Sociological contributions for researching morality and cultivating states of moral character

ABSTRACT

There is a tendency for research on morality to focus on the individual, sometimes at the expense of context, using overly individual notions of the person. To some extent, this is an understandable consequence of disciplinary focus, and a scientific need to break phenomena down into manageable parts. I will advocate incorporating sociological perspectives for researching morality and cultivating states of moral character. This interdisciplinary approach is informed by a small group of scholars working in the spirit of virtue ethics philosophy while also adopting sociological perspectives. With a special focus on sociological habitus and philosophical hexis, improved treatment of social and contextual factors in morality research and moral education are the suggested applications for these important interdisciplinary advances.

KEYWORDS:

• Virtue
• character
• sociology
• interdisciplinary

Acknowledgments

I am extremely grateful to Professor Andrew Sayer at Lancaster University for comments on an earlier draft. I am also indebted to an anonymous reviewer and the editor of this special issue for their valuable and helpful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Archer identifies four kinds of internal conversation—the other three are not relevant to the current article.

2. Although, Margaret Archer apart, many sociologists ignore the fact that with varying degrees of success even in early life we have to learn to make choices, and to reason about things. And even later in life, major lasting changes, such as divorce or redundancy can lead to changes in practices and dispositions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David Ian Walker

Dr. David Ian Walker is Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of Alabama. He is also Director of the Center for the Study of Ethical Development. Dr. Walker’s research focuses on moral and character development and education, together with professional ethics and identity. Dr. Walker is also Principal Investigator for the ‘Educational Leadership for Character’ project funded by the Kern Family Foundation.