SOURCE: Mehl, Peter J. “Moral Virtue, Mental Health, and Happiness: The Moral Psychology of Kierkegaard's Judge William.” In International Kierkegaard Commentary: Either/Or, Part II, edited by Robert L. Perkins, pp. 155-82. Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1995.

In the following essay, Mehl examines the moral personality of Judge William within the context of recent writings on the relationship between psychology and ethics, particularly invoking the work of Owen Flanagan.

Introduction

Philosophical discussions about relationships between ethics and psychology are undergoing something of a revival. Not only is there considerable discussion about character and virtue, but many philosophers have begun to renew the classic philosophical discussion of the self and the nature of personhood, a discussion that has significant implications for how we do moral philosophy. A number of major works have appeared in this vein: Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue, Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self, Bernard Williams' Ethics...