Character Education and Human Flourishing

That education plays a vital role in helping individuals to develop their virtues and thus to cultivate their character is obvious to anyone who wants to see individuals and communities flourish. From at least the time of the Greeks, though likely long before, human beings have understood that if we are to reach our full potential, both personally and collectively, we must receive “the right education,” as Plato wrote in the Republic, one geared toward character development. And yet, while many of us recognise the impact formal education has on human flourishing, we often overlook the forces at work in our society that shape our conception of the good life. Our understanding of flourishing is formed as much by the culture we live in as the classrooms we learn in. The work that falls under this tributary is dedicated to exploring the ways character is shaped through the discipline of psychology which has risen to a place of prominence in contemporary culture.