Moral Education, Moral Character, and the Virtues

Contrary to the claim of Lawrence Kohlberg that moral virtues are arbitrary standards of character because virtue words lack descriptive content , it is argued that the moral virtues and judgement are indispensible to one another and to the development of moral character. The case is made by a careful analysis of the concepts habit and virtue. It is shown that virtues are not habits, that some virtues are forms of self-control, and that those which are entail right judgement and there in describe moral character.