What is Character?

Moral character or character is an evaluation of a particular individual's moral qualities - meaning how that individual treats other people.  Moral refers to the relative worth placed on human relationships.  The concept of character thus implies not only the action toward other people, but also an individual's motives and intentions toward other people.

The word character is derived from a Greek word charakter, that was orginally used to signify a mark impressed upon a coin - thus "character".  Later and more generally, the word character came to mean a point in which one thing can be seen as separate from another as in the facial character-istics of a small nose, large eyes, receeding chin, and so forth which were distinctive of each person. Even later, this notion grew into application as to how one person treated another - about how one individual could be measured or judged differently from another individual in how they treat others. 

Moral character can imply a variety of attributes including the existence or lack of virtues such as integrity, courage, fortitude, honesty, and loyalty, or of good behaviors or habits. Moral character primarily refers to the assemblage of qualities that distinguish one individual from another - although on a cultural level, the set of moral behaviors to which a social group adheres can be said to unite and define it culturally as distinct from others.

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