“Moral formation” can sound unacceptably paternalistic and insufferably moralistic. But if virtue has something to do with our flourishing as human beings, if the content of our character is connected to our ability to “make a success of life,” then moral formation is what we owe the rising generation.

The Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia has released The Necessity of Character: Moral Formation and Leadership in Our Time, a landmark volume edited by James Mumford and Ryan S. Olson. The book features essays by James Arthur (Harvard & Jubilee Centre), Kristján Kristjánsson (Jubilee Centre), Eranda Jayawickreme (Wake Forest), James Davison Hunter (Virginia), Angel Adams Parham (Virginia), Talbot Brewer (Virginia), James Rahn (Kern Family Foundation), Michael Crow and Ted Cross (Arizona State University), Dan Porterfield (Aspen Institute), Rita Koganzon (North Carolina), Jeff Rosen (National Constitution Center), Michael Lamb (Wake Forest), Andreas Schleicher (OECD), Yuval Levin (American Enterprise Institute), Erika Bachiochi (Abigail Adams), Walter Kim (National Association of Evangelicals), Rabbi Mark Gottlieb (Tikvah Fund), Abir Catovic (Islamic Schools of North America), and several others.

This book was inspired by volume 26, issue 1 of The Hedgehog Review, titled “Missing Character,” published in the spring of 2024. The Necessity of Character introduces new readers to six of those essays and supplements that fine issue with insights from leaders and thinkers who have given their lives to the formation of good children, wise leaders, and virtuous citizens. They, with us, are taking a stand on the necessity of character. Their admirable words and inspiring examples are needed now more than ever.

The Necessity of Character is available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book from Amazon.com. The collaboration was facilitated by the Moral Ecology Trust at IASC/Virginia.