(Humility, respect and courage; 01-02; p.3)

The tasks of forming a young person's character and stimulating the development of cognitive structures are delegated to teachers in kindergarten and primary school. That may be appreciated as it is in line with findings of developmental psychologists. For that reason by the way demands to increase the amount of markable piles of knowledge already at primary school level start at the wrong end. To focus on a catalogue of virtues instead is at least debatable since there cannot be an ultimate consensus about its contents: Who shall be authorised by what to determine contents and which arguments are to be accepted and are the suggested contents mandatory or not?

As a bottom line stimulation to develop a certain stance could be thought of that eventually leads to a formation of personality. Main points of this stance could be humility against the existence of something more than individual i.e. norms based on ethics or religion , respect for the individual as accepting the equality of beings different, and courage to find one's own point of view especially facing (wrong) authorities. That way, education towards responsible adults may be furthered and that could prove useful for society. At least even Adam Smith, usually known for the foundation of liberal views on economy, has been primarily a philosopher of morals i.e. his views on economy had its roots in the presumption of individuals acting as moral beings.

(end of article)