Some Do Care: Contemporary Lives of Moral Commitment [Hardcover]

Anne Colby (Author), William Damon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1992

Aims to provide a psychological account of 23 contemporary moral exemplars who have provided moral leadership in communities across the United States. Typically, these people have worked for the poor, fought for civil rights, and generally dedicated their lives to the good of others.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In profiling 23 Americans whose lives stand in marked contrast to what they see as the nation's general dearth of moral leaders, two developmental psychologists temper their social science approach with a sense of wonder. Closely scrutinizing personal histories, Colby (coauthor of The Measurement of Moral Justice ) and Damon ( The Moral Child ) delve deeply into the autobiographical origins of their subjects' contributions to civil welfare, social justice, the fight against poverty and a host of other causes. In highlighting the lives of five exemplars with widely differing educational, social and ethnic backgrounds (including former Haverford College president Jack Coleman, noted for his "blue-collar sabbaticals"), the authors demystify heroism, stressing the ordinariness of moral commitment as it is played out in everyday social life. Their research points up how role models inspired these people toward a sense of mission, and offers new insights about how moral leadership comes about.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 325 pages
• Publisher: Free Pr; First Printing edition (September 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0029063558
• ISBN-13: 978-0029063552
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic in the field, November 2, 2000

By 

Chuck Huff (Northfield, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Some Do Care (Paperback)

Colby and Damon have authored a classic in the field of Moral development. They tell the stories of many "moral exemplars" and draw from those stories a theory of moral development in adulthood. Carol Gilligan was one of the first psychologists to present evidence that the development of the self was central to moral thought and action (though she borrowed the idea from Freud). Colby and Damon here present useful qualitative data to make this point strongly. Of course retrospective data like this is not conclusive, but it is a good piece of work to inspire more detailed data collection in the future. This work is not only a strong contribution to the psychology of moral reasoning, it is a readable book of inspirational tales of true moral exemplars.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Contemporary Lives of Moral Commitment, September 20, 2008

By 

Diana (SC, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Some Do Care: Contemporary Lives of Moral Commitment (Hardcover)

The lives of twenty-three altruistic Americans are explored in this remarkable book. Beliefs, motivations, and actions are examined and celebrated. An important contribution to education, psychology, and sociology.