Publisher's Synopsis
On the basis of a critical study of theories of moral development in the history of philosophy and in contemporary psychology, this book presents an account of morality and moral growth that draws on the themes of virtue, self-realisation and community found especially in Hegel and in Greek ethical thought.;Paul Crittenden begins with a discussion of the current problematic status of morality. He focuses primarily on the relation of morality to religion and the force of the ideas of some major critics of morality, Marx, Freud and Nietzsche. Among contemporary accounts of moral development, the author considers versions of social learning theory, Freudian theory, and the more cognitive-based views of Piaget and Kohlberg. Against this background, the second part of the book consists of historical studies of major accounts of morality in a developmental context in the writings of Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel and the line of thinkers from Hobbes to Mill associated with utilitarianism.;The author believes that such an inquiry is essential to an understanding of the issues involved in the study of moral development and sets out to recover the past philosophical practice of treating developmental questions as an important part of ethical inquiry.
