There are many significant factors, such as one’s natural temperaments and upbringing, that are outside of one’s control and affect one’s character. This calls into question one’s responsibility for one’s character, and if we are not responsible for our characters, then it seems we cannot be held responsible for the many actions that stem from them. I will show how a person can be responsible for her character and actions stemming from it despite the pervasiveness of character luck. To do this, I develop an account of character and responsibility from various passages in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Rhetoric, and Politics. The latter two texts take into consideration the ordinary citizen who has not been met with good character luck, and they teach us much concerning the way contingent factors like one’s natural temperament or upbringing can affect one’s character and actions springing from it. I argue that we can construct an account of responsibility from Aristotle’s empirically-grounded texts, the Rhetoric and Politics, that is broader than the standard account taken from the Nicomachean Ethics since it does not assume ideal conditions surrounding one’s character development and maintenance and thus can apply to more people. This view of responsibility takes into account not only control and moral awareness, but also one’s capacity to develop virtue and perform virtuous actions. This capacity can be affected by one’s natural temperaments, upbringing, or circumstances that make it easier or more difficult to develop virtue or perform virtuous actions. I finally will show how the account of character of ordinary people in Aristotle is consistent with recent findings in contemporary social psychology which is important for establishing that his moral theory passes the minimal requirement for psychological realism.

Este trabalho investiga o significado do termo tu/xh em Eurípides, sobretudo na tragédia Hipólito. \"Acaso\", \"sorte\", \"fortuna\", traduções usuais para tu/xh, sugerem o significado de äcontecimento fortuito\". Se assim fosse, de que modo esse äcasoc̈oexistiria na Tragédia com a noção, tão própria ao mundo grego, de \"destino(̈moi=ra, a)na/gkh, dai/mwn)? Na verdade, a análise das ocorrências em Eurípides demonstrou que a tu/xh não é mero äcaso\". Ao contrário, costuma ter origem divina e ser instrumento da moi=ra. A tu/xh é o destino no momento em que se precipita em acontecimento. A instabilidade da \"sorteÃ̈© categórica na vida e reiterada na Tragédia. Não é possível considerar feliz alguém que esteja vivo, pois a vida é apenas incerteza: rapidamente se pode inverter uma situação favorável. Os reveses da \"sorteätingem, em particular, aqueles que, seguros de si, se vangloriam do que são e da condição que possuem. Pertinente é o aforismo de Heráclito (frag. 119.1-120.1): hÃ…qoj a)nqrw¯pwi daimwn, ö caráter do homem é seu destinoöu ö destino do homem é seu caráter\". Há relação causal entre o caráter de um personagem trágico e aquilo que lhe sobrevém. Tal caráter é investigado através dos termos psíquicos que utiliza Eurípides para seus protagonistas (frh/n e cognatos, kardi/a, yuxh/, qumo/j, etc.).

This work investigates the meaning of the word tu/xh in Euripedes and mainly in the Hyppolytus tragedy. \"Chance\", \"luckänd \"fortunes̈uggest the meaning of \"fortuitous eventẗherefore they are usual translations for tu/xh. If it was like this, on which way would this \"chancec̈oexist in the Tragedy with the notion of \"fate(̈moi=ra, a)na/gkh, dai/mwn) that is so peculiar to the Greek world? Indeed, the analysis of the occurrences in Euripedes has demonstrated that tu/xh is not merely \"chance\". On the contrary, it is accustomed to have a divine origin and to be the instrument of moi=ra. Tu/xh is fate in the moment that it turns into happening. \"Luckïnstability is categorical in life and reiterated in the Tragedy. It is not possible to consider someone that is alive happy, because life is just uncertainness: a favorable situation may be reversed rapidly. Reverses of \"luckäffect specifically those that are self-confident and pride of themselves due to what they are and the conditions they have. Heraclitusáphorism is pertinent (frag. 119.1-120.1): hÃ…qoj a)nqrw¯pwi daimwn, ä man\'s character is his fateör ä man\'s fate is his character\". There is a relation of cause between the character of a tragic personage and what befalls him. Such character is investigated through psychic terms that Euripides uses for his protagonists (frh/n and cognates, kardi/a, yuxh/, qumo/j etc.).

Advisors/Committee Members: Rodrigues, Antonio Medina.