Ethics with Character: Virtues and the Ethical Social Worker

This article explores the relevance to social work of those aspects of applied ethics that are not primarily about identifying and resolving dilemmas. It examines the potential of the ethical tradition rooted in the virtues and character of the practitioner-from Aristotle and Hippocrates to contemporary virtue-based ethics in medicine-to guide and enrich our understanding of the social work profession and the dispositions or qualities of character its practice requires and develops