The Dark Side of the Exceptional. On Moral Exemplars, Character Education, and Negative Emotions, in “Journal of Moral Education”, 2018, DOI: 10.1080/03057240.2018.1534089, pp. 287-305. (con M. S. Vaccarezza).

The purpose of this paper is that focusing on negative exemplarity-related emotions (NERE), and on their educational implications. If it is true that exemplars can inspire gratitude, moral awe, and admiration or elevation, it is also undeniable that seeing one’s moral exceptionality may in some cases elicit negative emotions, such as envy, guilt and shame. How, then, should educators deal with these reactions? In this paper, we will first argue for the non-expendability of negative emotions broadly conceived (sect. 2), by defending their instrumental and intrinsic role towards a good and flourished life. In sect. 3, we will make such claim more specific, by focusing on the narrower domain of NERE, so as to argue for their moral and educational significance by evaluating whether they fit the arguments provided in the previous section. In sect. 4, we will propose three educational strategies to foster NERE’s positive moral role. In conclusion, we will point out that an Exemplarist approach to character education would greatly benefit from a more fine-grained account of the emotions involved in the educational process, as well as from a broader perspective on which of these emotions should be taken as valuable for educational purposes.