Education and Ethics

The course interrogates different classical and contemporary moral theories and their relevance for education. Together we will investigate advantages and disadvantages of different moral theories and their possibilities of guiding us for how to act, both as teachers, as students and as members of society. The course starts with considering the three main normative ethical theories of the Western world: utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics, but other theories such as care-ethics will also be considered. We will then focus on how these ethical theories can be applied in practice. Additionally, we will also take time to explore meta-ethical questions such as the question where morality might come from. Is morality a feature of our psychology and/or our culture, or do moral facts exist as properties of the universe? Are moral statements simply expressing our emotions or are we expressing facts? In the course we will meet twice on a weekly basis and each week we will tackle a new thinker and new aspects of such moral questions.