The Character Gap: How Good Are We?

Empirical studies demonstrate that people sometimes behave in admirable ways and at other times act abominably. Miller (A.C. Reid Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest Univ.), director of the Templeton Foundation-funded Character Project, identifies some psychologically tested strategies that do, and don't, work to close the "character gap" between who people are and who they ought to be. However, while ostensibly making the religion sections optional for nonbelievers, Miller places most of his hope in conventional Christian character development tools: ritual and spiritual practices, a supportive religious community and role models, and the divine agency of the Holy Spirit. His focus is on Christianity (i.e., contemporary American biblical evangelicalism—he offers readers no awareness of the variety of practices that characterize the diverse forms Christianity takes much less of other religions). Unfortunately, crucial questions of philosophy (What is the self that has character apart from behavior?) and theology (Does the Holy Spirit act as something in addition to the various causes that shape character, or is it the significance behind those causes?) never get addressed.