Diotima: The Marist Undergraduate Philosophy Journal
their decisions and by pressuring industries to better disclose emission information (and likely decrease the carbon intensity of products). Another likely criticism is that a virtue-ethical approach is susceptible to moral luck. Following Aristotle’s contention that virtue ethics is relational, and that individuals learn virtuous traits from friends, communities, and education, then which influences an individual is exposed to will influence their ability to cultivate virtuous habits. 26 A critic would likely point to a child “X” growing up in a community without compassionate role models or that does not recognize the legitimacy of the climate crisis. They could argue that this child would have a more difficult time embracing the virtue of compassion and deriving from it a preference to avoid emitting GHGs. However, the impact of moral luck as it relates to climate change is exaggerated. Increasing climate literacy mitigates the likelihood that individuals equipped with virtues of justice and compassion cannot imagine the negative impact of their individual GHG emissions. Additionally, because shaping virtuous habits and dispositions requires consistent dedication over a lifetime, a “distanced traveled” standard is appropriate when assessing if an individual is acting virtuously with respect to their individual GHG emissions. For example, if over the course of their lifetime child X moves from a low to moderate degree of aversion to unnecessary GHG emissions, while child Y moves from moderate to high degree of aversion, both outcomes are equally laudable. By refining their virtues of justice and compassion, both individuals have “traveled equal distance” in terms of their aversion to emitting GHGs. In the fight against climate change, these outcomes are
26 Athanassoulis, “Virtue Ethics,” IEP.
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