Utilitarianism about animals and the moral significance of use

Philosophical Studies - The Hybrid View endorses utilitarianism about animals and rejects utilitarianism about humans. This view has received relatively little sustained attention in the...     

Traditional morality, moral reasoning and the moral education of adolescents

While many groups agree that there is a need for schools to give some value training, particularly to adolescents, there is much disagreement as to how this should be done. Two positions on value training seem to be most prevalent today. One has often been identified with Kohlberg--teaching moral reasoning. The other position, supported by most conservative groups in this country today, calls for the teaching of traditional values. Proponents of these two positions have strongly criticized each other's methods and philosophies. This paper examines both positions and attempts to establish a significant common ground. In doing so, it is hoped that educators will be encouraged to incorporate elements of both ideas in the moral education process.     

Contributions of moral education lectures and moral discussion in Hong Kong secondary schools

Moral education in the traditional form of classroom didactic lectures in secondary schools has been prevailing in Hong Kong since the initiation of moral education in the 1980s. However, such a traditional form has not received credit from research in the West. Instead, discussion of moral issues would be a more effective way of moral education than would didactic lectures. Because of the differential ways of moral education in Hong Kong, findings from other places can be subject to a test in Hong Kong. As such, this study employed panel data from 19,069 secondary school students in Hong Kong to analyze the impacts of moral education on moral commitment to sustain societal interests. Findings indicated a weak contribution of moral discussion and an even weaker contribution of moral education lectures to moral commitment. These findings therefore echo those in other places and suggest that real-life moral education contributes in the expected way, albeit weakly.     

The moral basis of liberal education

The moral right to liberal education involves issues of distribution and of content. The former issue bears on the distribution of educational resources. The latter issue bears on the issue of multiculturalism. Both issues are discussed from the standpoint of equal rights.Presented as the first Distinguished Lecture to the Association for Philosophy of Education at its meeting in New York, 28 December 1991.     

The moral basis of liberal education

The moral right to liberal education involves issues of distribution and of content. The former issue bears on the distribution of educational resources. The latter issue bears on the issue of multiculturalism. Both issues are discussed from the standpoint of equal rights.     

罗尔斯与功利主义

罗尔斯的正义理论和功利主义都把对方看做最主要的理论对手.这篇文章站在功利主义立场上对罗尔斯提出了批评:一方面,罗尔斯对功利主义所做的大量批评完全被误解了,也就是说,罗尔斯不仅没有驳倒功利主义,而且他对两个正义原则与功利主义的比较也是无法成立的;另一方面,因为两个正义原则与功利原则处在不同的层面上,这样从功利主义出发,不仅能够论证功利主义可以作为罗尔斯两个正义原则的基础,而且事实上罗尔斯也依赖功利主义者所使用的论证.     

动机功利主义

行为功利主义用功利的标准来检验行为,而只有导致功利最大化的行为才是道德上正确的.动机功利主义无论在理论还是实践上都与行为功利主义截然不同.在理论上,动机功利主义反对直接用功利标准检验行为,主张用它来检验动机,而更好的动机模式则拥有更大的功利;在实践上,动机功利主义关心的问题不是"我应该(试图)做什么",而是"我是否已经生活得很好",而后者与人们的动机密切相关.     

Change in values and moral reasoning during higher education

The aim of this study was to examine whether personal value priorities, measured by Schwartz et al.'s method, change during higher education, whether moral reasoning measured by the DIT develops and whether values predict gain in moral development. Moreover, we explored the simultaneous changes in value priorities and moral reasoning. Our sample consisted of 132 students from a university of applied sciences who filled out the value measure and the DIT both at the beginning and at the end of their studies. The results revealed that universalism and security values became more important whereas achievement decreased in importance during the three-year period. We also found significant gain in moral development and that universalism and hedonism values predicted this gain significantly. Significant correlated change was found between moral reasoning and stimulation, conformity and security values. The meaning of the results is discussed in terms of the theories of Schwartz and Kohlberg.