Character: The Kind of Person You Are Becoming · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

The person you become, habit by habit

Personal & Social Development · Ethics & Philosophy · ages 16-18
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. In Aristotle's account of courage, which pair names its two failings?

    • Avoiding needed action and taking needless risks
    • Feeling some fear and thinking about what might happen
    • Asking for help and leaving danger when staying serves no purpose

  2. What is a virtue?

    • A command that settles every difficult moral choice
    • A lucky result that brings success on one occasion
    • A stable disposition to feel, choose and act well

  3. Building virtue involves practice and learning to judge what is appropriate.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Nia leaves a dangerous area after checking that nobody needs her help and staying would achieve nothing useful. In Aristotle's account, must leaving show a lack of courage?

    • Yes. Courage requires staying wherever any kind of danger is present.
    • Yes. Courage requires accepting exactly half of every possible risk.
    • No. Leaving can be a fitting response to these circumstances.

  5. Which statement accurately compares the three ethical approaches?

    • Only virtue ethics can judge daily habits and their effects.
    • Virtue ethics gives character a central role in judgment.
    • Duty-based and outcome-based views cannot assess everyday habits.

  6. Jun follows through on small commitments and acknowledges a deadline he missed. Which traits are these choices helping him practise?

    • Reliability and honesty through his handling of commitments
    • Generosity and courage through sharing money and facing physical danger
    • Patience and fairness through waiting his turn and dividing tasks equally

  7. Leo points to one significant truth he told last year as proof of a settled habit of honesty. What is the limit of this evidence?

    • A single major act proves a settled virtue of honesty without any evidence from other occasions.
    • An honest act contributes nothing to character unless other people observe it.
    • His act can help him practise honesty, but alone it does not show a settled habit.

  8. Mara wants to practise generosity. Which habit plan best fits the lesson?

    • After lunch, give away supplies she still needs so each gift can be as large as possible.
    • After lunch, offer spare art supplies when useful, for the recipient's sake.
    • After lunch, give supplies only to receive praise and stop whenever no one notices her.
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

The person you become, habit by habit W1-mt_7GCNpcZGku-s1

  1. Avoiding needed action and taking needless risks · Courage avoids letting fear prevent needed action and taking needless risks. Feeling fear, seeking help or leaving danger is not by itself a failing.
  2. A stable disposition to feel, choose and act well · A virtue is a stable quality of character. A command tells someone what to do, while a lucky result describes what happened.
  3. True · Practice can develop a stable disposition. Judgment helps you choose appropriate actions for good reasons rather than repeat an action without thought.
  4. No. Leaving can be a fitting response to these circumstances. · Courage calls for a fitting response to the circumstances. It does not require taking a risk that serves no purpose or accepting exactly half of a possible risk.
  5. Virtue ethics gives character a central role in judgment. · Virtue ethics makes character central. Duty-based and outcome-based approaches can also assess habits, using duties or consequences as their starting points.
  6. Reliability and honesty through his handling of commitments · Following through practises reliability. Acknowledging a missed deadline practises honesty. These actions can support the traits without proving that they are settled.
  7. His act can help him practise honesty, but alone it does not show a settled habit. · One honest act can contribute to practice. A settled disposition concerns how someone tends to choose and act, so one example alone does not prove it.
  8. After lunch, offer spare art supplies when useful, for the recipient's sake. · The fitting plan connects a cue with appropriate sharing for the recipient's sake. Mara can be generous without neglecting her own needs. Being seen does not cancel generosity, but praise alone is a different motive.
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