Dirty Hands or Political Virtue? Walzer's and MacIntyre's Answers to Machiavelli's Challenge

Contains fulltext : 112038.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Can it be right to do wrong in order to do good? Can torture, for instance, be justified? This commentary argues that Michael Walzer's often-cited answer on these dirty hands issues is problematic, and that a properly elaborated virtue ethics is more convincing. The argument is of particular consequence for courses on administrative ethics and for practitioners dealing with hard cases.16 p