J F Roxburgh, the first headmaster of Stowe School, said he wanted to turn out young men who would be "acceptable at a dance and invaluable in a shipwreck". Perhaps the examples need a little updating, but Roxburgh's goal perfectly captures the ingredients of good character: moral courage, civility and an ability to put the needs of others before your own.

Questions of character are being posed again today, after decades of neglect. This character revival is occurring as politicians and policy-makers realise that many of their most cherished goals – for social mobility, co-operation, social responsibility – cannot be met through either the machinery of the state or the magic of the market. Character is an old-fashioned term for a set of pressing...