudence, justice, courage, moderation, integrity, and altruism. These and other virtues are, in our opinion, essential for a more humane healthcare that considers the patient’s good and will contribute to counterbalance the hegemony of principlism and ethical theories that devalue the central role of the agent in the current bioethical debate.
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