Ways How Can Moral Character Be Developed

Moral character is the product of our repeated actions, behaviors, habits and emotions. Thus, an individual must undergo a certain process for moral character to develop as no one is born virtuous. We begin to acquire knowledge during our childhood wherein family plays a significant role in instilling particular values and beliefs. This values are the foundation of our moral standards. In how can moral character be developed essay will be discussed ways how we can develop our moral characters. 

During adolescence, we begin to explore our self and the world. During this stage, we begin to form habits which we acquire from forming relationships with others. In this stage, we also look for role model, someone who we look up for. It is important to note that we must look for good role model, those with virtuous character, because they will affect how we mold our character. As we interact with different people (i.e. peers, school or organizations) we begin to acquire different views which become our basis of determining proper actions with consideration to laws and culture.

Many philosophers also suggest various models on how we actually develop character. Social Learning Theory of Bandura suggest that during childhood we learned certain behaviour through observation and imitation of others. For instance, a child who uses bad words to express his anger because adult do the same. Sigmund Freud Psychoanalytic Theory emphasized that one's character can be affected by childhood conflicts. For instance, whenever a child make mistakes his parents beat him as punishment. When he grew up he might be violent and he'll think that beating someone when they make mistakes is normal. Piaget suggest that character develop through one's continuous acquisition of knowledge and interactions with the environment. He presented three stages one undergo to develop moral reasoning which are stated below:

1. Moral Realism - children can now distinguish right and wrong but still rely on adults to make a decision. In this stage, they believe that adults, judgement are morally right and just. They also viewed a situation on a limited perspective.

2. Morality of Reciprocity - children have already gained knowledge of rules and learn that there are several appropriate options to resolve a problem. This is due to the fact that they start to use logic and uses hypothesis to comprehend situations.

3. Mature Adult Thinking - moral issues are addressed through practical decision-making. An individual now incorporate ethics to analyze the complexity of moral issues and to come up with appropriate action.

In summary, moral character is a product of all our emotions, knowledge and action. Our feelings and values acquired all throughout our life, knowledge of what is right or wrong based on learned moral codes and our ability to decide what appropriate action must take are purely a reflection of our character.