Topic 2: Moral Character and Virtues

Nominal Duration: 45 mins.

Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this topic, the student must be able to:
1. explain the relationship between moral character and virtues; 2.
justify why values are both caught and taught; and
3. distinguish character from reputation.

Introduction

Striving for moral virtue rests upon an individual’s moral character. His character is
important in moral choices because he cannot simply separate his character from his
choice of actions. Every action carries with it an imprint or a stamp of his character. For
this reason, character affects seriously his maturity in such a way that it determines the
kind of moral choices he makes and the kind of person he ought to be. Precisely, it is in
character formation that one will not regret in the end the virtuous life he has chosen.

Good character must be cultivated and brought to maturity so that somehow when he
will be confronted with moral decisions, he can determine seriously the right choices.
Character then, is not something bestowed by a higher being, neither a privilege to be
enjoyed, but it is a task to be fulfilled by constant struggle to do good. It demands a
habitual inner renewal of the person because it is from this that character is built.

Moral characters are dispositions of both the heart and mind to do virtuous acts. Max
Scheler (2012) would suggest that one lives in his acts, permeating every act with his
peculiar character. This means that an individual needs to evaluate each act he does if
it helps him become a better person or not. This is a challenge because the greatest
problem a person encounters is the fact that he becomes an alien to himself:
pretending to be someone whom he is really is not. It is always a choice to prefer and
affirm higher values through being careful with his actions and always pattern them for
the realization and actualization of his own character as a person. What an individual
needs to strive for is to prove that principles should not be easily swayed by street
people’s opinions, fake news, media tricks, propaganda and selfish interests. Character
is tested by a lot of moral struggles. One cannot simply change decisions of personal
sacrifice and toil for anything that will weaken his character.

This is where the role of family and community comes into play. An African adage
would put it this way: “it takes a village to raise a child.” Parents are directly responsible
for the moral upbringing of their children surrounded by different institutions that take
care of the welfare of everyone. This wider community of persons is where virtue is
introduced and formed. It is a task and a challenge for an individual to grow, develop
and mature in character.
The Interplay of Moral Character and Virtue

The Greek word “virtue” means excellence. Socrates once noted that man should aim
to learn to live virtuously, and modern man is no exception: “The unexamined life is not
worth living”. All are encouraged to engage in a never ending task of doing what is
good. His pupil Plato highlights four virtues in particular, which were later called
cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, temperance and justice. Other important virtues are
fortitude, generosity, self-respect, good temper, and sincerity. In addition to advocating
good habits of character, we should also avoid acquiring bad character traits, or vices,
such as cowardice, insensibility, injustice and vanity.

Both Aristotle and Aquinas also believed that people have a desirable end goal or
purpose and that developing excellences of character (virtues) leads to human
happiness and good moral reasoning. Good is that which is done with good intention
and with the knowledge that the results would be good.

Going back to Aristotle, he used the term ‘virtue’ to express our moral obligations.
Virtue may be defined as any disposition of character or personality that an individual
desires in him or others. Virtues are means between deficiency and excess, or vices.
He warns that we should avoid these vices and focus on the mean, or virtue. which “is
such as right reason declares it to be”. In others, virtues are those depositions of
character which an individual considers to be good. Character development guides
actions. In order to be of good character, then, once one knows the good, one must
also desire it. The will must desire and incline itself to the good. Our conscience guides
us to judging right or wrong action but that needs training and informing also.
Conscience needs to know the good and to be listened to in order for us to act
according to it. To listen and to act both require dispositions, desires, and tendencies
ordered to the good (Mitchell, 2015). (Virtue Ethics will be further discussed in Chapter
4).

Teaching and Learning Activities

Activity 6: Write a letter to your (imaginary) child in the future, telling him/her about how
you are presently struggling to be the best kind of person you strive to be.

Activity 7: Research online the lives of Nelson Mandela and Adolf Hitler. Do a
comparative character analysis/study on both individuals.

Assignment for the next topic: Download this article and outline the important points.
Critiques of Kohlberg’s Model of Moral Development: A Summary by Paul C. Vitz
https://revistadepedagogia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1-Critiques-ofKohlberg%C2%B4s-
Model-of-Moral-Development.pdf
Assessment Task:
Name: _________________________ Course & Year: ______________
I. President Duterte has signed a law institutionalizing good manners and right
conduct (GMRC) and values education as core subjects in the K to 12 curriculum
both in public and private schools. Is this necessary? Justify your answer. (15
points each item)
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2. In terms of character versus reputation, can public life be separated from private
life?
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Learning Resources

CMO No. 20 s. 2013

De Guzman, Jens Micah, et al. (2018). Ethics: Principles of ethical behavior in
modern society. Philippines: MUTYA Publishing.
Mitchell L. A. (2015). Integrity and virtue: The forming of good character. The
Linacre quarterly, 82(2), 149–169.
https://doi.org/10.1179/2050854915Y.0000000001
Rachel, James and Stuart Rachels. (2018). Elements of moral philosophy, 9th
ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Scheler, M. (2012). Person and self-value: Three essays. Springer Science &
Business Media.