Political Virtues

Abstract

This chapter examines the conception of political virtues, a central element of political liberalism, and the relation between political virtues and the education of future citizens. The development of political and civic virtues is seen as an important step in becoming a citizen in many liberal theories, and a political liberal approach to education should be no exception. Yet, Rawls’ own account, established in A Theory of Justice and still supposed to hold after his political turn, collides with the political liberal aim not to justify political decisions on comprehensive views, including decision about civic education. For Rawls, political virtues are connected to the so-called Aristotelian Principle, an idea that can be plausibly interpreted as such a comprehensive view. To provide political liberal education with the required legitimacy, this chapter suggests replacing the Aristotelian Principle with a Humean account of virtues which remains agnostic about the underlying mechanisms that motivate virtuous behaviour in citizens. The chapter further analyses permissible teaching strategies in political virtues education and assesses justifications of indirect ways of virtue education, such as nudging and moral bio-enhancement.