After many successful, but stressful, years in the corporate business world, Ed and Chris Loving have retired to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina where they have established a wonderful bed and breakfast. This idyllic life style is jolted to its roots when a guest, a nationally known and universally despised business tycoon, is found dead on their property.

It quickly comes to light that during Ed Loving's banking career the victim had a very public and hostile relationship with his innkeeper. Ed is determined to resolve the mystery and preserve his beloved inn's valuable reputation. His less than subtle approach to these matters leaves several other innkeepers, various civic leaders, and the local media utterly exasperated.

The surprising twist of events at the end highlights how real people endure moments of great stress and confrontation with those around them; and ultimately how these fractured relationships and strong emotions could destroy lives.

This work was originally issued as a two-volume set, published in 1987 and 1988. It constitutes the definitive presentation of the system of classifying moral judgment built up by Lawrence Kohlberg and his associates over a period of twenty years. Researchers in human development and education around the world, many of whom have worked with interim versions of the system - indeed, all those seriously interested in understanding the development of moral judgment - will find it a useful and accessible resource. Volume 1 reviews Kohlberg's stage theory, and the large body of research on the significance and utility of his moral stages. Issues of reliability and validity are addressed. The volume ends with detailed instructions for using the reference sections, which are presented in volume 2.

Although many people believe that this is a barren time for moral leadership in this country, in Some Do Care, Anne Colby and William Damon show that moral heroes do exist. Drawing on in-depth interviews they offer a revealing look into the lives of twenty-three Americans who have provided exemplary moral leadership. Some Do Care traces the lives and goals of these dedicated people from their first moral awakening in childhood to the wisdom and enduring moral commitment of their later years. Drawing on these lives, the authors offer new insights into the role of faith and the importance of role models.

Cynicism often seems a smarter choice than idealism, and there are seemingly good reasons for this. Politicians have disappointed us time and again, trusted institutions have proven silf-serving and corrupt, and social inequities persist and increase, unabated by even the grandest of charitable efforts. Moreover, trends in contemporrary moral psychology support this bleak view of the human condition. Famous studies have shown that we have an almost unlimited potential for cruelty when placed in the wrong situations. Other studies imply that our moral responses are dictated by inborn biological intuitions, or that people do little more than act out conventional cultural scripts when confronted with moral chices. The Power of Ideals presents a different vision, supported by a different kind of evidence. It examines the lives and work of six 20th century moral leaders who pursued moral causes ranging from world peace to social justice and human rights. Using these six cases to illustrate how people can make choices guided by their moral convictions, rather than by base emotion or social pressures, authors William Damon and Anne Colby explore the workings of three virtues: inner truthfulness, humility, and faith. Through their portrayal of the noble lives of moral leaders, the authors argue that everyone -including those of us with ordinary lives - can exercise control over important life decisions and pursue ideals that inspire us. The Power of Ideals offers a hopeful and much-needed vision for moral progress in the worl. This message flies in the face of contemporary thought in moral psychology, much of which has drawn mainstream media coverage in recent years. But the more accurate, constructive, and inspiring view in The Power of Ideals provides a sound basis for helping all people achieve their moral potentials. The Power of Ideals offers a needed and hopeful vision for personal well-being, for rebuilding trust among disillusioned citizens, for the flourishing of democracy, and for moral progress in the world.

This work was originally issued as a two-volume set, published in 1987 and 1988. It constitutes a definitive presentation of the system of classifying moral judgment built up by Lawrence Kolberg and his associates over a period of twenty years. Researchers in human development and education around the world, many of whom have worked with interim versions of the system - indeed, all those seriously interested in understanding the development of moral judgment - will find it a useful and accessible resource. Volume 2 includes the scoring systems for three alternate, functionally equivalent forms of Kohlberg's moral judgment interview.