Customer Reviews

The Death of Character: Moral Education in an Age Without Good or Evil

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2 star:		(1)
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The sociologist J. D. Hunter performs a tremendous service by diagnosing the reasons for the failure of current character education programs. In a nutshell, these programs have assimilated the methodological and philosophical assumptions of modern psychology, specifically its emphasis upon self-esteem and the notion of an innate moral disposition discovered through self-actualization. Character, however, is, according to Hunter, the product of sociation within communities in which the individual is under an externally-imposed authority. While the book strongly implies that pre-modern views of moral education had it essentially right, Hunter is critical of neo-classicists such as Wm. Bennett who neglect the fact that moral precepts cannot be lifted out of their particular moral traditions without serious loss of meaning. In this, Hunter is clearly indebted to the work of Alasdair MacIntyre, who is infrequently cited. Hunter clearly cannot be expected to capture this debate in all its complexity; nevertheless, he never addresses the single most important objection to his (and MacIntyre's) view of the particularity of practical reason: that it leads inevitably to relativism. Still, this is an extremely valuable book for anyone interested in character education, particularly regarding the relationship of character education to worldview commitments. It will also be of value to those who seek to understand the influence of modern Romanticism on 20th-century ideas and institutions, particularly within public education circles. One further note: the book is well-written and -researched, with a fine bibliography.

Author James Davison Hunter is a very smart man who does a great job of tracing the changes in moral and social temperament over the years to show how weakened values and ideals have made their way into today's youth. "The Death of Character" has lots of important things to say about the "transformation of moral education" (the title of the book's largest part), and though Mr. Hunter's views are erudite, his writing is really hard to absorb. I'd be inclined to rate this more highly were it not for the fact that it took me forever to read. This book would be great as a university text.

Much of what is explained about how our children are turning out revolves around three strategies for moral education: psychological, neoclassical, and communitarian. I learned quite a bit reading about these approaches and their influence on not only "why Johnny can't read," but more importantly, "why Johnny lacks character." There's some good stuff to contemplate, and I found myself comparing my formative educational years with those of today's school kids. Yep, big difference. What Mr. Hunter has to say about the state of our youngsters must certainly be frustrating to the typical parent; however, there's not much in this book that addresses what to do about it. Disappointing in that regard.

Each page of "The Death of Character" is chock full of well-referenced, expository writing: full of discussion, argument and expanded viewpoints. Although truly interested in grasping all that Mr. Hunter had to convey, I found myself getting bogged down amidst cumbersome wording within too many long sentences that had me reading them over and over again to zero in on the point. My mind wandered frequently. The more than sixty(!) pages of notes were occasionally intimidating (some notes cover multiple pages of even tinier type).

Overall, the importance of the topics covered were outweighed by the low "readability factor." I'd have to tackle this book again to get out of it what I'd expected.

JD Hunter has written an interesting and yet ultimately unsatisfying account of the state of moral education in the United States. Where the book is successful is in tracing the history of moral education in the US - beginning with the first colonists and extending up through most of the major efforts of today. He also does an interesting job in showing the dominance of psychological thinking - even among that school's supposedly staunchest critics. While "conservative" critics attack the foundations of much of the mainstream moral education and its reliance on how one feels... underneath it, they have embraced many of those same ideas.

Where the book falls short however is putting it all in context. I finished the book and was left saying "and where does that leave us?" As the father of two young boys, I guess I was hoping for some more concrete ideas at the finish. That said, this book is still worth reading by anyone who is interested in the moral education of our children and leaves you with much to think about.

Character education is an inherent part of teachers' jobs. Whether intended or not, students learn just as much from the examples teachers set as the curriculum they teach. Formal character education, however, has become a recent outgrowth of growing concerns that our schools are not doing what they should to impart the common culture, or that schools are the panacea for society's ills.

Programs attempting to remedy these needs of society have been around as long as public schools have existed. As Hunter points out, these programs are not just a sign of the demand that exists, but are also a measure of the intensity of our fears.

Strategies we have devised, Hunter asserts, aggravate rather than ameliorate the problem. This comprehensive study of the history and philosophy behind the character education movement provides an insightful view of just why our best intentions tend to go awry when these attempts are administered.

Perhaps what we should be questioning is whether these are truly our best attempts. As Hunter says, "One need not listen very long to realize that children have become a code for speaking about ourselves. In claiming to put children first, we often place them last -- or at least subordinate to ideology."

This is a recommended read to any parents, teachers, or administrators thinking of putting into place a structured character education program in a school.

While I did not agree with all of Hunter's arguments, I highly reccommend this book. Hunter provides a thoughtful examination of the history of moral education and how contemporary character education, although well-intentioned, does little to improve the morality of youth. Character, as defined by Aristotle, requires not only knowing the good but being able to reason about it. This wisdom, or what Aristotle called phronesis, is something that is overlooked in our modern climate of fast, easy, and scientifically "proven" methods. Hunter makes a profound argument as to how both character education and psychological approaches perpetuate, rather than ameliorate the problem of thin and narrow moral understandings. However, disagree with Hunter's sentiment that the problem is unsolvable (as is clearly suggested by his title). ...but that is another issue altogether. Don't get me started!

While I did not agree with all of Hunter's arguments, I highly reccommend this book. Hunter provides a thoughtful examination of the history of moral education and how contemporary character education, although well-intentioned, does little to improve the morality of youth. Character, as defined by Aristotle, requires not only knowing the good but being able to reason about it. This wisdom, or what Aristotle called phronesis, is something that is overlooked in our modern climate of fast, easy, and scientifically "proven" methods. Hunter makes a profound argument as to how both character education and psychological approaches perpetuate, rather than ameliorate the problem of thin and narrow moral understandings. However, disagree with Hunter's sentiment that the problem is unsolvable (as is clearly suggested by his title). ...but that is another issue altogether. Don't get me started!

Most of Hunter's writing, with it's cumbersome, lengthy sentences full of sociological jargon, is hard to read, and the tiny type (10 point?) doesn't help. The section on the history of the techniques used for the moral education of our children, from the 18th century forward, is more straightforward. In the U.S., we started with commonly-held morals based on biblical commands and progressed to each of us making up his own individual set of values. The author is pessimistic about things getting any better. Don't look for solutions to the problems he enumerates. Rather, he sees us sliding down a slippery slope of disintegrating morals into eventual chaos. Honestly, if I'd known what the book would be like, I wouldn't have bought it. Having bought it, if someone had told me what it would be like, I wouldn't have read it. On the other hand, it was fascinating to see, from the history he details, just how we got from there to here.

Hunter blames the problems in modern society on a lack of moral education, which he says results from multinational capitalism, pluralism, social mobility, contemporary media, popular culture, and the changing nature of relationships in America. The scope of this book is broad but worthwhile.