On Becoming Responsible

Michael Pritchard's study of individual morality is set in the trenches - in life as it is actually lived. The view of morality Pritchard presents is pluralistic, complex, and down-to-earth. Pritchard rejects the premise that moral development begins in self-interest, citing evidence of empathy and moral connectedness in very young children. Drawing essential elements from the work of Reid, Strawson, Rawls, Kohiberg, and Gilligan, he builds a comprehensive framework for tracing moral development from childhood - one that allows human morality to be grounded in both reason and emotion and that recognises the importance to morality of justice and rights as well as caring and responsibility. Pritchard's work is both a product of and a contribution to the field of moral psychology that began in the 1960s as a blending of philosophical theories on morality and ethics with insights from psychological theory on human development and moralbehaviour. Through his essays run the common threads of moral education, the complexity of ingredients and influences in moral life, and the concept of personal integrity.