What is Virtue of Gratitude

Contemporary thinking regarding the phenomenon of gratitude portrays it as a fundamental attribute of every human being as well as a commendable and beneficial human quality capable of enhancing human flourishing in society. This study demonstrates that although a variety of life experiences can elicit feelings of gratitude, there is evidence that the moral human society considers gratitude as a force capable of encouraging acts of beneficence. Apparently though, in the lens of ethics, gratitude is a purely person-to-person phenomenon, while ingratitude is seen as a profound moral failure. This research addresses issues of why moralists generally see gratitude as an obligation and stressed its dutiful aspects rather than its emotional quality. Findings show that until the advent of moral sentimentalism, gratitude interventions had always produced positive outcomes and benefits which in the heart of ethics is a duty and social obligation towards human benefactors and God.