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Candace L. Upton, "Situational Traits of Character: Dispositional Foundations and Implications for Moral Psychology and Friendship"

One thesis that virtually all virtue ethicists converge upon holds

that the virtues, or traits of character, benefit their possessor.

An agent possessing the trait of compassion would, consistent with

our pre-theoretic understanding of compassion, help others in need.

Over the course of her lifetime, the compassionate agent might perform

a few large-scale compassionate acts, or she might perform a

bevy of small-scale compassionate acts. But her acts of compassion

would not impinge on the overall quality of her life, ability to pursue

her interests, ability to develop and maintain a range of social

ties, and would embody several, if not all, of the other virtues. Further,

the compassionate agent often experiences pleasure from her

compassionate acts, insofar as they are compassionate, and her compassionate

acts and outlook can produce or contribute to a sense of

satisfaction, a psychologically and physically healthy psyche and

body, and a morally meritorious life. These factors afford the virtuous

agent the self-esteem, confidence, sensitivity, courage, social

connections, and moral strength to pursue the goals she deems valuable,

to live a life that harmonizes with her unique physical and psychological

makeup, and to further refine her virtuous traits. In a

manner such as this, the virtues benefit their possessor.

A second thesis, which virtue ethicists embrace even more widely

than the first, holds that the virtues are global. A moral agent possesses

a global trait of character, GT, just in case (1) she possesses

the mental features relevant to GT, (2) she would respond, both behaviorally

and attitudinally, in a GT-appropriate way, such that her

responses yield from those mental features that are relevant to GT,

and (3) she would respond in a GT-appropriate way across a broad

range of normal situations. The globally compassionate agent would

care about others, believe that helping others is important, she

would reason appropriately about specific cases in which she responds

compassionately, and so on. And the mental features

grounding the trait of compassion would issue in appropriately compassionate

responses. What is distinctive to the global trait of compassion,

however, insofar as it is global, is that the globally compassionate

agent would respond compassionately across a broad range

of normal situations. She might encounter a disabled stranger who

has been deposed from her wheelchair, a friend whose spoiled child

continually misbehaves, or a sibling whose marriage is in a state of

decay. The virtuous agent would respond appropriately to each of

these very different kinds of situation.

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