If so, What Should be the Goals of Teaching Ethics?
I have blogged before about the importance of teaching ethics to youngsters and college students. There are so many activities that occur in our lives that challenge us to distinguish between ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’ We need a framework to deal with such situations. In that way, students can better learn about ethics—what it is and isn’t.
Can Ethics be Learned?
In other words, if ethics can be learned, it can be taught, which is something the world renown ethicist, Archie Carroll, believes as do I. To “learn the lesson,” so to speak, students must be open to new ideas—and ideas that deal with ‘right’ versus ‘wrong.’ I have found over the years that many students believe that their ethics are their ethics and no one can tell them what’s right or wrong.’ This is an approach to teaching ethics based on relativism. It means that we define right and wrong for ourselves in each particular situation. The problem here is we lack commonality so that agreement on what is ethical and what is not is hard to come by.
I am concerned about the increasingly unethical behavior in society–i.e., government, politicians, business, entertainment, sports, and on social media. In many situations, decision-makers first decide what to do when a conflict exists, or competing interests are present, and then worry about the outcome later. The problem is they have it backwards.
To “begin with the end in mind” is the second of the seven habits that New York Times bestselling author Dr. Stephen R. Covey addresses in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. By beginning with the end in mind, students can train themselves to become more goal-oriented and create a clear vision of right versus wrong.
Consequentialism
If you believe in the utilitarian method of ethical decision making, then you support thinking about the consequences first and then deciding on the most ethical course of as action. This method of ethical reasoning is also referred to as consequentialism. I could provide many examples of when a decision maker decided on a course of action first and then, later, considered the consequences.
Perhaps the best example is that of President Trump. Just think about what he has done in his second term in office. Right out of the gate he imposed ridiculous tariffs on lots of countries only to back off later because of its negative effects on the world economy. What a mess. Most recently, he attacked Iran ostensibly because they were marching towards having nuclear weapons that would be headed for Israel and, perhaps, other places. Of course, the underlying action was taken to execute regime change, regardless of what Trump and his cohorts say now.
Ethical Relativism
Another driver of unethical behavior, I believe, is “ethical relativism.” The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University has put together a good description of ethical relativism. Here is what they say:
“Perhaps the strongest argument against ethical relativism comes from those who assert that universal moral standards can exist even if some moral practices and beliefs vary among cultures. In other words, we can acknowledge cultural differences in moral practices and beliefs and still hold that some of these practices and beliefs are morally wrong. The practice of slavery in pre-Civil war U.S. society or the practice of apartheid in South Africa is wrong despite the beliefs of those societies. The treatment of the Jews in Nazi society is morally reprehensible regardless of the moral beliefs of Nazi society.”
Teaching Values to Students
We should begin our search for how best to teach ethics by inculcating values in students. This is extremely important because our society has morphed into one that is based on self-interest, not the interests of the broader community. Just think about how divided the U.S, citizenry is today. Members of political parties do what they think, or what they are told to do in the best interests of the party, and not the country. I believe such behavior exists in everyday behavior of all too many in society.
We need to teach values to students at the earliest age possible. I mean in K-8 classes. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen in most schools and, if it does, ethical relativism is the teaching device. Without agreement on the underlying core values of ethical behavior, it is difficult to create that commonality that I discussed previously.
Values are things that have an inherent worth in usefulness or importance to the possessor. Moral values are the standards of behavior determined through principles of right and wrong with regards to proper conduct. It is related to a virtuous, ethically upright, principled way of doing things.
It’s not just any values we should teach. To do so just adds strength to the notion that it is alright to promote any values—the moral relativists’ view. Just imagine if the pursuit of self-interest is an acceptable standard of behavior. Can there be any doubt that wrongful behavior will occur—at least sometimes–and be sanctioned as acceptable? It’s moral values that are important including honesty, integrity, empathy, respect, responsibility, accountability, and civility and so on.
Tips for Teaching Ethics
Here are some tips for teaching ethics. They are drawn from a writing by the group, Capsim, that addresses a variety of teaching methods.
- Focus on relevant situations: place your students in specific ethical dilemmas they may encounter in their personal lives and in the workplace.
- Identify the stakeholders in each dilemma; those potentially affected by the decision or action being contemplated.
- Highlight reasons and impacts to expand ethical conversations beyond right or wrong and delve deeper into how specific ethical decisions or actions impact all the stakeholders involved.
- Expose students to a variety of ethical reasoning methods, not just one. This provides them with the tools to handle a variety of situations.
- Challenge your students by discussing with them situational pressures such as unethical coworkers, manager, and virtually all politicians.
- Give students the confidence that they can resolve ethical dilemmas they might face.
- Teach students critical thinking skills so they can analyze ethical dilemmas and decide on a course of action.
- Create an environment to teach ethics in more than one single class. Ethics should be integrated throughout the curriculum to make it clear ethical dilemmas are in many areas of life and many academic disciplines.
- Ethics is about more than teaching students ethical reasoning skills. It is to develop future leaders in society. We need it more now than ever before.
- Model ethical behavior!
There is more to say about teaching ethics that I will address in the coming weeks. Let me know what you think and when my thoughts have provided guidance to you in your journey of making ethical decisions and being a moral person.
Blog posted by Steven Mintz, Ph.D., professor emeritus from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, on March 17, 2026. To learn more about Steve’s activities visit his website at: www.stevenmintzethics.com.