Pursuing Moral Purpose for Human Flourishing

In this commentary, I will discuss the relationship between purpose and morality from developmental and educational perspectives based on empirical and philosophical works. Reviewing previous psychological studies, I will explore the potential association between purpose and moral development. I will also analyze a dataset including variables related to purpose and moral functioning. Furthermore, based on recent works in moral philosophy, particularly those focusing on wisdom cultivation, I propose that pursuing a purpose that embraces virtues and ethical values, instead of a non-moral purpose, will be conducive to flourishing. Finally, I will discuss the implications of moral purpose within educational contexts. While working on these points, the connection between William Damon’s two main research themes (i.e., ethical development and purpose development) will be reviewed and discussed. My primary intent is to integrate his views and works in those two dimensions of human development to propose ideas for flourishing and eudaimonic well-being.