On Virtue and Vice is a treatise in ethics. It offers a systematic and historical study of the Doctrine of the Mean. The book argues for a triadic approach to ethical notions (for example, Goodness and two forms of Badness and Justice and two forms of Injustice). The approach of the book is intertwined with a critical study of the relevant thought both of Western thinkers (Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and David Hume) and also of Eastern thinkers (Confucius, Mencius and Chu Hsi). A further aim of the book is to apply the Doctrine to contemporary life.
"In this original and penetrating examination of the Doctrine of the Mean, Richard Bosley enriches our appreciation of an idea too often neglected or written off as a kind of lapse of good judgment. Excess, sufficiency, and defect are here shown to be among the most important notions a philosopher can employ, a point perhaps better appreciated in the ancient East than in the West, and Bosley's careful argumentation, scholarship, and inventiveness will challenge even the most skeptical reader." (G.A. Spangler, State University of California, Long Beach)
"As a fellow worker in the comparative field, I admire especially the way 'On Virtue and Vice' weaves together the strands of East and West, for the purpose of a reunified philosophy." (David Appelbaum, The College at New Paltz) "The importance of this study is that Bosley invites us to understand the dynamics of the Mean in a way that is fresh and relevant to contemporary questions of the ethics and justice." (Geoffry Ng., The Reader's Review)
"As a fellow worker in the comparative field, I admire especially the way 'On Virtue and Vice' weaves together the strands of East and West, for the purpose of a reunified philosophy." (David Appelbaum, The College at New Paltz) "The importance of this study is that Bosley invites us to understand the dynamics of the Mean in a way that is fresh and relevant to contemporary questions of the ethics and justice." (Geoffry Ng., The Reader's Review)