To develop fully as persons, I have argued, we need the virtues that transfer our motives from the animal to the personal center of our being—the virtues that put us in charge of our passions. These virtues are not available outside a tightly woven social context. Without socially endorsed forms of education, without families and spheres of mutual love, without the disciplined approach to erotic encounters, our social emotions will surely not be fully centered in the “I.” Human beings find their fulfillment in mutual love and self-giving, but they get to this point via a long path of
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