Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the implication of morality (among which is responsibility) and virtue in development ethics and their relevance to development practice, by comparing three major development ethics approaches and zoning them into the two ethical concepts.

Paper long abstract:

Responsibility is fundamental in development, framing the realm of duty and thus priority in development practice. It is part of morality and supplemented with a broad concept of virtue to compose development ethics. Morality is rule-/act-based (following right/wrong reasoning) and pertains to process, while virtue is merit-/agent-based (following good/bad reasoning) and pertains to the resulting state of affairs. Most typically, the former requires more universal components and more urgency than the latter, but the contrast is not clear-cut and rather lies in the relative importance. As much as morality and virtue are connected closely to each other, these two ethical concepts tend to be used loosely without acknowledging particular features of each, ending up preventing the systematic understanding of development ethics and limiting the effective implementation of development practice. To investigate such problems, this paper draws on philosophical argument on morality and virtue and explores their implication in development ethics and their relevance to development practice, by comparing three major development ethics approaches: basic needs, human security and human development, and zoning them in relation to the two ethical concepts. This exercise highlights the similarity and difference of each approach and illustrates that morality and virtue are closely related but distinct and equally fundamental in the field of development.