An article from Make Wealth History:

When it comes to the environment, the consequentialist approach is a poor motivator. We don’t see the benefit of reducing our carbon footprint. When we read about coal power stations or look at the neighbour’s SUV, we might not imagine we’re making any difference at all, and our enthusiasm for green living may evaporate entirely. If we’re relying on the hope of making a difference to motivate us, our aspirations to sustainable living may, ironically, be psychologically unsustainable.

That’s where we need the virtue approach to ethics to motivate us too. Rather than weighing up the costs and benefits, virtue ethics encourages us to live out our identities, our good character. “It’s not that we shouldn’t be spurred on by the hope of making a difference,” says Durrant, “it’s just that our prime motivation needs to be to live out who we are.”

For the full article click here.