A $3.9 million grant from the Templeton Religion Trust has been awarded Wake Forest University to fund a search for moral superstars.
The Beacon Project, a three-year initiative to find and define the morally exceptional and better understand how to improve moral character, will be led by Wake Forest professor of psychology William F. Fleeson. The team includes R. Michael Furr, professor of psychology; Eranda Jayawickreme, assistant professor of psychology; Christian B. Miller, professor of philosophy; and Angela Knobel, associate professor of philosophy at Catholic University of America.
The grant is among the largest ever received for social sciences research at Wake Forest. “A lot of attention has been paid to intellectual genius, but the morally exceptional represent a form of ‘genius’ that also deserves attention,” Fleeson said.
The multi-faceted approach will include:
• Competitions for psychology, philosophy and theology scholars around
the world seeking funding for research on the morally exceptional
• Research projects by Wake Forest psychology and philosophy professors
• Two research conferences and a summer seminar
• A website with project activities and resources
• A campus reading group and lecture series.
“At the heart of this project is figuring out what makes people good,” said R. Michael Furr, a member of the research team. Researchers will look at those who have been publicly recognized for moral virtue but will also study next-door neighbor moral heroes who have not gotten widespread attention. The goal is to kickstart a new subfield of study that will eventually get meaningful conversations started with parents and educators.
“When I see all the suffering, cruelty and exploitation in the world, I feel like I need to do something about it. If we figure out what makes people morally exceptional,” says Fleeson, “then we could eventually understand how to increase morality all around us, from everyday life to global leadership.”