The Terminal: a tale of virtue.
The movie, The terminal, is used to illustrate MacIntyre's description of virtue ethics. The terminal is a mythical tale about a traveler, Viktor Navorski, who is stranded by circumstances in a New York airport. Viktor is a person who, without a strict reliance on duty or rules, has developed the disposition to act well despite variation in his circumstances. His character is revealed in contrast to that of three other characters: a cleaner, a flight attendant and the airport manager. Stories like this one may be a good way to open dialogue among clinicians about being virtuous as a practitioner. Such dialogue may make striving to be virtuous an acceptable goal for practitioners and less like an idealistic, pseudo-goal for those aiming for sainthood.
Austin
Wendy
W
Faculty of Nursing and the Dossetor Health Ethics Centre, 5-15 University Extension Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. wendy.austin@ualberta.ca
D002605:Character; D003657:Decision Making / Q000941:ethics; D004645:Empathy; D028663:Ethical Theory; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D006808:Humanism; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D009040:Motion Pictures; D033302:Postmodernism; D028722:Virtues