Virtue theory resists empirical testing and risks causal circularity

Evidence

Virtues are a varied lot. Without agreement on which virtues are morally relevant and valid measures of practical wisdom and outcome expectations, the theory does not lend itself to empirical verification. Also, the problem of causal circularity arises if virtuous dispositions and motives are inferred from virtuous habits and then treated as the causes of such habits. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 205

Categorization

• SEED: An angle for an essay on why character-based moral theories fail falsifiability — and what social psychology data suggests instead.
• XREF: connects to: Modigliani-Miller propositions resist empirical testing because risk classes cannot be fixed — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 389