7. Contrary to negative tradition, emotions have a place in the formation of moral character.
Central element of emotional maturity: knowing emotions as they occur
They don't always lead us into trouble
They have an intelligence of their own which when properly understood and deployed, leads to attitudes, choices, and actions that are not less but more intelligent and human
our emotions and passions have real wisdom when integrated and exercised
The level of our emotional maturity and intelligence directly affects our morality
One prone to angry outbursts will very likely not have a great deal of self-control, will get into many conflicts and damage his or her relationships
A person who has poor impulse control will tend to satisfy his or her needs or wants and thus act selfishly
one who is deficient in empathy will be insensitive to needs and difficulties of others
One's level of empathy has a strong connection with one's level of caring, compassion, and altruism
Thus, emotions need to be managed intelligently instead of our being controlled by them.
Central element of emotional maturity: knowing emotions as they occur
6. Good moral decisions leading to good moral character is a result of a faith life, a life of prayer, and mature knowledge.
highlights the importance of interior life
spiritual exercises attempt to develop the ability to cultivate the life of faith or the spiritual journey
enable individuals to explore and grow in their understanding of how God is present in their lives, of how they might come to know God in a deeper way through reflection on their own personal experience and of how to make choices in the light of God's presence
How can we say that a person has good moral character?
being a morally mature person
5. Good moral character has a direct connection to being a good Christian.
For conscience to develop properly, it must be rooted in Christ and the Holy Spirit, nourished by prayer and the Church's Sacramental life
The church is a powerful shaper of our moral character
Each one will respond to these influences in his or her own way and thus will make his/her choices and form his/her character in a manner that is uniquely personal
Particularly important
life and teaching of the Church itself
4. It is a result of the interplay of factors involving family, church, society, school, etc.
conditioning factors
knowledge
evaluative/experiential knowledge of moral values and disvalues
freedom
knowlege/awareness of oneself (awareness of one's values, attitudes, dispositions, intentions, feelings, needs, weeknesses, blind spots, limitations, and level of moral development
formation of character requires true personal freedom in each person so we can take fuller responsibility for our choices
the greater our freedom from internal and external obstacles, the greater the quality of our individual choices and the greater our ability to form ourselves as moral persons
called basic freedom and is exercised in fundamental option or basic choices
emotions
a person's morality/moral sense has roots in his or her feelings
the springs of marility are in the heart
morality gets its nourishment and power to shape our character and our choices from our feelings
church, society, school
we are deeply influenced by the groups we belong to
while people make groups and communities, groups and communities also make people
we are influenced by the beliefs, values, virtues, and attitudes of the groups of which we are members
example: indoctrination, cults, cult-like businesses
3. Forming moral character is not a result of happenstance or genetic engineering.
our moral character becomes what it is and will be at the end of life only by a long and complex process of formation, both formal and informal
formation is lifelong and always ongoing
we must always aim to become good and virtuous people, morally or humanly mature
Our choices form our moral character -our choices are based on objective moral norms
formation of our moral character depends on our consistent choice of what is morally good
Concience: our capacity to discern what specific acts are good or evil
refers to our capacity to discern what the moral thing to do is
since no moral law applies itself, conscience has to evaluate and apply this to the actual act, intention, and circumstances
our conscience has objective and subjective dimensions
objective -based on objective moral norms
subjective -it is ours, and we are responsible for how we decide
formation of conscience is not static 00 a dynamic process formed by innumerable persons and events, affected by family upbringing and social environment, and informed as it interacts with other consciences
2. It is concerned with making choices but more importantly, with becoming the persons we ought to become.
our moral character is built by the choices we make and the actions we perform
these choices spring from our goodness
two choices
our moral choices shape our moral character
our moral character gives rise to and conditions our moral choices
our choices make us who we are as persons
Choices do not just have an impact on the directly affected situation but on who we are and what we shape our lives to be
our choices build up or damage our moral character
the sum of our moral character doesn't happen overnight
1.Moral Character results from a mature and responsible exercise of freedom and conscience.
focuses primarily on the person-in-relationship and in-community and therefore on the moral subject
manifests itself through one's action and refers to who one is as a human being
One's moral identity as a person
Consists of a very specific and personal configuration or arrangement of virtues and vices, affections, intentions, dispositions, beliefs, values, and properties
The character one has built represents the characteristic way one has of determining what is appropriate for one to do in any particular situation
One's character gives one a particular direction or orientation in and to life so that one acts in a consistent way
refers to the predictability of his actions or response to some circumstances
predictability of one's actions in terms of one's morality is one's moral character
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