Abstract
Abstract The emergence of contemporary forms of virtue ethics in recent decades has challenged familiar Kantian and Utilitarian ethical theories, and its emphasis on moral psychology and human flourishing has led to many innovations in ethical theory. This philosophical work on virtue ethics has led to a corresponding development of virtue ethics approaches to bioethics, in ways which are independent of Kantian and Utilitarian approaches. In this article I outline key distinctive features of virtue ethics, briefly explaining its origins in Aristotle's ethics. I then indicate how virtue ethics has been illuminatingly applied to several issues in bioethics, such as abortion, prebirth testing, euthanasia, and health care practice. I also sketch how virtue ethics might be plausibly extended to the formulation of policy governing the practice of health care.
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