Before Virtue

Jonathan J. Sanford is Provost, University of Dallas.

“[Jonathan Sanford] has offered a clear account of what contemporary virtue ethics is and of the distance between it and what both Anscombe and Aristotle envisioned. Anscombeans and Aristotelians alike will profit greatly from it.”—American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly“Happily, this book does not simply rehearse the standard narrative usually told about virtue ethics. By giving a more sophisticated account of the range of positions that claim this name, Jonathan Sanford provides a critical assessment of the surprisingly diverse approaches that have been offered as virtue ethics and thereby significantly advances our understanding of the recent history of ethics.”—International Philosophical Quarterly“Sanford indicts contemporary virtue ethics on the grounds that it is not a full-blooded descendant of Aristotelian ethics, which is a compelling alternative to contemporary virtue ethics and all modern moral philosophy. Before Virtue is a helpful map, one that could serve as a guide to those currently working in the field, especially since Sanford lays out what steps must be taken next in order to vindicate a viable virtue theory.”—Public Discourse“An admirable, exceedingly detailed tour de force of the contemporary virtue ethics movement; its criticisms of the conventional and even unconventional wings of the movement as well as its serious reflection on Aristotle’s ethical claims are especially well supported and argued.”—Review of Metaphysics“Sanford’s book is of enormous value to proponents of traditional Aristotelian and Thomistic accounts of morality. He offers an insightful and accurate narrative of the rise of contemporary virtue ethics. Perhaps his greatest contribution is the way he substantiates his thesis about this movement’s failure to break out of the shackles of modern moral philosophy by his careful delineation of its many varieties through reliance on its most prominent exponents.”—The Thomist