Epiphanies, life-affirmation, and virtue
Abstract
In this essay, I discuss how epiphanies play a fundamental role in the life of virtue through setting us on the path of growth in virtue, or reorienting us on the path, and also sustaining and empowering us on the path, which is often arduous and requires a lot of incremental work in the pursuit of virtue. I am especially focused on the role of epiphanies in sustaining and empowering us on the path of virtue through making possible, in the face of hardship, an affirmation of life on which the life of virtue seems to depend. Furthermore, since epiphanies, as I understand them, involve the perceived presence of objective value, I discuss how they require a worldview that can make sense of them in order to fend off the modern threat of disenchantment, that is, the perceived absence of objective value.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Philosophical Ethics and Theory
Philosophy
Ethics
and Existentialism
Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Journal of Moral Education
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Volume
- 55
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1–12
- Publication date
- 2 February 2026
- Language
- EN