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Abstract
Recently, there have been popular books that advocate placing a serious emphasis on character education such as The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett.1 More substantially, there have been various philosophical works which call for a revival of what might be called character or virtue ethics. For instance, Alasdair MacIntyre maintains in After Virtue that moving away from thinking about ethics in the way it was approached by the Greeks, with a central concern on cultivating virtue and excellence in action, was a serious mistake.2 Virtue ethics possesses deep historical importance and its roots are directly traceable in Western philosophy to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Today, virtue enjoys a new prestige, and owing to its long eclipse it seems a notion full of promise, unlike the all-too-familiar language of rights and duties.”3 The topic of the proper role for virtue within morality possesses contemporary relevance as well.