A Contextual Account of Character Traits

Philosophical Studies 122 (2):133-151 (2005)
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Abstract

Character traits have several vital functions. They should enable us to assess others morally, inform us of others’ behavioral tendencies, and accurately explain and predict others’ behavior. But traits of character, as they have traditionally been understood, cannot adequately serve these purposes. For character traits are traditionally thought to be context-insensitive. The Contextual Account of Character Traits, which I here develop and defend, posits traits that are context-sensitive. Context-sensitive character traits are more receptive to the complexity of human psychology and behavior and, hence, they not only adequately, but excellently, satisfy their theoretic and pragmatic functions.

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Candace Upton
University of Denver

Citations of this work

Virtue in Virtue Ethics.Joel J. Kupperman - 2009 - The Journal of Ethics 13 (2-3):243-255.
Extended Virtues and the Boundaries of Persons.Robert J. Howell - 2016 - Journal of the American Philosophical Association 2 (1):146--163.
Character, Will, and Agency.Roman Altshuler - 2016 - In Jonathan Webber & Alberto Masala (eds.), From Personality to Virtue: Essays on the Philosophy of Character. Oxford University Press. pp. 62-80.

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References found in this work

The methods of ethics.Henry Sidgwick - 1874 - Bristol, U.K.: Thoemmes Press. Edited by Emily Elizabeth Constance Jones.
Ethics.William K. Frankena - 1963 - Englewood Cliffs, N.J.,: Prentice-Hall.
Reason and morality.Alan Gewirth - 1978 - Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ethics.William Frankena - 1967 - Philosophy of Science 34 (1):74-74.

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