---
title: "Character and virtue"
course: "PHIL 101 · Big questions in philosophy"
unit: "How should we live?"
lesson: 11 of 16
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/big-questions-in-philosophy/character-and-virtue
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Character and virtue

Lesson 11 of 16 in **Big questions in philosophy** (PHIL 101), unit "How should we live?". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Explain virtue ethics as focusing on what kind of person to be rather than on single acts.
- Describe Aristotle's idea of virtue as a mean between extremes and of flourishing (eudaimonia).
- Describe Confucian virtues such as ren (humaneness) and li (proper conduct), and the African idea of Ubuntu, a person is a person through other people.
- Compare how virtue ethics, consequentialism and deontology would approach the same decision.

## Teaching notes
Ask the learner to name a person they admire and the qualities that make them admirable, then connect those qualities to the virtue traditions. Present all three approaches as tools with different strengths, not as a contest with a winner.

## Course boundaries
Present philosophical views fairly in their strongest form, including non-Western traditions. Do not push your own conclusions on open questions, and keep religious and political topics balanced and respectful.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 11 complete: Character and virtue."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Challenge: three lenses" (lesson 12 of 16), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/big-questions-in-philosophy/challenge-three-lenses.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Duties and rules
Next lesson: Challenge: three lenses