virtue-based

virtue-based

 [vir´choo-bāsd] a concept of bioethics that emphasizes the agents who act and make choices. People acting in this manner often do not simply follow rules blindly; they have a moral desire to act the way they do. How one does what one does is as important as what one does. There is some circularity to the logic of virtue ethics, however: the moral, good act is considered to be one done by a virtuous person, and the virtuous person is considered to be one who does moral, good acts. To overcome this difficulty and to avoid moral subjectivism and emotivism, thinkers use principles as groundings for virtue ethics.