Becoming a Moral Person – Moral Development and Moral Character Education as a Result of Social Interactions

M. Christen et al. (eds.), Empirically Informed Ethics: Morality between Facts and Norms, Library of Ethics and Applied Philosophy 32, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-01369-5_13, © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014 It is commonly assumed that humans do not begin life with moral character or virtue. Most documented societies through history considered infants to be unformed persons, not yet moral members of society, “humanity-in-becoming” who have “watery souls” (Fijian) (Sahlins 2008: 101–102). This person-becoming view fits well with human sciences today, as a child’s development is viewed as the unfolding and co-construction of a complex dynamic system. At first, the infant is coconstructed by other complex, dynamic systems—caregivers. The personality that is formed is very much dependent on this early formation, which is largely beyond the control of the individual. However, over time, the individual takes on more choices about her or his own character development within the framework of subsequent social experience and enculturation.