The second step in the VCR analytic framework for ethical decision making is called virtue ethics. What is emphasized here are a set of desirable character traits, or excellences, and our actions are gauged according to whether certain virtues that make out a good character are promoted by our actions or not.
Some ethicists who hold this theory claim that a person's character functions dispositionally in such a way that people engage in ethical or unethical conduct thanks to the character traits that they have developed in their lives. A good character will dispose one to virtuous acts while a morally deficient character will dispose one to unethical acts. Some of referred to this approach as a dispositional theory of ethics.
Aristotle was the first theorist of virtue ethics. For him, moral virtues like moderation in one's life was the way that one could lead "the good life." Courage, temperance, strength of character, justice and so on are often identified as desirable habits for people to develop and which, when cultivated well, would lead one on the path of excellence in one's life.
While virtue ethics normally refers to the way individual people behave, it can also be used in an analysis of a professional ethical issue, problem or dilemma. We can ask if a profession or a professional has acted in such a way as to promote a particular virtue or not. We can also ask if resolving a professional moral maze in a certain way will result in a judgment of being virtuous. Thus, if we keep in mind what would count as virtuous acts in the professions, then we can make judgments about the ethics of professionals.