Philosophers and psychologists have been hard at work trying to unlock themysteries of our characters. Unfortunately, their answers have been all overthe map.
According to one position, every single person has all of the moral virtues,such as modesty and compassion, although to varying degrees. Versions ofthis idea can be found in the Big Five model which dominates personalitypsychology today.'
According to another position, on the other hand, no one has any charactertraits at all since they are simply illusions and do not exist. Hence there is notone person who is honest or compassionate or courageous. Some followers ofthe situationist movement in psychology seem to say things like this, includinga prominent philosopher inspired by that movement who has written anarticle entitled, "The Nonexistence of Character Traits."2
These are two extreme positions, to say the least. And between theseextremes, there are plenty of intermediate views. For instance the philosopherJohn Doris has claimed that most people do not have any traditional virtues orvices, but rather local traits of character such as "honesty in test takingsituations" or "humility with the boss." A person could have these particulartraits while also, at the same time, lacking "honesty at parties" and "humilitywith subordinates."3

Preface xi

List of Figures xv

PART I THE MIXED TRAIT FRAMEWORK

1. The Conceptual Background 3

2. The Framework of Mixed Traits 37

3. Illustrating the Framework: Cheating 62

PART II ENGAGING OTHER FRAMEWORKS

4. Situationism 85

5. The CAPS Model 107

6. The Big Five 129

PART III APPLYING THE FRAMEWORK

7. Errors about Character? Some Implications for Meta-Ethics 153

8. Trouble for Virtue Ethics? Some Implications for Normative Ethics 187

PART IV THE NEXT STEP

9. Looking Forward 227

References 241

Index 267

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