A Question of Adequate Aims

Abstract

Analysis of assumptions about the nature of moral relationships within the most well known approaches to moral education developed in North America during the last 25 years reveals two serious deficiencies in current theory. At one level the problem is that the range of variation is so broad as to give poor practical guidance; to this a call is made for the right kind of integrated theory. At a deeper level a problem is seen with the commonly shared assumption that moral education should focus only on individuals and their interactions. It is argued that this focus prevents moral education from addressing the most serious moral problems of our time and functions to protect the privilege of those doing the theorising.