In this paper, I explore the characteristic reason that motivates a virtuously honest person to perform honest actions. I critically examine previous accounts of honesty's characteristic motivating reason, including Christian Miller's pluralistic account, which allows various virtuous motivating reasons to count as honesty's motivation. I then…

Psychological research has revealed that there is a strong tendency for people to believe that they have a 'true self', and to believe that this true self is inherently morally good. This would seemingly be very good news for virtue theorists, since this may help to promote virtue development. While there are some obvious benefits to people having…

This paper takes issue with the exemplarist strategy of fostering virtue development with the specific goal of improving its applicability in the context of education. I argue that, for what matters educationally, we have good reasons to endorse a "liberal" account of moral exemplarity. Specifically, I challenge two key assumptions of…

Student misconduct continues to trouble institutions, negatively affecting institutional mission fulfillment. Although student codes of conduct and related processes exist to establish standards and address behavioral concerns, little research has proactively explored what characteristics impact student moral behavior intentions and understanding,…

Although whether a teacher of philosophical ethics should explicitly endorse any theory or position has been a topic of decades-long debate, there is little empirical analysis of the effects of instructor advocacy or neutrality on students' moral development. Our study represents a step toward closing that gap. Using a quasi-experimental design,…

To better understand the ethical decision-making process and why individuals fail to act ethically, the aim of this article is to explore what are seen as the key impediments to ethical behavior and their pedagogical implications. Using the ethical decision-making process proposed by Rest as an overarching framework, the article examines the…

This article offers an account of the understanding citizens need in order to justify moral principles in the public sphere and it identifies an important role for moral education in the promotion of that civic understanding. I develop this account through a contrastive analysis of Phillip Kitcher's conception of public knowledge and Jurgen…

With the aid of techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, neuroscience is providing a new perspective on human behaviour. Many areas of psychology have recognised and embraced the new technologies, methodologies and relevant findings. But how do the tools of neuroscience affect the fields of moral development and moral education?…

Explores the relationship between dispositions (i.e., continuities of inclinations and habits), episodic behavior, emotions, and desires; and the development of moral autonomy. Argues that autonomy requires a settled disposition toward the good. Contrasts theories of autonomy based on wants/desires and on ideals. (AYC)

Reports on a 3-year study of 855 adults who quantified reasons for choosing 1 conflicting behavior with another. Finds that, when the reasons to do something are roughly equal to the reasons against doing it, extraneous effects from the participants "life-world" often interfere as moral temptations. (CFR)

Viewing illegitimacy from an individualist, deviant behavior frame of reference has not been useful because of the high prevalence of illegitimacy. Theories attributing illegitimacy to the social marginality of subcultures are inadequate to explain illegitimacy among working class and middle class children. Theories based on the notion that…