Interview with Andreas Kinneging , author of The Geography of
Good and Evil Aren’t good and evil nothing more than personal
preferences or culturally dominant ideas? No they are not. Good
and evil are absolute, unchanging and universal categories.
There is nothing relative and subjective about them. Is virtue
ethics relevant today? Yes, because it is a much better approach
to good and evil, right and wrong than any of the alternatives,
such as the ethics of duty and the ethics of rights. Isn’t
tolerance the most important of the virtues? No it is not. Most
of what goes by the name of tolerance is something else
entirely, such as indifference. And even true tolerance is only
a minor virtue. So what are the most important virtues? Those
that were recognized centuries ago as the most important
virtues: Classical virtues like prudence, justice, courage,
temperance, and Christian virtues like neighborly love,
humility, and the willingness to forgive. What about honor?
Honor is ‘the prize of the virtues’. Hence, it