Abstract
Centuries of professional and philosophical debate have never resolved whether acquired morality, like good taste, is born to some and unattainable by others. Examples abound of those who, well-born and properly educated, will ignore even the most fundamental of human norms in their conduct, like Nazi physician commandants killing prisoners, or terrorists who kill innocent people and even themselves for the sake of a cause. Examples also abound of exquisitely sensitive individuals, saints and prophets, who are widely regarded as holy persons yet themselves worry about the salvation of their own souls.1 Clearly there is a wide range of natural moral capacity and of acquired moral capacity brought about by experience or virtue.2
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Weisstub, D.N., Thomasma, D.C. (2004). Moral Capacity. In: Thomasma, D.C., Weisstub, D.N. (eds) The Variables of Moral Capacity. International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2552-5_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2552-5_10
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