This study sets out the main points in Leonardo Polo's theory of moral development, which systematically articulates goods, norms, and virtues. To make them easier to understand, each point has been compared with Kohlberg's theory of moral development, which is well known to specialists and radically different to it. We have chosen three aspects…

I argue that Spinoza attributes to society the role of moral educator, a role that is to be carried out via Religion and Politics and hence also via an educational system. In his account, the social body is given the task of applying and transmitting a notion of virtue whose criterion is enhanced freedom, yet that freedom paradoxically must be…

In the contemporary world, there is a growing need for socially responsible and ethical leadership. Therefore, training future business leaders in the field of professional ethics and social responsibility is an important task of modern university education. To solve it, the participation of scientists and university teachers in the creation and…

In this paper, I investigate the potential of a Kantian account of moral education to facilitate the development of humanity towards much-needed change in individual and collective responses to global problems such as climate change. Kant's account of moral development is focused on the internal motivation for and not the external result of…

The article discusses the importance of quantitative empirical character assessment for better understanding the formation of character and for promoting virtue and thereby also human flourishing. Attention is given to a number of challenges in developing character survey items along with criteria for evaluating items and examples of successes and…

This essay focuses on epiphanies -- moments when an insight or revelation captures our attention and summons us to become a better version of ourselves. The role of epiphanies in moral transformation, however, raises a potentially troublesome question. Namely, is the cultivation of epiphanies yet another vexed attempt at moral education? Kevin…

In this essay Dustin Webster argues that it is not the teaching of academics, but instead contributing to the ethical development of students that allows teachers to flourish in their roles. Engaging in what he calls "ethics education" provides intrinsic value that serves a teacher's flourishing as well as adding instrumental value in…

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…

This article explores the role of educators in our current environment, where truth and truthfulness must fight their corner in a world of 'alternative facts'. The article opens with a review of the effects of the 24/7 news cycle on our sense of the overall well-being of the world, then discusses the meaning of moral identity and questions whether…

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the effect of a curricular application of the integrative ethical education (IEE) model (Narvaez, 2006; Narvaez & Bock, 2014) and its effect on first-year college students' ethical development. Using a pretest posttest design, participants' moral judgment and reasoning were measured…

The role of exemplification and exemplars is receiving increasing attention in educational theory. Usually, this is connected to emulation models in character and moral education. Exemplars in this framework are those who show us how to act and what to do, and inspire us emotionally to improve. In Hannah Arendt's unfinished work on judgement, the…

While Spinoza stipulates an ideal moral person in the propositions on the 'free man' in "Ethics" IV, this account does not seem to be intended to function as a pedagogical tool of political relevance. Hence, it does not seem to correspond to the purpose of moral exemplarism. If we look for that kind of practical guidance, Spinoza's…

In her Exemplarist Moral Theory, Linda Zagzebski argues that we can empirically discover the meaning of moral terms like 'virtue' and 'the good life' by direct reference to moral exemplars -- those people we admire as morally exceptional. Her proposal is promising, because (1) moral exemplars play an important motivating role in moral education,…

This article explores the implications for Christian religious education of the theory of moral virtues formulated by Thomas Aquinas and developed by the contemporary Neo-Thomists. The analysis is divided into two parts. The first part introduces Thomistic virtue theory and presents cardinal virtues crucial for Thomistic ethics: prudence, justice,…

With the all-encompassing pace of development in communication and information technology, the planet is constantly changing over time, yet the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. The research questions of this study are as follows: (1) Is there a significant different in students' values before exposure to the-learning platform, and…