BY
Dr. Emmanuel J. Udokang
Department of Peace & Development Studies
Salem University, Lokoja - Nigeria
ABSTRACT
This study is a philosophical reflection on the relevance and paradoxical nature of moral education. When one thinks seriously about moral education one is struck by the apparent paradoxical nature of the whole enterprise, for it appears to be an attempt to develop the rationally autonomous moral agent by non-rational means. Since we are often unable to communicate with young children in what we consider rational ways, we try to habituate them into desirable ways of behaving by some form of conditioning or we sometimes try to persuade them to act morally by offering them non-moral (e.g., prudential, utilitarian) reasons. Moreover, the relationship between the young and the adult moral authority is, at least initially, one of total dependence, a dependence deemed necessary as a condition for their gradual emancipation and development into autonomous moral agents.
KEYWORDS: Alleged Paradox, Children, Communication, Moral Education, Moral Authority
ON THE ALLEGED PARADOX OF MORAL EDUCATION
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