State Law and Moral Character Formation

Abstract

This essay is part and product of a multi-volume study of the powerful normative codes that, for better or worse, shape moral character and ethical education in late modern liberal societies. The study analyzes these normative codes across traditional social spheres of family, religion, law, politics, and markets as well as new social spheres of education, academic research, health care, the media, and the military. This essay, distilling the project's findings on law, addresses whether, how, and where various kinds of law teach values and shape moral character today. Most of the volume's contributing authors recognize a limited role for state laws in setting a basic civil morality of duty for society but also call for robust freedoms that protect private individuals and non-state groups to cultivate a higher morality of aspiration.

Keywords: Law, Character Formation, Morality of Duty, Morality of Aspiration, Freedom, Late Modern Liberal Societies