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Honesty in dealing with others, personified by the goddess Veritas. Veritas, being the mother of Virtus, was considered the root of all virtue; a person living an honest life was bound to be virtuous. Virtus: Manliness Valor, excellence, courage, character, and worth. Vir is Latin for "man".
Moral character or character (derived from charaktêr) is an analysis of an individual's steady moral qualities. The concept of character can express a variety of attributes, including the presence or lack of virtues such as empathy , courage , fortitude , honesty , and loyalty , or of good behaviors or habits ; these attributes are also a part ...
An action, in order to be morally virtuous, must be motivated by this sort of moral judgment (not, for example, merely coincidentally aligned with it). The virtuousness of a character trait, or virtue, derives from the relationship that trait has to moral judgments, rules, and principles.
The cardinal virtues are four virtues of mind and character in classical philosophy. They are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. They form a virtue theory of ethics. The term cardinal comes from the Latin cardo (hinge); [1] these four virtues are called "cardinal" because all other virtues fall under them and hinge upon them. [2]
The term "cardinal virtues" (virtutes cardinales) was first used by the 4th-century theologian Ambrose, [1] who defined the four virtues as "temperance, justice, prudence, and fortitude". [2]
Its broad definition led to it being used to describe a number of qualities that the Roman people idealized in their leaders. In everyday life a typical Roman, especially a young boy, would have been inculcated with the idea of virtus. Since military service was a part of the lives of most Roman men, military training would have started fairly ...
Aristotle's ethics, or study of character, is built around the premise that people should achieve an excellent character (a virtuous character, "ethikē aretē" in Greek) by practicing virtue in order to ultimately attain happiness or well-being (eudaimonia). [6]
Good moral character is an ideal state of a person's beliefs and values that is considered most beneficial to society. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] In United States law, good moral character can be assessed through the requirement of virtuous acts or by principally evaluating negative conduct.