Stories and the development of virtue

Adam M. Willows

doi:10.1080/17449642.2017.1356664

Stories and the development of virtue

Adam M. Willows

Department of Religion and Theology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

2 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

From folk tales to movies, stories possess features which naturally suit them to contribute to the growth of virtue. In this article I show that the fictional exemplars help the learner to grasp the moral importance of internal states and resolves a tension between existing kinds of exemplars discussed by virtue ethicists. Stories also increase the information conveyed by virtue terms and aid the growth of prudence. Stories can provide virtuous exemplars, inform learners as to the nature of the virtues and offer practice in developing situational judgement. As such they are a significant resource for virtue ethics and moral education.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	337-350
Number of pages	14
Journal	Ethics and Education
Volume	12
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/17449642.2017.1356664
Publication status	Published - 28 Jul 2017

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Exemplars
Fiction
Learning
Stories
Virtue

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Stories and the development of virtue

Abstract

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Keywords

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