ERIC Number: EJ985317
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2002-Feb
Pages: 11
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1857
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Virtue of Taking Responsibility
de Ruyter, Doret
Educational Philosophy and Theory, v34 n1 p25-35 Feb 2002
The importance of taking responsibility for the well-being of others or responding to the needs of others, be it concrete persons nearby, anonymous persons or (in)animus objects, is beyond dispute. However, people seem to live in an age where it is not common to look after the well-being of others, at least that is the message one gets from the media as well as from research. Statistics show that delinquency is growing, especially juvenile delinquency and people seem to be less interested in each other, let alone in each other's well-being. The author believes that it is possible to educate children towards persons who feel they should respond to the needs of others and should attribute to others' well-being. Before describing how to teach children to take responsibility, the author wants to give more clarity about the meaning of "responsibility" and about the capacities and dispositions of a responsible person. These topics are addressed in the next two sections. These sections will also show that it is not only possible that people take too little responsibility, but also that they take it too much. To substantiate this evaluation, however, the notion of taking too much responsibility needs to be elucidated, which will be the focus of the fourth section. The final section offers a general description of educating children to take responsibility, which is based on the described capacities and dispositions of a virtuous responsible person. (Contains 4 notes.)
Descriptors: Responsibility, Caring, Interpersonal Relationship, Well Being, Prosocial Behavior, Mass Media Effects, Delinquency, Moral Values, Individual Characteristics, Personal Autonomy, Interpersonal Competence, Socialization, Role of Education, School Role, Teacher Role
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A