The Significance of Ethics and Ethics Education in Daily Life | Michael D. Burroughs | TEDxPSU
Summary
TLDRThe speaker emphasizes the ubiquity of ethical dilemmas in daily life and the importance of cultivating ethical awareness. They argue for the inclusion of ethics education in schools to equip students with the skills to navigate moral challenges. The talk highlights the potential of children to understand and engage with ethical concepts, suggesting that ethical education should be an integral part of their development.
Takeaways
- π€ Ethical dilemmas are a common part of life, prompting us to consider our principles and values.
- π£οΈ The decision to act ethically or unethically shapes our character and who we are as individuals.
- π₯ Ethicists come from various fields and are not just philosophers; they include business, research, and bioethicists who ponder right and wrong in their respective areas.
- π§ The term 'ethicist' applies to everyone as we all face ethical decisions and can strive to act ethically.
- π« Schools play a crucial role in socializing and preparing us for adulthood, but often lack formal ethics education.
- π Despite the importance of ethics, curricula are often maxed out with little room for ethical discussions, leading to missed educational opportunities.
- πΆ Children and adolescents have ethical convictions and are capable of understanding ethical concepts from a young age.
- π The ability to imagine and empathize is a strength in children that can be harnessed for ethical discussions and learning.
- π€ Ethics education should aim to respect diverse beliefs and values while also encouraging individuals to stand up for their ethical convictions.
- π± Cultivating ethical awareness and developing skills in reasoning and empathy are essential for acting ethically and making good decisions.
Q & A
What is the main challenge the speaker discusses regarding ethical decision-making?
-The main challenge discussed is the difficulty in making ethical decisions when faced with complex situations that involve personal values, societal expectations, and potential consequences on relationships or the environment.
What role does the speaker suggest an 'ethicist' plays in society?
-The speaker suggests that an ethicist, including everyday ethicists, plays a role in deeply caring and thinking about matters of right and wrong, and how to choose ethically better courses of action in life.
According to the speaker, why is it important to discuss ethics in schools?
-It is important to discuss ethics in schools because it helps students develop ethical awareness and skills needed to act ethically, which are crucial for addressing ethical issues they face in life.
What does the speaker mean by 'everyday ethicist'?
-The 'everyday ethicist' refers to ordinary individuals who recognize and respond to ethical issues in their own lives, without necessarily having formal training in ethics.
What is the 'Peach Project' mentioned in the script?
-The 'Peach Project' is a project run by the speaker where they engage in ethical discussions with young children using children's literature, artwork, and games to explore ethical concepts.
Why does the speaker argue that children are capable of ethical understanding?
-The speaker argues that children are capable of ethical understanding because they naturally possess ethical convictions and ideas about fairness, inclusion, and right and wrong from a young age.
What is the implication of the speaker's discussion on the role of education in ethical development?
-The implication is that education should include ethics education to help students develop the necessary skills to make ethical decisions and to engage critically with ethical issues, rather than avoiding them.
How does the speaker view the current approach to ethics in schools?
-The speaker views the current approach to ethics in schools as inadequate, with a tendency to avoid or ignore ethical discussions due to concerns about controversy, leading to a lack of ethical education.
What does the speaker suggest is a common misconception about ethics education?
-A common misconception is that ethics education is about imposing a universal set of beliefs or solving all ethical problems, when in reality it should be about fostering critical thinking and ethical awareness.
What is the speaker's stance on the importance of ethical foundations in making moral judgments?
-The speaker's stance is that while personal beliefs are important, it's also crucial to consider ethical foundations based on basic human rights, care, and compassion to make sound moral judgments.
Outlines
π€ Ethical Dilemmas in Daily Life
The speaker introduces the concept of ethics by presenting various ethical dilemmas that individuals might face, such as academic pressure, truth-telling, environmental concerns, and social obligations. They emphasize the importance of asking ethical questions and considering personal values and principles. The speaker, an ethicist and educator, discusses the role of ethicists in different fields and the everyday application of ethics. They argue for the necessity of cultivating ethical awareness and developing skills to act ethically, noting the lack of formal ethics education in schools and its impact on young adults' ability to address ethical issues.
π The Neglect of Ethics Education
This paragraph delves into the lack of ethics education in schools and its consequences. The speaker references Christian Smith's research, which indicates that many young adults lack the tools to address ethical issues effectively, often viewing ethics as purely subjective. The speaker argues for the importance of teaching ethical reasoning and empathic skills in schools, suggesting that children already possess ethical convictions that can be nurtured. They also discuss the potential for controversy in introducing ethics education and the need to respect diverse ethical beliefs while also encouraging students to stand up for their own ethical convictions.
π± Cultivating Ethical Awareness in Children
The speaker advocates for the inclusion of ethics education in children's curriculum, using the 'Philosophical Ethics and Early Childhood' project as an example. They argue that children have a natural ethical awareness and are capable of understanding and discussing ethical concepts from a young age. The speaker shares an anecdote about a four-year-old girl who demonstrated a clear sense of fairness and inclusion. They emphasize the importance of leveraging children's imagination and empathy to foster ethical growth, suggesting that ethics education should be an integral part of children's development, both in and out of school.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Ethics
π‘Ethical Dilemmas
π‘Character
π‘Ethicist
π‘Everyday Ethicist
π‘Ethical Awareness
π‘Moral Philosophy
π‘Ethical Education
π‘Controversy
π‘Imaginative Presence
π‘Ethical Community
Highlights
The pressure of grades and the temptation to cheat to get ahead.
The dilemma of telling a friend an important truth that might end a friendship.
The recognition of personal contributions to climate change despite the need for transportation.
The ethical considerations of choosing a school for one's child based on test scores versus supporting a local school.
The moral quandary of intervening in a potentially harmful situation witnessed at a social event.
The importance of asking ethical questions to understand our principles and values.
The role of an ethicist in various fields and the concept of the 'everyday ethicist'.
The idea that ethics education is not just for philosophers but is a part of everyday life.
The prevalence of ethical issues in our lives and the need to develop better answers to these challenges.
The lack of ethics education in schools despite its importance for personal and social development.
The findings from 'Lost in Transition' regarding the understanding of ethics among emerging adults.
The avoidance of ethical discussions in schools and its impact on the development of ethical reasoning.
The importance of developing ethical awareness and skills to act ethically in various situations.
The argument for introducing ethics education in schools to help children respect diverse ethical beliefs.
The potential for children to be ethical agents and the importance of recognizing their ethical convictions.
The use of children's literature and art to facilitate ethical discussions with young children.
The ability of children to express ethical ideas and the importance of including them in ethical conversations.
The advocacy for ethics education as a means to build an ethical community within and beyond schools.
Transcripts
just consider it for a moment
you feel pressure regarding your class
grade and have an opportunity to turn in
work there's not your own to get ahead
you can tell a friend an important truth
which also might end the friendship you
recognize that the continued use of
fossil fuels and cars and planes
contribute to climate change and yet you
want to get where you need to go you
want about the implications of placing
your child in a new charter school with
higher testing scores as opposed to
supporting your own neighborhood school
where you see an interaction at a party
between a man and a woman that seems off
and you wonder whether you should
intervene we face challenges the life
large and small and if we listen closely
ask ethical questions of us what are my
principles what are my values what do I
stand for these questions asks us to
consider our obligations to ourselves
and to others the required decisions and
actions and turn these decisions and
actions form a part of who we are or our
character is ethical persons but how
well-equipped are we respond to these
challenges on what basis do we tell a
friend a painful truth as opposed to
engaging in deceit or decide to
intervene to someone help someone in
need more generally how do we know what
it means to live a good life as a
philosopher Ephesus and educator I'm
interested in how we recognize these
questions but also how we learn to
respond to them well so you're probably
familiar with what an educator is right
one who teaches and perhaps you've met a
philosopher before two other were exotic
species of some kind right but the ones
who ask big questions we might be
wondering what is an ethicist well
there's many kinds of us so there are
business ethicists who consider the
place of ethics in the workplace in
coping and financial sectors there are
research ethicists who discuss the
importance of integrity and research
practices and consider the broader
implications of the research we produce
and they're a bioethicists consider the
ethical implications of biomedical
research stem-cell research for example
or human impacts on the environment just
through GMOs but at his or her core the
emphasis is one who cares and thinks
deeply about matters of right and wrong
and how we can choose ethically better
as opposed to ethically problematic
courses of action in life so when I
refer to the ethicist I'm not referring
to some magical person or saint who
always knows and does and can tell
others the good
no am i referring to an exclusive class
of people licensed by university
hospital or business to practice ethics
rather the ethicist or the everyday
ethicist as I refer to it can be found
in our homes in our streets and in our
schools the everyday ethicist can be a
friend family member
acquaintance or stranger the everyday
ethicist is all of us installers we
recognize and counter and respond to the
ethical issues that arise in our own
lives now one doesn't need a doctorate
in moral philosophy to recognize this
many of you will probably already have
considered the everydayness of ethics in
your own life and I'm consulted with by
undergraduate students on a regular
basis regarding ethical issues that they
face in their life just some recent
examples just a discussion with a
student about conflict that she was
experienced about respecting the wishes
of her parents and choosing her own
course of study at here at Penn State
another student was conflicted about
loyalty through his partner and the
desire to end a long term relationship
and another student who's concerned
about Penn State's investment in fossil
fuels and how to pushpin state towards
investment in cleaner energy but my
point is not just that ethical issues
are prevalent in our lives many of us
probably have already thought about that
but that take your step further it's
possible to develop better or worse
answers to these challenges and
questions right we can act unethically
so in ways that perhaps we regrets and
hopefully we learn from and we can act
ethically and in ways that promote the
good and although there's no single
answer to to deciding between those two
options one way to respond is to
cultivate our own ethical awareness and
to develop the skills needed to act
ethically now ideally school which is
one of the most significant socializing
experiences we have would play a useful
role in helping us to respond to ethical
challenges right we go to school at
least in part to prepare us for
adulthood there's a variety of skills
academic social personal that allow us
to understand our world and ourselves -
the same we get training in a variety of
academic subjects and an informal
curriculum of extracurricular activities
clubs sports and so on but what we
dearly don't receive is training an
ethics education nor in an era of maxed
out curricula and standardized testing
do we really even leave open space for
frank and honest discussion about the
ethical issues that we face in life now
this lack of attention to ethics has
implications now in the book lost in
transition the dark side of emerging
adulthood Christian Smith who's a
sociologist from the University of Notre
Dame discusses the results of thousands
of survey interviews and hundreds of
in-person interviews that he conducted
with emerging adults ages 13 to 23
regarding their understanding of ethics
and two things became clear from these
interviews one that children and
adolescents often do raise ethical
questions in class write about the
issues they face in the hallway their
own lives the quicken their being taught
but these questions often sidestepped
and avoid it in the classroom by
teachers and administrators in order to
try and avoid controversy thus Smith
notes that the more pedagogy of most
middle and high schools or many middle
and high schools it seems to be avoid
ignore and pretend the issues will go
away but the flip side of this avoidance
is the failure to engage in useful
ethics education opportunities right to
educate and have teachers and children
realized that is possible with
critically and respectfully engage in
dialogue about ethical issues and that
just as we develop skills in other areas
in school we can develop skills say
reasoning and empathic skills that can
help us to develop as ethical persons
and second and related to the first it
became clear that many of the
interviewees didn't possess the tools to
adequately address the ethical issues
that they were facing in their life so
in discussion of issues ranging from
cheating on a test to obligations to
help others in need over 60% of the
interviewees discuss ethics as in what's
right or wrong as entirely up to each
individual now
personal beliefs opinions and intuitions
are vitally important in motivating us
to act ethically in the world and in
developing our own ethical understanding
but to think of all ethics and all
matters are right and wrong as
completely up to each individual can be
challenging when it comes to taking an
ethical stand as a community right not
just as individuals it gets things that
actually are ethically wrong so here I'm
thinking about assessing and taking that
people stand against sexual assault
against terrorism against institutional
racism and so on so what I'm arguing
here is not that personal opinions and
beliefs are important because they're
vitally important and support to respect
those differences but it's also
important to think about and think
deeply about certain ethical foundations
those based in basic human rights right
or care and compassion for others for
example that allow us to make basic
assessments of right and wrong and allow
us to make moral judgments in this sense
of judgments and there's multiple senses
of the term is not based in
self-righteous castigation of another
person or community it's based on a
desire to understand discuss and
evaluate ethical believes and do the
sometimes hard work required to make
good ethical decisions but this
distinction can be lost without any
attention to ethics education so what
i'ma do cating for here is not a
universal set of ethical beliefs for all
people nor a map that solves all ethical
problems because no such map exists what
I am arguing is that it would be
important for us to educate our children
and adolescents to respect the many
ethical beliefs and values that are in
the world to be properly humble about
their place in our broader community but
also to be willing to recognize and
stand up for their own ethical
convention there are ethical convictions
so what I also want to note here is that
if we're worried about the controversy
of introducing ethics into schools well
do well to recognize that children to
our everyday ethicists that is when
we're talking ethics with kids we're not
introducing something wholly new right
if we're doing a work well we're
recognizing the ethical concerns that
children already have and we're building
from those concerns to help them develop
as ethical people so in a project that I
run called philosophical ethics and
early childhood where the peach project
we're very happy about how the acronym
turned out right we spent a lot of time
talking ethics with three four and
five-year-olds and we use children's
literature artwork and games to motivate
those discussions and what I find in
that work my colleagues find as well is
that from a young age children possess
ethical convictions and ethical ideas
they have ideas about fairness about
inclusion and exclusion about what's
right what's right and wrong right so to
give you an example in a recent
discussion I had with a young girl age 4
in the class I was working with I just
about why she would would not include a
new child into her playgroup it was a
hypothetical girl named Christina she
said she would include this go on a
playgroup because she knew would make
her feel good and so it was the right
thing for her to do and she went on to
draw a picture of what this would look
like for her right and not only is it
just a beautiful picture so it's just
worth it for that
and it's also clear that she's here
expressing the sense of community that
she's trying to build and watch think
it's important to include this girl into
her friend or her friend group good so
what can clear to me from this
discussion and many others is that
children possess a sharp ethical
awareness this is evident historically
for example in children of the civil
rights movement who participated in
school desegregation and tremendously
brave ways and in many ways that adults
failed to do but it's also evident in
our you know more common daily
conversations with kids when we use
children's literature such as frog and
toad in the giving tree' in children
raise questions and insights about
issues of fairness honesty loyalty
respect and many other ethical values
but one of children's greatest strengths
in these conversations that adults often
lack actually is the ability to be
imaginative ly present to care about the
story in a way in which they they almost
talked with the characters and to care
about the outcome in a vital way in this
sense ethics doesn't need to be a mere
exercise or a separate discipline for
children give me an outgrowth of their
imagination and their daily present
concerns so what I am advocating for you
today is that we think about the
presence of other concerns in our life
and the possibility of ethics education
as being a positive and helping us to
address and think more deeply about
those concerns and hopefully redouble
our efforts to build an ethical
community both within and beyond our
schools thanks very much
you
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