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  • Essay / A call for an emphasis on the private teaching of morality and virtue

    Christina Hoff Sommers, philosopher, argues strongly for an emphasis on the teaching of ethics in the education. An argument is made about private and social morality. It is claimed that although teachers teach ethics courses that typically include topics such as abortion, euthanasia, and corporate corruption, the emphasis is not on private morality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayPrivate morality is neglected and if the emphasis is on social morality it will be difficult to equalize the two. Additionally, dogmatic ethical relativists are a common theme throughout the article. Sommers states that “in ethics, good and evil exist.” Which is a nice statement. But that doesn't mean it will be true for everyone. This is where the idea of ​​relativism comes in, as many believe that the scale of good and evil is flexible. With this thought process, what may seem good to a majority of people is considered bad to another person. Sommers recommends the teachings of Aristotle to combat this problem. Aristotle's theory focuses on courage, generosity and temperance. His teaching courses on dogmatic relativism proved naturally attractive to students. Despite the fact that Aristotle's theory is surrounded by controversy, students have never been able to rely on relativism to oppose it. Further, it is mentioned that the teachings of ethics have changed dramatically over time. There was a time when ethics courses were concrete and concise, but eventually they experienced a steady decline and quickly became an elective course. But around the 1960s, we saw a rapid growth in the teaching of ethics. However, students continued to be morally agnostic even when confronted with issues that were not considered controversial. As a teacher, Sommers felt led to present well-considered arguments on all sides of the moral issues of the day. Even doing this, students would say that morality is subjective. In order to open students' minds, ethics courses must establish the fact that there is right and wrong, otherwise the course may collapse and result in moral agnosticism. If this basis of right and wrong is recognized, it should produce good moral sense in students. Finally, instead of teaching abstract dilemma ethics that causes students to face irrational judgment, it is better to introduce stories and parables that help instill moral principles. It is even mentioned that the survival of Jewish culture was due to stories that had significant meaning. . Many believe that indoctrination occurs when stories like this are told. But as mentioned earlier, teachers present students with a story so they can draw their own conclusions. Literary figures go a long way in providing students with a strong moral example. In order to successfully teach virtue, behavioral policies must be enforced in schools and teachers must not be demonized when attempting to teach civility to students. Personally, I agree with Sommers. Moral intelligence is crucial in today's society. This is essential to making the world as smooth as possible. It is difficult for me to understand the point of view of an ethical relativist because there are many errors in their beliefs. Ethical relativists believe that there is no.