The subject of what really makes a person virtuous and if it is even possible for one to be certainly makes for an interesting topic. However, I was personally more intrigued by the author's references to the culture of today. Examples of this are when he says virtue ethics come in a "Baskin-Robbins array of flavors", and even making reference to a Happy Meal at one point. This is interesting because I can't say I expected to see Baskin-Robbins and eudaimonia in the same place. It's definitely written in the correct time period, and I knew this from the notes in the book before Appiah's actual writing, but it still caught me off guard.
Now this prompts me to think about what the audience was for this particular piece of writing. A group of seasoned philosophers couldn't care less about Happy Meals, and this piece obviously goes over the heads of most children, who are the primary consumers of the fast food and ice cream in question. This leads me to believe that this was, at least in a small way, directed towards an average Joe. I don't consider myself, for example, to be an expert in language, and was able to understand most of the terminology and concepts used in this piece of writing without much difficulty. Well, working off of this new assumption, did Appiah write this just to encourage people to be nice? Or rather, to think more about virtuous deeds and the purpose of man in general? Well, next time I have to break a 20 next to a pleasant smelling bakery, this will probably be on my mind in some way.
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