Moral educators are faced with a number of polarizing trends, both in the political divide between liberals and conservatives and in the ideological divide between moral reasoners and character educators. Recent empirical research in psychology and anthropology, as exemplified in the work of Jonathan Haidt, has indicated that both kinds of polarization may have an evolutionary foundation. Our contribution is to evaluate the philosophical implications of such findings, and to place them within the cultural history of moral education. We also (...) consider options in practical pedagogy for moral educators. (shrink)

Burke's theory of the sublime helps us understand how we use aesthetic values to deal with our political regimes. Insofar as political regimes use power, they can be experienced as sublime. The sublime experience is a power exchange, from object to subject. But it might also be a power drain, which would leave us helpless toward our regimes. Includes analyses of the uses of beauty and sado-masochism.