From Personality to Virtue Essays on the Philosophy of Character

The idea that people have persisting character traits that explain their behavior is woven throughout the fabric of our culture. These philosophical essays clarify this idea of character, analyze its relation with the findings of experimental psychology, and draw out the implications of this for education and criminal punishment. They bring together a range of issues in contemporary philosophy, including the nature of agency, the modeling of behavioral cognition, the ethical implications of personal necessity, moral responsibility for implicit bias, the prospects for character education and the nature of rightful criminal punishment. The essays emphasize that character is inherently dynamic, and emphasize the close integration of character with the individual's social context--