Aretaic Ethics

From the Greek 'aretai' meaning 'virtue' or 'excellence': this Normative Ethical Theory is more commonly known as 'Virtue Ethics'. As a normative theory, it is usually attributed to Aristotle, and maintains that normative evaluations are rooted in the character of a moral agent rather than the consequences of an action (contra Consequentialism) or some intrinsic feature of an action itself (contra Deontological Ethics). Contemporary adherents contrast Virtue Ethics with traditional normative theories by saying the latter focus on 'doing' while the former on 'being'. The fundamental question of ethics, they believe, is not "What should I do?" but rather "What kind of person do I want to be?"