Felix Adler was one of the foremost philosophers involved with applied ethics and the effort of people to live moral lives. When it comes to listing ethical leaders, Felix Adler's name is frequently listed alongside those of Gandhi, Confucius, and Socrates. Adler began from the very basic Kantian premise that each and every person has moral worth and is deserving of both dignity and respect.Adler argued for the idea that each person should act in a manner that is in accordance with and ideal of "self-actualization" and is compatible with the social nature of human beings. In this way he was, like Immanuel Kant, a moral perfectionist: each action is measured against a standard of perfection which he summed up as "Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself."Adler frequently emphasized the need to develop a virtuous self, not in pursuit of some other goal but rather as a goal in itself: "A virtuous act is one in which the ends of self and of the other are respected and promoted jointly."Major Works:Creed and Deed (1877)The Moral Instruction of Children (1892)The World Crisis and its Meaning (1915)An Ethical Philosophy of Life (1919)The Reconstruction of the Moral Ideal (1924)Specializations:Kantian EthicsEthics & Applied EthicsMoral EducationEthical Culture
