The death of character : moral education in an age without good or evil

337 Pages·2000·27.387 MB·English

by  Hunter, James Davison

The
D E A T H
of
CHARACTER
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D E A T H
CHARACTER
Moral Education in an Age
Without Good or Evil
JAMES DAVISON HUNTER
A Mclm7:bc.r of the Perscus Books Group
Cohvright @2000b y lames Uavison Hunter
PublisI~edb y. Basic Rooks,
A member of the Perseus Baoks Group
AI1 rights mserrred, Printed in the United States of America, No parr of this book may be reproduced
in any nlanner whatsoever without written pcrfnission except in the cdse of brief qt~t~tatioe~mzsb ocl-
ied in critical articles and revietvs, For information, address Basic Books, 387 Park Avenue South,
NCWY ak, NV 10016-8810.
Library of Collgress Cataloging-in-Publiarioll Data
The death of character : moral education in an age without good or evil i lames Uavison Hunter.
p, cm.
Indudes bibliographical refere~lcesa nd index.
ISBN 0-465-04730-0 icloth); fSRN 0-465-05177-3 (pbk.1
l. MordI edrtcation-United States. 2. Character. 3, Education-Social Aspects-tmited
States, I. Title.
K31 1 .H85 2000
370.1 1'4-4~21 00-027937
Designed by :lyef Ntrillicrnrs
For
Stan Gaede
Robert Wuthnow
and
Peter L. Berger
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"The issue is what sources can support our far-reaching
moral commitments to benevolence and justice:'
Chal-l.lw 'I'uylut; Sources of the Self
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C O N T E N T S
Acknowledgments
P~st-pl"tortem
Part One: Introduction
The Moral Lives of Children and
the Moral Life of the Nation
Character and Culture
Part Two: The Transformation
of Moral Education
The Early Modern Regime and its Transformation
The Progressive Turn in Moral Education
Excursus: The Crisis @Character . , , That lsn?, 79
The Psychological Regime
The Neoclassical and Communitarian Backlash
The Ambivalence Within Faith Communities
Pnrting. Observations: hrloral Education and
the Triumph ofthe Thempeutic, I46
Part Three: Unintended Consequences
The Impotence of Contemporary Moral Education
Excullsus: Mcrral Cultures a dT bzeir Cclursequences, 157
Lessons in Subjectivism