Many students of philosophical and theological ethics have recently experienced a renewed interest in what may be called an ethic of virtue. Such an ethic focuses less on the concept of duty—or doing—and more on being. Central to an ethic of virtue is a division of moral life that emphasizes character and character development or moral education.

The Theory and Practice of Virtue presents a series of connected essays—drawing on the thoughts of such diverse figures as Josef Pieper, Plato Lawrence Kohlberg, and Martin Luther—which explore theories of virtue and the practical task of being virtuous. Meilaender follows his consideration of the conceptual difficulties of moral education with a discussion of the practical problems and dangers of attempting to teach virtue, and more generally, of the problems of observing an ethic which emphasizes virtue within a theology that emphasizes grace. Chapters devoted to particular virtues and vices—the vice of curiosity and the virtue of gratitude—explicitly illustrate the book's central thematic concerns.