In her new book, Catarina Belo explores central issues pertaining to virtue ethics from both a classical and a contemporary perspective. She examines classical theories of virtue as developed by Aristotle, Aquinas, and Shaftesbury, while highlighting central topics within ethical theory and virtue ethics, such as voluntariness, the notion of the good, happiness, and the need to understand human nature and the emotions in developing an ethical theory. Written as a dialogue between a student and a teacher, following the structure and some of the themes of a previous dialogue, Spirit in Philosophy: A Metaphysical Inquiry (Stuttgart, WiSa, 2019), this work also aims to reconcile the notions of virtue and duty.

Catarina Belo is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the American University in Cairo. She studied philosophy, Arabic and Islamic studies in Lisbon, London and Oxford. She is a specialist in medieval Islamic philosophy, in particular Alfarabi, Avicenna, and Averroes. Other research interests include medieval Islamic theology and medieval Christian philosophy, especially Aquinas. She has also conducted research on German Idealism, in particular Hegel's philosophy. Her translations from Arabic into Portuguese have received an Achievement Award at the 2019 Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation in Doha.