Module 4: Moral Character and Moral character”, and is sometimes translated as

Development “moral virtue”

 The subject of moral character belogs to
I. Moral Character
virtue theory more generally, which is the
 What is Moral Character? philosophical examination of notions related
 The term character comes from the ancient to the virtues.
Greek term charaktêr, which initially  Roger Crisp distinguishes virtue ethics and
referred to the mark impressed upon a coin. virtue theory:
 Charaktêr later came to refer more  “Virtue theory is the area of
generally to any distinctive feature by which inquiry concerned with the
one thing is distinguished from others. virtues in general; virtue
 A set of qualities or characteristics that ethics is narrower and
can be used to differentiate between prescriptive, and consists
persons, commonly used in literature. primarily in the advocacy of
 In philosophy, the term character is typically the virtues”
used to refer to the particularly moral  Virtue ethics is a sub-species of virtue theory
dimension of a person. insofar as the former attempts to base ethics
 Aristotle most often used the term ēthē for on evaluation of virtue.
character, which is etymologically linked to  Character and Three Major Approaches
“ethics” and “morality” to Ethics *3 major approaches to normative
 At the heart of one major approach to ethics ethics
– an approach counting among its  Consequentialism – is the
proponents Plato, Aristotle, Augustine and idea that the moral action is
Aquinas is the conviction that ethics is the one that produces the best
fundamentally related to what kind of consequences.
persons we are.  Deontological – morality is
 We can think of one’s moral character as primarily a function of duties
primarily a function of whether she has or or obligations, regardless of
lacks various moral virtues and vices. the consequences of acting in
 Virtues and vices that comprise one’s moral accordance with those duties.
character are typically understood as  Virtue – give primacy of
dispositions to behave in certain ways in importance not to rules, but
certain sorts of circumstances. to particular habits of
character such as the virtue of
 One could approach moral character
courage or the vice of greed.
primarily by focusing on standards set by
normative ethics; whether people can or do  A moral character trait is a character trait for
live up to these standards is irrelevant. which the agent is morally responsible.
 Aristotle’s discussion of moral character,  Moral responsibility: to be morally
particularly virtue, is the most influential responsible is to be deserving of the reactive
treatment of such issues. His discussion will attitudes.
be used as a beginning point.  Reactive attitudes can be
either positive (in cases of
 The Greek word used by Aristotle and most
moral praise, gratitude,
commonly translated as virtue is aretē,
respect, love) or negative (in
which is perhaps better translated as
cases of moral blame,
“goodness” or “excellence”
resentment, in-dignation)
 Aristotle’s phrase for the excellences of
character is ēthikē aretē, literally “virtue of
 Most work on moral responsibility has
focused on an agent’s responsibility for her
actions.
 A Traditional View of Moral Character
 Dispositions are particular
kinds of properties or
characteristics that objects
can possess
 Moral character traits are
those dispositions of
character for which it is
appropriate to hold agents
morally responsible.
 A trait for which the
agent is deserving of a
positive reactive attitude,
such as praise or gratitude, is
a virtue, and a vice is a trait
for which the agent is
deserving of a negative
reactive attitude, such as
resentment or blame.
Moral character traits
are relatively stable and
reliable dispositions, and thus
should be reasonably good
predictors over time of an
agent’s behavior if that agent
is in a trait-relevant situation.
Moral character traits
are not just dispositions to
engage in certain outward
behaviors; they can also be
dispositions to have certain
emotions or affections.
In order for a moral
character trait to be a virtue,
it must not only be in accord
with the relevant moral
norms, but the disposition
must also be informed by
proper reasoning about the
matter at hand.
 Three Central Features