The cardinal virtues, crowned by prudence, support a vibrant and effective character education program, and function for students as guiding beacons to balanced and well-lived lives...

The Role of the Virtues in Character Education

by Sam Vanderplas

In Aesop’s fable of the miller, his son, and the donkey, the trio are criticized by passersby as they make their way to town, first for not riding the donkey, then for making the young son walk, then for leaving the elderly father to walk, and then for overburdening the donkey. After each critique, they revise their traveling formation and finally, when the miller and his son tie the donkey’s feet to a pole and carry it between them, it kicks two feet free, falls into a river, and drowns.

The miller had clearly practiced the virtues of humility and openness to counsel, but he fell miserably short in the more central virtues of prudence and temperance, and because he had emphasized non-central virtues he fell short of excellent living.

In the character education literature of the past 40 years, one will frequently find imaginative configurations of two to twenty-four or more natural virtues recommended as the foundation of a character education program. It is a good baseline to found a character education program on virtues, admirable moral qualities, rather than on values, the standards, admirable or not, of any given person. Further, the recommended virtues are usually good ones. It is best, though, to cultivate desire for the virtues that are most central to a well-lived life, so that our efforts to live well are both productive and balanced. A misplaced emphasis on a non-central virtue can undermine the whole project of areté.

The virtues hang together like a large branch that my son Jack espied one day during his outdoor play. He deemed the branch in need of relocation and tried to pick it up, but failed, as part of the branch dragged on the ground. He tried again, picking it up from a different spot, and failed for the same reason. Finally, he grasped the branch at its most substantial point, the point most central to its balance, and was able to lift it with ease. Thus do the virtues hang together, and thus is a life of excellence attainable to one who focuses his efforts on the right point.

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