Does it help? Does it make any difference? At a recent pre-conference dinner that brought us two editors together face to face, too rare an occurrence in this world of e-mails, these very questions came up. We were discussing the latest allegations about serious wrongdoing among top brass in the United States Navy - involving leaks, bribes, and prostitution. It all came down to some basic quandaries: Do all our efforts at writing about, teaching on, debating, and instilling ethical values actually matter? Indeed, the question is as old as Socrates and Plato: Can virtue be taught? Presumably, Socrates, had he really believed that the answer to that question was squarely no, would not have bothered engaging in all of his pedagogical and exhortative discussions about ethics. Likewise, we would not have taught ethics or edited this journal had we believed that it makes no difference.
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