ABSTRACT
Virtue ethicists focus on people’s actions. They consider how people act in specific times and places but also how they act over the course of their lives. Aristotle explained the nature of the virtues in ways that turned out to be influential in history making. Herodotus’ use of ring structures might be thought of as contributing to ethos: re-stating for the development of ethical appreciation and understanding. As Charles Kahn observed, pre-Socratic Greek prose writers presented inquiries in the manner applied to the past by Herodotus. People will act in ways that appear inconsistent, perhaps they will even veer between the extremes of the vices. Orosius leapt repeatedly in his case for a Christian world history told through the misfortunes of non-believers. Juvayni’s account of the intersection of individual and group actions and character highlights the potential complexity of virtue ethics in history making.
