ABSTRACT
'Moral development' is in inverted commas for two reasons: it is the official title for specific studies in post-Piagetian psychology; and its meaning is unclear, both when it acts as this official title and when it is used in a wider sense. In moral education especially, where the 'affective' or 'motivational' side is unusually important, people must not undervalue those non-cognitive processes which are essential for the acquisition of attitudes and dispositions. It is possible to produce a procedure or modus operandi for bringing the disciplines, and the experience of practising teachers, to bear on moral development. Though all men are rational in the minimal sense of being conscious, language-using creatures, few are very rational in the wider sense of being disposed to be reasonable in the moral area. It is commonly said, for instance, that the study of literature is useful for moral development.
