One of the few points of unquestioned agreement in virtue theory is that the virtues are supposed to be excellences. One way to understand this is to claim that the virtues always yield correct moral action and that we cannot be “too virtuous”: the virtues cannot be had in excess or “to a fault”. If we take this seriously, however, it yields the surprising conclusion that many traits which have been traditionally thought of as “virtues” fail to make the grade. The most prominent solution to the problem, reminiscent of Aristotle's view, is found to generate more problems than it solves.

中文翻译：

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美德是卓越的

美德理论中无可置疑的一致意见之一是美德应该是卓越的。理解这一点的一种方法是声称美德总是产生正确的道德行为，我们不能“太美德”：美德不能过度或“过错”。然而，如果我们认真对待这一点，就会得出一个令人惊讶的结论，即许多传统上被认为是“美德”的特质未能达到标准。该问题最突出的解决方案让人想起亚里士多德的观点，发现产生的问题多于解决的问题。