From politicians taking moral stances to increase popularity, to companies denounced for 'greenwashing' to boost revenue, we see the flaunting of virtue as a perversion of morality. Something to be avoided. But studies show humans are twice as likely to act morally if they are seen as virtuous by others. And when a social media campaign encouraged people to 'virtue signal' about taking in Ukrainian refugees, thousands more were given safe housing.
Should we see the promotion of 'ethical' acts for personal status and to look good, not as a perversion of morality but as a useful tool to aid social progress? Should we move away from the notion that morality is a private act and instead adopt the Aristotelian view that virtues are to be encouraged in the public domain? Or is the acceptance of virtue signalling and more widely virtue ethics a dangerous slide to mob morality capable of terrible acts while assured of the rightness of their cause?