Some Complexities of Categorizing Character Traits

In Elisa Grimi, John Haldane, Maria Margarita Mauri Alvarez, Michael Wladika, Marco Damonte, Michael Slote, Randall Curren, Christian B. Miller, Liezl Zyl, Christopher D. Owens, Scott J. Roniger, Michele Mangini, Nancy Snow & Christopher Toner (eds.), Virtue Ethics: Retrospect and Prospect. Springer. pp. 81-98 (2019)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

With the explosion of interest in virtue and virtue ethics, one set of issues that has been comparatively neglected is how to categorize moral character traits. This paper distinguishes three approaches—what I call the Stoic, personality psychology, and Aristotelian—and critically assesses each of them. The Stoic approaches denies that virtues come in degrees. There is perfect virtue or nothing at all. The personality psychology approach denies that virtues have thresholds. So everyone has all the virtues to some degree or other. The Aristotelian approach accepts both degrees and thresholds. So some people might not have the virtues, and if they do, they might have them to various degrees. In addition, each of these positions takes a different stand on how to understand the vices as well. Using the virtue of honesty as the central example, the paper ends up favoring the Aristotelian approach but notes some of the complexities involved in adopting it.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Virtue as a Trait.Christian Miller - 2018 - In Nancy E. Snow (ed.), Oxford Handbook of Virtue. New York, USA: Oxford University Press. pp. 9-34.
Caught in a Eutrapelia: Kraut on Aristotle on Wit.Sean McAleer - 2015 - Journal of Philosophical Research 40:297-312.
Caught in a Eutrapelia.Sean McAleer - 2015 - Journal of Philosophical Research 40:297-312.
Harman Vs. Virtue Theory.Chris Tucker - 2004 - Southwest Philosophy Review 21 (1):137-145.
Character and Situationism: New Directions.Christian B. Miller - 2017 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 20 (3):459-471.
Character and Moral Psychology.Christian B. Miller - 2014 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.
A New Approach to Character Traits in Light of Psychology.Christian Miller - 2016 - In Iskra Fileva (ed.), Questions of Character. Oxford University Press. pp. 249-267.

Analytics

Added to PP
2018-07-22

Downloads
26 (#524,350)

6 months
3 (#445,838)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Christian Miller
Wake Forest University

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references