Practical Philosophy: Moral Character

Level: Introductory
Time: 2-3 hours but spread over a week as you take your time to reflect, discuss ideas with your friends and write your thoughts down.

What is character?

Think about the following ways we use the term ‘character’:

• A person is a great character when he has an extroverted, friendly, welcoming personality.
• A person is quite a character when she has an over the top, original maybe even eccentric personality.
• A person has no character when he doesn’t stand out, when he is not very distinctive from other people.
• A person has a strong character when she is very principled. She sticks to her convictions, and you can trust her to do what is right.
• A person has a good character when he has positive dispositions, e.g. he is kind, courageous, generous.

Can you think of examples from your own life of people who fit each description? They can be friends or people you know, or they can be famous people, historical examples or even literary personalities.

Was it as easy to find examples of the last two kinds of character as it was the first three? Most of us would struggle more with thinking of examples of people who are strong characters and good characters than the first three options.
Why do you think that is?

If you came up with a different answer this is fine. If you have time, ask your friends for their answers to this question): Perhaps one reason why it is easier to find examples of the first three is that we don’t often think of other people in explicitly moral terms. In many contexts which are a big part of our lives, e.g. social media and celebrity culture, we think of people in terms of how entertaining they are, not in terms of how moral they are. We need to become aware of morality and to perceive the world as morally salient before we notice moral people in the world. One way of becoming more aware of morality is to think about ourselves and other people as moral beings – beings who make choices and who are held accountable for those choices. We can then reflect on our choices and how to make better ones.

Click here for one possible answer Hide answer

REFLECT ON THE ABOVE BEFORE READING ON

Options a, b and c above are ways in which we speak of character as personality. Distinctive, possibly unique, and sometimes identifying features of the ways in which the person thinks and acts. This notion of character helps us set people apart from others and it informs how we view them.

Options d and e are a bit different. That is because they have a moral dimension.

If you would like to reflect on what is morality, please watch this short video.

When we say that a person has a strong character, we are saying something about their commitment to their moral values. We mean something like: this person has reflected on their values, they have endorsed their values and they act in accordance with their values even when it is difficult to do so or there are temptations to do otherwise. However, it is possible to have a strong character with respect to the wrong values. A strong character says something about the person’s commitment to their values, but it doesn’t tell us anything about whether these values are the right ones or not. It is possible for someone to be strongly committed to their own self-interest, to unjust causes or to self-indulgence.

When we say that a person has a good character, we are making a moral judgement, we are saying that they are praiseworthy for their moral choices, i.e. who they are and how they behave. They have reflected on their values, they have endorsed their values and they act in accordance with their values, but crucially these are also the right values to have. Equally it is possible for a person to have a morally bad character, that is, they have chosen the wrong values.

How would you describe your character? Write down a list, then ask your friends to describe your character. How many of the items on the list refer to your personality and how many refer to your moral character? What does your description of your character and the way your friends describe you say about your strength of character and about the goodness of your character?

REFLECT ON THE ABOVE BEFORE READING ON