Moral Development

Moral excellence is of a soul acting as a concordant total, brought to unity. - Plotinus, Enneads 6,9,1

To live attuned to one's highest parts at any time, at any steps, may be a working element in sound moral and also sound moral development. It means "Follow your heart."

Disturbing findings

Over and above largely unverified and conventional opinions of other Besserwissers in this field, Abraham Maslow says the best humans are the real yardsticks, and the best are not average people, but different from that. He speaks for "plus deviants". The Bell curve of how qualities and much else are distributed among folks, illustrates his points nicely. Maslow also has much good to say about what marks those who tend to their individual sides. Some may not be thought of as valuable and moral, but they are anyway, he finds - some are unconvential, but fine.

Acquiring knowledge and systematizing the universe have been considered as . . . for the intelligent person, expressions of self-actualization. Also freedom of inquiry and expression have been discussed as preconditions of satisfaction of the basic needs. (Maslow 1987, 23)

Let there be room for curiosity, philosophizing, experimenting - also for budding impulses to know, to explain, and to understand. They can help you on too. A decent community must allow for one's personal growth and growth as an individual (which is different, has uniqueness) and not down any of them. (Ibid., 21)

We have very little scientific information about the belongingness need of persons who are torn from their homes and families, friends, neighbors and one's local traditions and ways. Instead of being thoroughly okayed as natives, many functional, enabled parts of oneself seem more or less sacrificed on the altar of urbanisation, which is marked by increasing worsening of many such ties and traditions, or breakdown them. In our society the thwarting of the needs of belongingness and cameraderie can be "the most commonly found core in cases of maladjustment and more severe pathology", along with thwarting of the love needs, Maslow further points out. (Ibid., 20-21)

In urban settings our positive emotions need to be gratified and well served. It could have good social effects, as far as the individual is also a citizen. Then, as Maslow says, "even though most people are doomed to wish for what they do not have, it is nevertheless useful to work for greater satisfaction for all." (Ibid., 42)

In urban environments our instinctlike, basic need are subject to frustrations, and may therefore require different sorts of special help, even psychotherapeutic ones. And most of all, self- actualization may help interpersonal relations too.

Now there are personality types to take into account too. It could be better to take a look at OCEAN profiles of people. The OCEAN factors (read: parametres) are probably the best research personality factors to date.