This paper argues that the amorality evident among U.S. citizens may be the result of individuals and society's inability to understand the relationship between the public and private life of the citizen and the role and function of ethics in that relationship. The argument has three premises. First, U.S. citizens have developed a sort of cultural amnesia. They seem to have forgotten the historical and philosophical foundations upon which the United States was constructed and which found expression in the Declaration of Independence and "The Federalist Papers." Second, U.S. society has fostered isolationism, privatism, and libertarianism at the expense of democracy and capitalism. Third, the U.S. citizen's pursuit of self-gratification, while seemingly rational, is detrimental to the country's philosophical tradition and to the social theory and social relationships that are necessary for personal well-being. To help move educational content and practice toward virtue, 11 questions are posed for discussion. A 23-item bibliography is included. (DJC)