Contemporary society grapples with questions about the disadvantaged—who they are, what causes their circumstances, and what should be done to help them. When Flourishing is Beyond Reach offers a groundbreaking Aristotelian virtue ethics perspective on these pressing issues.

Howard J. Curzer defines the disadvantaged as individuals blocked by circumstances beyond their control from leading flourishing lives. Rather than pursuing traditional flourishing, he argues they should aim for "near-flourishing", which is a more achievable alternative, often built around "near-virtue." The book examines how worldviews, practices, and institutions create and perpetuate disadvantage by corrupting character and blocking access to crucial goods. Curzer addresses three major social structures that disadvantage people: misleading worldviews spread through media, character-corrupting practices like traditional family roles, and institutions that exploit professional virtues. He describes the character traits needed to reform these structures, including the virtues of interlocutors, e-interlocutors, professionals of various sorts, and activists.

This innovative book fills a significant gap in the virtue ethics literature by directly addressing the nature and social causes of disadvantage. It will appeal to scholars across philosophy, sociology, political theory, and related disciplines concerned with ethics, social justice, and human flourishing.

Howard J. Curzer is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Texas Tech University. His publications include Aristotle and the Virtues (OUP, 2012), Virtue Ethics for the Real World: Improving Character without Idealization (Routledge, 2023), Difficult Virtues: An Aristotelian Perspective (Routledge, 2024), and articles on ancient philosophy, contemporary virtue ethics, the Confucian tradition, moral development, research ethics, biomedical ethics, and the Hebrew Bible.