Lesson 3

Module 3:
The Moral
Agent
Questions
2
Can an
What are established
the things theory be
that makes questioned?
you who
you are?
3
Today’s Topics:
➜ Character Vs. Personality
➜ Moral Character and Virtue
➜ Moral Character as Disposition
➜ Kohlberg’s Stages of Development
1.
Character Vs
Personality
Difference and Similarities
Character vs. Personality
5
Character
Personality reveals what you are inside.
shows what you are An enduring and
outside or what you are to distinguishing mental and
the world. Personality can moral characteristic in an
individual. It is the only
be defined as a
factor which determines our
combination of mental
reaction or response to the
behavior and traits or
given event or situation.
qualities like thinking
pattern, feeling and acting.
Character vs. Personality
6
Character
Personality ▪ Based on Principles
▪ Based on Techniques
▪ “Actually be”
▪ “Appear to be”
▪ Revolves around: ▪ Revolves around:
Image Creation, Public Integrity, Fidelity,

Relation, Communication Compassion, Contribution,
Responsibility, Justice and
and Management
Courage
2.
Moral Character
and Virtue
Use of character in Ethics
8
Character:
➜ Origin: Greek word = “charakter” = used as mark impressed on
a coin.
➜ The use of the word character in ethics has a different
linguistic history. So when we speak of a virtue or an
excellence of moral character, the highlights is not on mere
distinctiveness or individuality, but on the blend of qualities
that makes a person ethically admirable.
➜ According to Aristotle there are two distinct human
excellences:
a. Excellences of Thought (Knowledge and Wisdom)
b. Excellences of Character (Virtue)
9
Moral Character:
➜ Refers to having or lacking moral virtue
➜ According to most Greek moralist, if we are sensible, our goal
is to achieve happiness and to live well. We use happiness to
manage our other goals.
➜ Aristotle claimed that happiness is “perfect” or “complete” and
something distinctively human. If a person is living well,
he/she is worthy of praise and a role model.
3.
Moral Character
as Disposition
Noun: disposition - a person's inherent
qualities of mind and character.
- An inclination or tendency
11
Moral Character as Disposition

➜ The moral character traits that constitute a person’s moral
character are characteristically understood as behavioral and
affective dispositions. This is the usual attitude or mood of a
person.
➜ Therefore, moral characters either vice or virtue are considered
as dispositions. Which means that the agents or the person is
responsible for his/her moral character. In other words, a good
moral character is practically a disposition to do virtuous acts
and a bad moral character is in effect of a disposition to do
vicious deeds
4.
Kohlberg’s Stages
of Moral
Development
3 levels of Moral Development
13
Level 1: Pre-Conventional Morality

➜ (Most nine-years-old and younger, some over nine), we don’t
have a personal code of morality. Instead, our moral code is
shaped by the standards of adults and the consequences of
following or breaking their rules.
➜ Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation
➜ The child is good in order to avoid being
punished. If a person is punished, they must
have done something wrong
➜ Stage 2. Individualism and Exchange
➜ The child recognize that there is not just one
right view that is handed down by the
authorities. Different individual have different
viewpoints.
14
Level 2: Conventional Morality

➜ At the conventional level (most adolescents and adults), we
begin to internalize the moral standards of valued adult role
models. Authority is internalized but not questioned, and
reasoning is based on the norms of the group to which the
person belongs.
➜ Stage 3. Good Interpersonal Relationship
➜ The child is good in order to be seen as being a
good person by others.
➜ Stage 4. Maintaining the social order
➜ The child/individual becomes aware of the wider
rules of society, so judgement concern obeying the
rules in order to uphold the law and to avoid guilt.
15
Level 3: Post-Conventional Morality
➜ Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles, and

moral reasoning is based on individual rights and justice.
According to Kohlberg this level of moral reasoning is as far as
most people get.
➜ Stage 5. Social contract and Individual Rights
➜ The child/individual becomes aware that while
rules/laws might exist for the good of the greatest
number, there are times when they will work
against the interest of particular individuals.
➜ Stage 6. Universal Principles
➜ People at this stage have developed their own set
of moral guidelines which may or may not fit the
law. The principles apply to everyone.

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Module 3:

Image Creation, Public Integrity, Fidelity,

Moral Character as Disposition

Level 1: Pre-Conventional Morality

Level 2: Conventional Morality

Level 3: Post-Conventional Morality

➜ Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles, and

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