THE CHARACTER OF VIRTUE: ANSWERING THE SITUATIONIST CHALLENGE TO VIRTUE ETHICS

Abstract

Neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics makes essential reference to the notion of a stable, robust character-trait. It also claims to be constrained by at least a minimal degree of psychological realism. Recent developments in empirical psychology have drawn into question the evidence for the existence of such robust traits, arguing that it rests on what has been called a 'fundamental attribution error'. Virtue ethics has thus seemingly been made vulnerable to criticisms that it is essentially dependent on an erroneous, folk-psychological, notion of character and, so, must either abandon their characteristic notion of virtue or forego any pretensions to psychological realism.

I develop a two-pronged response to this objection. First, I argue that there is reason to question much of the empirical evidence and that such evidence as does exist can easily be accommodated by virtue ethics. Next, I argue that even if we allow that neo-Aristotelian virtue ethical theories does sometimes presuppose a stronger conception of character-traits than is warranted by the evidence, this does not significantly undermine the virtue ethicist's project.