The Standard; Volume 6

by Felix Adler, American Ethical Union

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324 pages, Paperback

Published February 17, 2018

About the author

German-born American educator and reformer Felix Adler in 1876 founded the society for ethical culture, an organization, dedicated to the teaching of ideals.

The effort of people to live moral lives involved and applied this foremost philosopher. People frequently list his name alongside those of leaders Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Confucius, and Socrates. From the very basic premise of Immanuel Kant that moral worth of each and every person deserves both dignity and respect, Adler began.

Adler argued for the idea that each person act in a manner in accordance with and ideal of "self-actualization" and compatible with the social nature of humans. In this way, he like Immanuel Kant, a moral perfectionist, measures each action against a standard of perfection, which he summed as "Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself."

Adler frequently emphasized the need to develop a virtuous self, not in pursuit of some other goal but rather as a goal: "A virtuous act is one in which the ends of self and of the other are respected and promoted jointly."

Major Works:
Creed and Deed (1877)
The Moral Instruction of Children (1892)
The World Crisis and its Meaning (1915)
An Ethical Philosophy of Life (1919)
The Reconstruction of the Moral Ideal (1924)

Specializations:
Kantian Ethics
Ethics & Applied Ethics
Moral Education
Ethical Culture