Why Helping the Victims of Disasters Makes Me a Better Person: Towards an Anthropological Theory of Humanitarian Action

• Authors: Eleni M. Kalokairinou
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In this paper I examine which is the most appropriate moral theory for dealing with disaster bioethics contexts. It is pointed out that, contrary to what is usually believed, moral theories of right action cannot actually guide us in such difficult situations. Instead, it is claimed that a virtue ethics theory of an Aristotelian version, which gives emphasis not only on the virtuous person but also on the relevant developmental process of becoming virtuous, can provide us with the right theoretical framework for coping with the problems which the victims of such disastrous situations face.

Keywords

EN

theories of right action; virtue ethics; Aristotle; Julia Annas; disposition

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Human Affairs
• Year: 2015
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 26-33

Dates

published

2016-01-01

online

2015-12-30

Contributors

author

Eleni M. Kalokairinou

• Department of Philosophy and Education, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54 124 Thessaloniki Greece

References

• Annas, J. (2004). Being virtuous and doing the right thing. Proceedings and addresses of the American Philosophical Association, 78(2), 61-75.
• Annas, J. (2015). Applying virtue to ethics (Society of Applied Philosophy Annual Lecture 2014). Journal of Applied Philosophy, 32(1), 1-14.
• Aristotle. (1990). Nicomachean Ethics. (H. Rackham, Trans.). Cambridge: Massachusetts, London: The Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press.
• Hare, R. M. (1952). The language of morals. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Kalokairinou, E. (2007). «Επίμετρο. Η επίδραση της αρχαίας ελληνικής σκέψης στη σύγχρονη Βιοηθική». In M. G. Kuczewski & Roland Polansky (Eds.), Βιοηθική: Αρχαία Θέματα σε σύγχρονους προβληματισμούς, translation in Greek by M. Katsimitses, editing of the Greek translation and Epimetron by Eleni Kalokairinou. Athens: Travlos. [In M.G. Kuczewski & Roland Polansky (Eds.), (2000). Bioethics: Ancient themes in contemporary issues. A Bradford Book, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London: Massachusetts Institute of Technology].
• O’ Mathuna, D., Gordijn, B., & Clarke, M. (Eds.). (2014). Disaster bioethics: Normative issues when nothing is normal. Dordrecht: Springer.

Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/humaff-2016-0004