Abstract
The need for character education for those in public leadership is of unquestionable importance. Professor Christoph Stückelberger (University of Basel, founder of Globethics) has recently argued that ‘structural ethics’ (constitutions, policies and standards) have their merits, and that ‘there are no virtuous institutions, there are only virtuous people’. Stückelberger calls for the cultivation of virtues, especially the virtue of integrity. In recent decades, character education has received new attention. Those who call for character education most often draw from Greek traditions, especially from Aristotle. This article will explore a different source for the discussion of virtues and character. About 80 years ago, the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber proposed character education, based on what he called ‘Hebrew humanism’, as the foundation of nation-building. I will explore the continuing relevance of Buber’s view of character and character formation, taking his famous Tel Aviv speech on ‘The Education of Character’ of 1939 as a point of departure.
Highlights
The call for character formationFreedom, community, global justice, equality, responsibility, participation, peace, sharing, solidarity, trust, tolerance and sustainability are all values outlined in a book entitled Global Ethics for Leadership
It is time to sum up and return to the foundational question provoked by Stückelberger at the beginning of this study: what are the potential and the continuing relevance of Buber’s view of character and character formation for today, especially in relation to public leadership and nationbuilding?
In the context of threatened Jewish identity in the diaspora and the establishment of a Jewish nation in Palestine, Buber fervently fights for character formation as the ultimate and only solid ground for any society
Summary
Community, global justice, equality, responsibility, participation, peace, sharing, solidarity, trust, tolerance and sustainability are all values outlined in a book entitled Global Ethics for Leadership Buber speaks about the ‘personal responsibility for life and world’ and ‘the courage to shoulder life’ (Buber 1947d:115) This leads to the term ‘responsibility’, another key concept in Buber’s understanding of character. Buber argues that it is the educator’s task to help individuals to a ‘rebirth of personal unity, unity of being, unity of action – unity of being, life and action together’ (Buber 1947d:116) As mentioned earlier, he adds at the end of his lecture on character education that, in order to reach this ‘rebirth’, a person needs to be put ‘face to face with God’. The journey towards full humanity is a journey towards greater integrity, facing the realities of one’s personal life and of the surrounding world, and responding with one’s entire being to the demands of the situation in a responsible way How can such a character be formed? Such persons must be http://www.hts.org.za able to engage in deep-level relationships (cf. Buber 1982:332– 348; Keim 1990:59–104)
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