We began by asking how moral character is to be formed. This question finally calls for consideration of the “influences that specially affect the moral features of character” (Weiss 1928: 225). Chief among these is aesthetic judgment, which must therefore be constantly exercised, so as to become the power mastering desires. The pedagogue must therefore carefully attend to the contents of the child’s or sphere of thoughts. First, the pupil should gain a clear and particularized familiarity with a “whole series of moral elements and their most common causes in life”, e.g., the main relationships of daily life, family, country, and their various conflicts and contradictions. Further, since character ultimately depends on the integration of the person, all domains of human interest must be brought into relation with the ideal: thus, for Herbart as for Montaigne,[78]  history in the broadest sense provides an indispensable space in which to exercise the young person’s aesthetic and practical judgment. Since passive presentation of historical, literary, or philosophical pictures must be avoided, the instructor must strive to bring peoples and persons of the past to the fore as living people: practice in recognizing many human types sharpens the pupil’s “ethical eye”, securing the child from dangerous surprises in life (SW II: 50). Again, because historical figures appear at a distance, the pupil can contemplate them in a disinterested fashion, letting “pure taste” rule action in his imagination. Such training is the best one can do in preparing the person for adulthood.