Epilogue: Future Directions

What is it about?

As the term “Epilogue” suggests, in our edited volume Critical Thinking in Moral Development this piece follows an Introduction by the two of us and sixteen chapters from seventeen contributors. Those chapters touch on the topic from the perspectives of philosophy, psychology, education, and assessment. Then in the Epilogue we present a brief overview of research that has been done on the topic by Kohlberg, Rest, Beißert and Hasselhorn, Ellemers, and a number of others. Also, we suggest further paths to explore by referring to some specific work related to cognitive science such as Hanno Sauer’s Moral Thinking, Fast and Slow (Routledge, 2019) and the rejuvenation of the study of practical wisdom found in Kristjansson and Fower’s Phronesis: Retrieving Practical Wisdom in Psychology, Philosophy, and Education (Oxford University Press, 2024). Furthermore, we suggest that more attention could be fruitfully paid to “eastern” philosophical perspectives in relation to critical thinking and moral development. Finally, we note that greater attention needs to be paid to how social institutions can aid or hinder critical thinking and moral development. Frank Fair and Daniel Fasko, Jr.

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