Abstract

This chapter explores the disposition of gratefulness as a virtue within the framework of transpersonal gratitude. It draws on empirical research in psychology to examine gratefulness as a trait and critically discusses existing philosophical perspectives on gratitude as a virtue, in particular to explore Aristotelian approaches and then Kantian perspectives on the obligation to cultivate certain moral traits. The discussion concludes that gratitude can be considered a virtue, with its corresponding vice of resentment, and that the concept of transpersonal gratitude offers a good framework for such an understanding.