Full Idea
Characters are the masks worn by moral philosophies.
Gist of Idea
Characters are the masks worn by moral philosophies
Source
Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue: a Study in Moral Theory [1981], Ch. 3)
Book Reference
MacIntyre,Alasdair: 'After Virtue: a Study in Moral Theory' [Duckworth 1982], p.27
A Reaction
This may be presenting character in an excessively moral way. Being lively, for example, is a very distinctive trait of character, but hardly moral. This tells us why philosophers are interested in character, but not why other people are.