Virtue Ethics & Core Values

"Only by choosing to be moral for no other reason than that it is the right thing to do can a young person begin the process of freely habituating the virtue. If he chooses the right thing, but that choice is attended by rewards or threats, or perhaps is graded by an instructor, or perhaps is viewed by his friends, then as Jesus said so long ago, "He has his reward." In other words, religious and military education environments tend to make it nearly impossible for their young people to freely choose virtuous activity, since every kind of action is legislated and every individual act is graded, evaluated, and noted. Thus, the opportunity to choose moral action for its own sake, for oneself, evaporates."