---
title: "Virtue Ethics: Definition for UPSC GS4 | Model Diplomat"
description: "Virtue ethics judges morality by character traits rather than rules, emphasizing habituated virtues like courage, crucial for UPSC GS4 and Model UN students."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/virtue-ethics"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- Virtue ethics is a normative theory that locates moral worth in the character traits of the agent rather than in rules or consequences.
- How does virtue ethics differ from deontology and consequentialism?
- What is the doctrine of the mean in Aristotle's virtue ethics?
- Why is virtue ethics important for UPSC GS Paper IV?
- What is the main criticism of virtue ethics?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

Virtue ethics is a normative theory that locates moral worth in the character traits of the agent rather than in rules or consequences.

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In its 2007 report, India's Second Administrative Reforms Commission invoked character-based integrity, echoing virtue ethics, to argue that codes of conduct alone cannot ensure ethical governance among civil servants.

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