The Modern Revival of Virtue Ethics and Stoicism

In the 20th century, ancient ethics returned to the center of moral philosophy and popular culture. In 1958 the British philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe argued that modern moral philosophy, focused on duties and consequences, had lost its foundations, and she urged a return to concepts like virtue and human flourishing. Philippa Foot and later Alasdair MacIntyre, in After Virtue (1981), helped revive Aristotelian virtue ethics as a major alternative to theories based on rules or outcomes. Stoicism also returned.

Psychologists Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck drew on the Stoic idea that our judgments shape our emotions when developing cognitive therapies. The American naval officer James Stockdale, held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam from 1965 to 1973, credited Epictetus with helping him endure captivity. Critics warn that popular versions sometimes reduce ancient philosophies to self-help slogans, neglecting their full ethical and philosophical systems.