Goals of Applied Ethics Courses Author(s): Paul F. Camenisch Source: The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 57, No.

5 (Sep. - Oct., 1986), pp. 493-509 Published by: Ohio State University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1981255 . Accessed: 06/10/2011 16:09
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tffEPaulF. Camenisch

Goals of Applied EthicsCourses

Introduction amounts academicandcorporate of eduIncreasing cationalresources beingdevotedto the area of appliedethics.Alare thiscategory can includeany course whichbringsmoraland though ethical reflection bearon concrete to in I moral problems, thisarticle will be concerned with coursesin business and professional ethics. primarily Butwhatare theappropriate comgoals of suchcoursesin institutions to mitted freeinquiry and tolerance towarddivergent Or, viewpoints? morebroadly are thesecoursesfinding homein universities a put,why and colleges?This "why?"has severalrelated separable but answers.It canbe answered terms theevents thelarger in of in that society havegiven a newurgency theseconcerns; terms themotivations administo in of of and in involved thecourses;and in terms of trators, instructors, students theanticipated outcomes thecourses.Some of theuncertainties of still thisfieldderivefrom tensions answers. plaguing amongthesedifferent The specific societalstimuli behind with ethical the appliedethics vary issuesthatare seen as critical a particular in lists period.Different will the feature electricalprice-fixing of the sixties,the conconspiracy of sumerism Ralph Nader's Corvaircampaign, Ford Pintogas tank the case, illegal foreign payments majorcorporations, by illegal corporate and of scandal,Love politicalpayments otherelements the Watergate and on and on. Canal, acid rain,E. F. Hutton's check-kiting,
Research thisarticlewas in largepartmade possibleby a Faculty for Researchand Summer from College of LiberalArtsand Sciences of the Development Projectgrant DePaul University. author The also gratefully additional assistancerenacknowledges deredbythelibrary of staff theCenter theStudy Ethicsin theProfessions, of for Illinois Institute Technology, of Chicago. Paul F. Camenisch professor religious is studies DePaul University. at of Journal HigherEducation,Vol. 57, No. 5 (September/October of 1986) ? Press Copyright 1986by theOhio StateUniversity

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Thesestimuli another ofanswers our"why?" theform set to in generate ofpopularly are aboutwhat hopedforoutcomes. Manypersons skeptical formal ethical instruction do toalter can conduct. Arjay As former Miller, deanoftheStanford BusinessSchool,has said,"Therearea lotofpeople in jail todaywho have passed ethicscourses" [8, p. 6]. Nevertheless, much for in can popular support suchcoursesis rooted thehopethat they affect students' future conduct p. 275; 22, pp. 23 and 50]. A case in [19, of pointis that thecertified publicaccountant disciplined his profesby sionalassociation, AICPA, for"soliciting the and engagements letter by "to takea coursein professional ethics"[5, p. 274]. The motivations the personsinvolvedin appliedethics another of kind answer ourquestion of to As CallahanandBok -vary considerably. "In schoolsthemainmotive[forintroducing report: some professional appliedethics]seemsto have been some external pressure, particularly to introduce ethics order graduates in in that behavebetter pressure might their lives" [8, p. 47]. In some cases professional associaprofessional tionsor academicaccrediting to their influence bear. In agenciesbring other cases suchcoursesmaybe instituted partforpublicimagepurin be for to internal poses. Or suchcoursesmight instituted reasonslargely theuniversity, enrich to or to bolster oriented curricula, professionally humanities enrollments professionally with courses "relevant" declining [7,p. 25; 21,p. 21]. students' motivations taking for suchcourses, McMahon's Concerning of557 schoolsshowsthat 41.7 percent student of took survey respondents them becausethey wererequired, while38.4 percent "wanted somevalue oriented courseto balance their and believedit program," 5.6 percent wouldhelp advancetheir careers[21,p. 148]. Possible Goals ofAppliedEthics the to is answer ourquestion, however, that Probably mostsignificant oftheanticipated outcomes suchcourses stated terms curricular of in of as role goals. These have a particularly important because theyusually derivefrom personsmostlikelyto shape thosecourses,the actual the or instructors theauthors read.The mostfrequently mentioned goals they can be helpfully in relation three to related setsof alternatives organized or in terms three of each defined itstwo poles. spectra, by The first spectrum poses the choice betweenseeing applied ethics courses descriptive as normative as or most Although enterprises. persons inthefieldagreethat suchcoursesmust in part be fewargue descriptive, that mustbe, or even can be, descriptive they only[22,p. 11; 31].
.. conduct[ing]a practiceundera 'fictitious name."' His "sentence"was

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I. General character ofgoals: II. Impact on agent:

descriptive----- normative

enhance shape autonomy -------agent only morally

III. Dimension ofmoral life affected:

(affective) (cognitive) (active) powers - - - - -moral of values - ---moral moral convictions choice and action reasoning feelings FIG. 1.

Three Spectra for Identifying Applied Ethics Goals

The secondspectrum offers alternative the waysofunderstanding normative in element coursegoals. At one end thegoal is simply enable to thestudent becomea responsible to autonomous moralagent;attheother endthegoal is to affect verysubstance thestudent's the of future moral choices. An influential recentstatement the supporting former option comesfrom Callahanand Bok in theHasting of Center's study theteachof ethicsin American education. listfivegoals forsuch ing higher They courses:stimulating moralimagination, the ethicalissues, recognizing a and skills,eliciting sense of moralobligation developing analytical and personalresponsibility, tolerating and resisting disagreement and ambiguity pp. 48-51]. These goals are partof thelarger [8, goal of students "withthoseconceptsand analytical skillsthatwill providing enablethem grapple to with broadethical in to theory attempting resolve both and as on dilemmas, wellas toreflect themoral personal professional issuesfacing larger the [8, society" p. 48]. ButCallahanandBok exclude to affect student conduct "We haveconcluded that anyattempts directly. this[changing student is behavior] notan appropriate goal fora explicit coursein ethics"[8, pp. 54, 80]. The desired is autonomy achieved only whenstudents thetoolsthat "enablethem critique, to be to and develop in a position reject, onlytheir to not moralconvictions, also but present of those theteacher" p. 61]. Theyfurther that state "thegoals we have [8, thedetailsof some moralsystems, ethicaltheories, moralrulesare or morecorrect thanothers" p. 56; 19,pp. 275-78]. [8, Callahan and Bok do not make clear whether on theirinsistence a moralautonomy their and resistance student to indoctrithorough-going nation grounded their are in of in understanding moralagency, thesupof in of situation, theultimate posedpluralism ourcurrent indeterminacy
proposed ... forthe teachingof ethics do not entail any conclusion that

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ethical/moral or of norms, in theinnumerable complexities virtually any concrete moraldilemma.But itsgrounding evoked aside, thisstatement criticism itsapparent for moralneutrality. sheer "The of sharp emptiness thisvisionofethics, unwillingness assert its to that are somethings right and others thusbecomesan unwitting of moralindifference wrong, ally andworse,"writes WilliamJ. Bennett, of U.S. currently Secretary Education[3,p. 64]. Some also believethat this"neutral" actually position its substantive thoseof tolervalues,largely champions own distinctive indecision p. 64]. Such ance, opennessand, in theeye of thecritic, [3, critics to end attempt articulate goals closerto theother of thisspectrum where the actualmoral convictions choicesis seen and affecting student's as desirable. this But latter evokescharges "indoctrination" of from option thoseelsewhere thespectrum. will return theimportant on We to issues on arising thisspectrum. Forthoseseeking to the morallife,there substantively affect student's are three if for distinct, notultimately reasonably targets their separable efforts. one end of thisthird At is the student's spectrum capacityfor moralreasoning. theother At end are thestudent's actualmoralchoices and actions.In the middleare the student's relevant morally feelings, Thus thisspectrum runsfrom cognitive, the values,and commitments. the to of through affective, theactivecomponents themorallife.These three items notconstitute spectrum theusual sense-e.g., the a in may middle itemseemsnotto be a midpoint themovement in from pole one to theother. also must We remember although that we conceptually may these dimensions themoral of in all reside a state self,infact separate they of complexinterconnectedness within singlemoralagent[12,p. 300]. a it at Nevertheless, is helpful thispreliminary stageto speakof theseas different dimensions theagent. of The attempt affect to how thestudent and moral reasonsaboutethical matters the least controversial is because manyeducators believe here, that different of moralreasoning be presented even urged can to, styles without the of moralchoicesor uponstudents affecting substance their with moralautonomy. This position assumesthatstyles interfering their of moralreasoning presented a waythat are in leaves thestudent to free choose amongthemor to choose noneof them,and/or such styles that of reasoning themselves are If neutral. theseconditions hold, morally thisoptionis close to that end of thesecondspectrum whichfocuseson for thatagentis moretruly autonoenhancing agentautonomy, surely mouswhohas knowledge variousmethods moralreasoning. it of of But is not clear thatthe weighing different of modes of moralreasoning and choosingamongthemare morally neutral processes.If not, then

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thisoption does belongon ourthird of The spectrum. difficulty locating this item on onlyone ofourspectra illustrated Callahan is consistently by and Bok, who seem to argue exclusively augmenting agent's for the in a [8, p. 60] and yetalso argueforcultivating students sense autonomy ofmoralobligation personal and It is notat all clearwhat responsibility. a morally contentless "sense of moralobligation and personal neutral, wouldbe. Furthermore,seemsquiteunlikely it thatone responsibility" canargue moral for as generally for understood without autonomy arguing or presuming some substantive moral values, whichthe autonomous his will agent,simplyby assumingand defending or her autonomy, also adopt. of The other on are transformationthisspectrum helpfully targets moral to viewedinrelation thecognitive justdiscussed. one The choicebetween followthe thecognitive themiddleaffective and optionwill frequently of linebetween Those primarily concerned aboutthematters disciplines. ethical will mostoften theterm for use "ethics" reasoning discussed just their endeavor will in mostcases represent and or, philosophy a bitless studies will, as Arthur consistently, religious Caplan They departments. moral concerned abouthow one justifies notes,be predominantly judgments. Those who focusmoreon theaffective of dimensions themoral classvalues students life,on clarifying alreadyhold, or on generating roomsituations prompt to values will students reassesstheir to current morefrequently thelanguageof "values" and will overwhelmingly use comefrom of and including religious departments psychology education, education that are to [11,30]. BruceSuttle suggests thelatter morelikely see moral"decisions"as similar personal to tastesor preferences rather than therational, as decisions seemto enviphilosophers principle-based sion[31,pp. 7, 11-12]. Persons thesedifferent will, adopting approaches of course,responddifferently our questionsconcerning identito the the of and the measurement the goals of applied fication, assessment, ethics courses. Thethird, "active"option thisspectrum occupy onlybriefly, on need us becausefewarguethat of classroom instruction-the setting mostinterestto us here-either can or shoulddo muchdirectly altertheactual to moral conduct students of this from some [31]. We can distinguish option of thosediscussedabove by invoking frequently distinction bethe met tween"ethics"and "morality." to often refers actualmoral "Morality" choiceandconduct to thoseconsiderations as moralvaluesand and such commitments whichdirectly handis them."Ethics"on theother shape to often used to refer thesecondary of reflecting justifying, on, activity andcriticizing conduct considerations. such to and According thisusage,

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ourthird and the "affective" fallin theareaof one option perhaps middle whereasthefirst dealingwithmoralreasoning one shouldbe morality, labeled"ethics." The Question Appropriate Goals of Otherimportant issues arise when we move beyondsimplynoting for courses askhowwe aretodistinguish and goals appliedethics possible the between moreand theless appropriate ones. Severallimited still but considerations worthy brief are of noteas we approach this significant the in One is thefit between goalspursued suchcourses the and question. notedabove forinstituting societalstimuli them.If suchexternal stimuli areinvoked justify course, is entirely to a it toexpect goals the appropriate of thecourseto includeconsideration possiblesolutions theethical to of in concern considerations our problems presented thecourse.Two other to achievecertain actualmoral thoseinvolving ability goals, particularly in The is moral consideration whether can effect we change students. first the we ofa specific intended in students; second,whether can sort change it. demonstrate such changehas occurred measure The former that and raises numerous the questionsconcerning dynamicsof moral develDoes it continue would the through age at whichmoststudents opment: be studying or is itvirtually at an earlier appliedethics, complete age? Is it subject direct to or intentional intervention, is it determined forces by our Whilewe cannot these here, beyond control? questions persons pursue a foractualmoralchangeas a goal willneedto articulate theory arguing of moralgrowth thatcan make this goal a reasonableone to pursue [27,p. 6]. can The secondrelated issue is whether can substantiate, actually we measure impact aim at or claimto have made. For themoment, we any we notethat are whatever difficulties metin meahowever, will simply whatgoals are outcomes,theyare not decisive in determining suring of At the can morally appropriate. mostthey showwhether pursuit some is unwisebecauseof thedifficulty, theimpossibility estabof even goals the lishing successof theeffort. A majorconsideration determining in goals forappliedethicsis the in The appropriate setting whichthecoursesare offered. goals of such activities to a considerable are, degree,setting Colleges and dependent. for with universities, example,shoulddeal very circumspectly anygoals whichapproachindoctrination. of should Theirtradition open inquiry militate against any suchclosingoffof themoralconversation. Butconcern freeinquiry for and playsa frequently evenappropriately lesser roleinother In theprofessional ethics schoolwhere settings. applied

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often occursunder rubric professional the of the responsibility, situation is different becauseoftheprofessions' traditional endorsement a setof of valueswhich them professions pp. 15-76]. In this as [10, helpto identify and these setting, appliedethicsaimedat interpreting even propagating valuesandthecodeswhich will them approach what professional embody somecall indoctrination; others is simply for it socialization professional the informa[23,25]. In thissituation goal in partis to pass on objective tion.Eventhissort "indoctrination" be challenged, clearly of can but the schoolhas its own distinctive in suchmatters. It professional dynamics be argued,forexample,thatto choose a profession already as might defined itsown tradition by thelarger and is to by society, to subscribe thosedistinctive values whichmake it thatparticular Thus profession. can and appliedethicsin thissetting be seen as theclarification elaboration valuesthestudent already of has or thearticulation the of accepted of conditions membership theprofession, in rather thanas indoctrination of themoreobjectionable sort. In somecases corporate will ethics resemble academic goalsfor applied ones. Forexample,an ethicsseminar theNorthwestern at National Bank ofMinneapolis aimedatenhancing in employees' competence identifying andanalyzing valueconflicts the in involved mostmanagerial dilemmas. Thereis no mention thereports the seminar specific in on of company commitments which were to be propagated policies or substantive involvedweresimultaneously consti[26,p. 1]. In fact,theemployees tuted taskforces developand ground as to for policyrecommendations thebank. Other also aiming improving at corporations, though possibly employees' analytical decision-making and suchactivities skills,makeclearthat areto happen within to be supportive established and of company policy. Forexample, AlliedCorporation's the "to ethics seminar intended help is understand corporation's the statedpolicies concerning managers proscribed activities well as its policiesconcerning firm's as the voluntary social responsibilities" [17,p. 10]. This objectivein some ways apBut do proachesindoctrination. corporations quiteproperly notalways on academicstandards. fact,seenfrom perspective, In one there operate is something commendable aboutcorporations whichpublicly arquite ticulate their moralcommitments then and to undertake instituseriously tionalize them intoa corporate ethos. The University, Indoctrination Moral Formation and We comefinally themost to set the complex ofconsiderations affecting for search appropriate forappliedethics courses -those generated goals

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and the university's betweenmoral/ethical education by the encounter to commitcommitment freeand open inquiry. the distinctive Among the is itsdedication to ments define contemporary that western university thepursuit truth understanding of free and discussion, through research, and debateamongall qualified On thefaceof itthisseems participants. in to forbidany indoctrination which values, rules, or solutionsare as ones. Such actionwouldtendto close offrather presented thecorrect and debate. In orderto understand this thanto encourage freeinquiry we of conflict mustexaminecloselytheconcept indoctrination potential values. and therelation between university itsdefining the and all between The word"indoctrination" too easilyslipsback and forth itis mostoften and uses. Normatively usedpejoradescriptive normative forms instruction disapprove usually of we because to of, tively challenge of we believethey violatethemoralautonomy students inhibit and rather to than foster moralgrowth maturity. real and Some occasionally attempt to in or use "indoctrination"a postive atleasta neutral senseinorder assert the to to whether a group's right pass on itsconvictions itsnewmembers, or converts. of But thisnormative reclaiming the wordusually young so coercive forms more involves its restricting decriptive applications that of intervention must be designatedby some negativetermsuch as or "conditioning" "brain-washing." is of "indoctrination" applied to a variety procedures Descriptively or which so labeledeither becauseofthemethods are employed thegoals Methods mostlikely be so labeledarethosewhichseem to behind them. to aim at transferring beliefsand values froman authority figureto who are expectedto acceptthemforreasonsotherthantheir students them critical or to inherent by ability validate persuasiveness thestudent's reflection. that methods Indoctrination so many takes forms employs many and so to it Some believethat itis verydifficult eradicate totally. appliedethics from religious theological a or is particularly suspect teaching standpoint botha on thiscount [21,p. 49; 24]. However,this suspicionreflects view of whatis being done in religious/ and limited rather jaundiced of theologicalethics, and a naivete about the frequency quite unmoreneutral For in indoctrination supposedly selfconscious disciplines. thatthe Callahan-Bokposition, WilliamJ. Bennett charges example, is while on the face of it opposed to indoctrination, itselfa formof in be its valuesmight accepted however indoctrination, widely underlying the"liberal"circlesto whichit largely speaks [3, pp. 64-65; 8, p. 60]. of is or Whether Bennett's assessment that report correct not,theproblem to whichhe pointsis a real one.

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Given thatindoctrination cannotalways be reliably identified its by content itsmethods, maytry distinguish by itsgoals. Philosoor we to it R. stated central the issuehere:"theeducator pher M. Harehas succinctly is trying turn to children intoadults;theindoctrinatortrying make to is intoperpetual them children" p. 123]. Giventhewidespread [16, agreement thatappliedethicsshouldfacilitate student toward ethical growth and moraldecisionmaking,indoctrination this in maturity competent hardest sense will rarely supported a legitimate be as goal. But whileavoidingtheScylla of blatant we indoctrination, need also bewarethe Charybdis letting label of "indoctrination" of the become so its [14] descriptively general - whileretaining fullnegative weightthatall forms fostering of values and moralcommitments of even or themin a positivelightare ruledout. Whatpaththenis left presenting to us? I believewe mustargueeither thatsome forms indoctriof open nation unobjectionable, are even laudable,or thatsome forms intenof tional of valuesdo notconstitute indoctrination. Because of transmitting theextreme of the associations of difficulty totally eliminating negative I heretakethelatter route. "indoctrination," To understand value dimension universities, mustconsider the of one the natureof societal existence,for universities not emergein a do vacuum.Theyare a creation a society, a culture. of of Andpartof what is neededto makea groupof personsintoa society some consensus is on fundamental values-a consensusabout whichhumanpursuits are about which formsof conductare admirable, whichare worthwhile; and whichare neither; about what standards shouldgovern tolerable, social policymaking; mostpertinent theuniversity, to aboutwhat and, forms inquiry knowledge mostlikely support implement of and are to and theseotherconvictions. thisvalue elementsocietieslack the Without internal coherence whichenablesthem survive to overthelongrun.As JamesRachels has written, "There are some principles thatmustbe ifsociety toexist."He then is that accepted suggests since"publicschools are instruments society"it may be appropriate teachtherethose of to whichare "necessary social living"[29,p. 679]. Truthfor principles and from violencetoward others two of his examare telling refraining ples. Not all colleges and universities "public" in Rachel's sense; yet are of are. And mostothers of their sources funding and many them through their stancestoward society the reflect extensive an identification public with a considerable and stakeinthedominant societal This arrangements. notmeanthat does education or shouldbe an uncritical is booster higher ofthesociety itis. In fact,ifitbecomessuch,itbetrays as another major

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of dimension itshistorical contemporary and of as calling that serving a criticof the way things and of pointing are towarda better stateof affairs. Richard As Morrill written: setting implementing "In has and their educational and universities even if uncongoals, colleges postulate, one a sciously, amongmany good bypositing possiblevisionsof human of in a faith reason, system academicvalues,by asserting kindof human truth intelligibility" p. 134]. Whether visionof thehuman and that [22, of is in complete with is somewhat or with discordant that good harmony thelarger it reflects virtual the of theuniversity's society, inevitability in of conversation aboutwhat forms knowledge, participation theongoing are and relations, actions, and social arrangements humanly worthy desirable.Acknowledging factleads to greater this realismabout the of moralinstruction, are obligedto confront we ingthefiction a neutral betweenthe modes of education and the again the organicconnection socialandpolitical ofthecommunity sustains life them" p. 20]. that [18, in The student a member thesocietyand a participant theunias of of cannotescape either processesor the results moraldisthe versity, are course.The student's onlyoptions tobecomean activeandcompetent in participant the discussionor to submitpassively-perhaps even of edudecide. Thus institutions higher unknowingly-towhatothers on and havenotonlya right a duty, theone hand,tothesociety cation but - in thenameof thevaluesthat them and on the to themselves shape to who mustcharta coursein relation those other hand,to the student and to values, to enable the student becomea competent activeparticwouldseem education required suchparticipation is for ipant.Whatever to to be virtually opposite indoctrination,leastaccording Hare's the of at Andthat definitions indoctrination education. of remains and goal-based or true evenwhenthat education goes beyond procedural methodological of matters ethicsto includesubstantive moralvalues. ifeducation, education, Therefore, by including higher sponsored and on of includes undertaken behalf thelarger preparing society legitimately in that to moral conversation shapesthe students participate thecontinuing in such morally we shouldhave even less difficulty justifying society, for in activities thearea of appliedethics.One obviousground formative in appliedethicscourses,instructors curricular and thisassertion that is of materials even self-consciously addresssituations value condirectly, in ofthepublicmoral conversation flict, a sensebringing directly portions for and intotheclassroom systematic critical scrutiny. of even transmission values is examination, Perhapsless obviously, of life in more becauseofthesectors societal easily justified appliedethics
relation. As JosephMargolis puts it, "... society-university by dismiss-

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As treated there. thelabel is currently coursesexamused, appliedethics ine primarily professions business.In lightof their the and the history, in their location thesociety's life,and goalsoftheir professional activity, theclaimscurrently made by them, can certainly said of thetradiit be tional suchas law, medicine, theministry, they and that both professions areandshould value-shaped be socio-moral Thisis not [10]. undertakings as obviousin thecase ofbusiness has which a rather different and history from different a societaldynamic. seen Nevertheless, as itmust emerges to too business must be, in relation societalneedsand interdependencies, be partly understood relation values- valuesthat business in to the enterbusiness and [13], valuesthat serves, valuesthat prise presupposes shape therelations business itsvarious of to the constituencies, including finally totalsociety [9]. If itis true that the and business, traditional professions, thoseaspiring them value-laden value-directed after are and underprofessions patterned in it then is difficult see howthestudy applied to of takings thissociety, ethicsin thoseareas can be value neutral. And if such coursesaim at students future as or businesspersonsto parpreparing professionals in in that ticipate fully thoseareas,including themoraldiscussions arise inthem, is reasonable arguethat onlytheexplication, also the it not to but eventhefostering thosevalues,is a legitimate ofthetask. of defense, part whatthe societythrough licensure and Otherwise, regulations general and whattheprofessions codes of conduct publicexpectations, through andstatements purpose of is or the affirm, ignored deniedthrough crucial of mechanisms higherand professional educationwhichpreparenew for participants theseprofessions. Theposition which havenowarrived somewhere at we lies between the two extremes above. On theone hand,any indoctrination that rejected closes offrather thanfacilitates open conversation amongautonomous moral valuechoicesandmoral is decisions agents concerning appropriate At the veryleast, such coursesshouldnotoffer unacceptable. specific solutions dilemmas though to as wereno other there defensible onesor in sucha manner thestudent that musteither or acceptthesolutions withdrawfrom conversation. theother the At the extreme, proposed position the ethicsis either rejects idea thatvalue-neutral possibleor desirable. taken hereis that thoseareasof activityPositively theposition put, business theprofessions considered applied and in and ethics, primarily them entire the ofeducation finally and eventhesocietal beyond enterprise existence the and itself presupposed business, professions, education by areall value-laden moralundertakings. itis appropriate applied Thus for ethicscoursesnot onlyto describethe values inherent businessand in

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but, within limits,to advocatethem.By their activities, professional of education students desireto participate declaretheir in pursuit higher Whenproperly thesociety. -at viewed,suchparticipation leastsuchas thesociety wouldwantto encourage -is a matter onlyof acquiring not ofsharing thosevalues in andtechnical neutral but skills, also knowledge in which holdthosevariousactivities coherent functogether a generally wholeand orient as themtoward whatthatsociety understands tioning does society itspreference this for human what well-being. By right press on modeofparticipation? education higher Simply thebasisofitsmaking in and the student's subsequent functioning the societypossibleat all. certain But thisof coursemustbe done in a way thatacknowledges truths about moral life in modem society:thatmoralknowledgeand are finaland so mustbe statedand pursuedin a fashion insight rarely which itself further clarification refinement; society and that encourages is a dynamic which overtime reflects reality changeinthevalues properly and embodies;thatreal moralagencyinvolvesinformed it champions intheongoing moral of not conversation thesociety circumparticipation or scribed unchallengeable moralorthodoxies by threatened sanctions by and thatthe generalvalue consensuswhichmakes againstdissidents; and societal existence possibledoes notin mostcases lead directly comto the correct moralproblems. answerto particular pellingly Current Devices and Results Testing Educational talkaboutcurricular that requires goals be accountability in appliedethicsis in backedby appropriate testing Testing procedures. itsformative to to stateis essential any stages,but attention its current future progress. Some such outcome"testing" largelyanecdotal,being based on is either or solicitedstudent spontaneous responsesto generalquestions thebenefits a particular of course.Such "data"seldomcome concerning from to and representative samples,are virtually impossible quantify, henceare notamenableto replication confirmation otherstudies. or in of However, giventhecomplexity themoralselfand thediverse waysit can be affected, anecdotal evidencemaybe ouronlymeansof access to somedesirable [27,28]. subject-perceived impacts The mostobjectivedevicestestthe student's of factual knowledge a code or determine closelya student's how to givenprofession's response a hypothetical dilemmaconforms the code's standards to But [23,25]. whatsuch testsgain in objectivity testing of by knowledge a specific from actualmoralconremoteness the document, theylose in potential victions conduct thestudent, and of because suchknowledge obviously

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canbe mastered testing for without on purposes having significant impact theagent'smoralbeing.The mostwe can say aboutsuchknowledge is that maybe necessary morally it for But professional responsible practice. it is clearly sufficient. not T. R. Martin form seemingly test of reports usinganother objective with business students tooktworequired who ethics courses[20]. The student was askedto indicate in whether action the was taken a seriesofscenarios not not, definitely, probably, definitely or probably ethical.A second of or askedwhether student the stating each question definitely probably or definitely probably or wouldnottakethesame actionas porwould, in One problem with objectivity thistest that of is the trayed thescenario. the"best"answerin each case was established theexpert "by judgment ofa group professors of is whoseprimary ancillary or discipline ethics." Forthosesensitive thecomplexity actualmoraldilemmas, idea to of the of "expert as competent establish to one objectively "best" judgment" answer be quiteproblematic. will Thuswhen test the results tosupport fail theprinciple of the study, will that"businessstudents show hypothesis moreimprovementtheir in to analyze business ethical significantly ability thanwill engineering it is notclear whatwe have students," problems learned.Are the interventions, whichwere rather academic traditional ethics shownto be ineffective? arethetesting Or instrucourses, thereby ment's aboutsome "best"answershownto be inadequate? assumptions to is that hypothesis the Adding theconfusion thefact speaksoftheability to analyze,whereasthetesting device seeks "theright" answer.While thesetwo are notthesame outcome.Greater related, clarity conceptual willhave to precedeless ambiguous results. testing The mostfrequently used testsforsuch coursesappearto be James Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT) [30,p. 30] and other [2] offspring of Lawrence of of Suchtests Kohlberg's analysis thestages moral reasoning. aim not at getting correct the answerto stateddilemmas, at deterbut thelevel of reasoning whichthestudent at the mining approaches problevelsranging from preconventional a on one" based largely lem, "stage theagent's immediate to self-interesta postconventional stageusing sixth universal ethical Thesetests designed identify moveare to principles. any ment thestudent's of moralreasoning thestagesresulting from a among intervention. David Boydclaimswith suchtests havesubstanto specific tiated from relatively the short interventionan elevenof positive impacts weekcourse.This is supported pre-andpost-tests theexperimental of by and of twocontrol substantiated group groups[4, p. 29]. Such carefully resultsmustbe takenseriously. But if-as seems to be claimed by and the Kohlberg hisfollowers advancesthrough stagesarenot justthe of matter learning handle to newconcepts, involve actual the but cognitive

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results of thensuchquicklyattained adopting a new moralperspective, to of moreleisurely runcounter our experience the generally pace of are moraltransformation. who use thisapproach more Most significant of comfortable using such teststo rank-order largecategories persons After thanto testtheimpact specific of interventions. comparing rather and of Rest "Themost thescores various suchgroupings, writes: powerful has in theresearch correlate moraljudgment of consistent development
been formaleducation.... However, the researchto date does not indi-

cate specifically how formalschoolinghas thiseffect-that is, what or [30, experiences conditions promote development" p. 32]. specific involve SuchKohlberg-based tests, useful, signifialthough potentially here.Theyare cantconceptual whichcan onlybe mentioned problems, mostfundamentally whenthe adequacyof their underlying challenged is of and moraldevelopment questioned.The understanding morality most radical such challengehas been issued by Carol Gilligan. She is and chargesthatKohlberg'sview of morality moraldevelopment a and in abstract masculine construction, culminating principles decidedly and it a and understanding rights, that ignores morecontextual relational on responsibility persons.This latter to of morality neglected focusing of to is, approach according her,morecharacteristic women[15]. recan be met,other But even if thischallenge problems significant of main.The chiefones concern supposedvalue neutrality different the of or methods moral of Can reasoning. thechoiceofa style method moral and reasoning neutral choice?Can themove be a morally analysis really from self-centeredness an awarenessof society'sand other to persons' to ethicalprinciples moralclaims, and ultimately universal legitimate transformationthemoralagentat a quitefundamental of occurwithout structure morallevel?Are notthe"higher" thought stagesin Kohlberg's resolvethese thanthe"lower"ones?I cannot to be better (moremoral?) thatunlessand untilthesequestions here;mypointis simply questions to either whatwe are trying are answered, will notunderstand we fully for do in such coursesor whatwe are testing when we testthe outcomes. Clearlythisapproach does notsolve theissuesof indoctrination or of value-neutral educationand testing raised earlier;it simplyrelocatesthem. on ClosingComments Testing issue. of will comments close ourtreatment thetesting Threegeneral we whatever can teachand between a First, significant will remain gap moral or methods reasoning, evenprofessed of for- be itknowledge, test

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stance and actualmoralchoicesand action[4, p. 30]. Appliedethics cannot treat evenaccount theinnumerable or for elements that adequately intoactualmoraldecision-making action. and go methods and devicesin appliedethicsand in moral/ Second, testing in valueseducation general currently are dominated theapproaches of by theeducational/psychological oftheenterprise, side totheneglect largely of morephilosophically theologically and oriented approaches.Here I observethisfactand suggest that causes and implications the of simply thissituation be might profitably investigated. to the between Finally andrelated thepoint made- therelation just varioustypesof testing treated and the moretraditional exjust essay aminations in longestablished mostacademicethicscoursesshouldnot be one automatically assumedto be the evolutionary of the moreadvanceddisplacing now outmoded. the Rest would appearto speak for of when instruments he saysof the many supporters theDIT and similar traditional that this sort of "informal examinations,papers, etc., evaluation.does not meet.. fundamental . of requirements collecting and interpreting data in a systematic,reliable and valid fashion" the between twoapproaches, [30,p. 30]. Thereare obviousdifferences to butsimply judge either one by the standards theotherwill yield of and of results. Each must assessedin terms be predictable uninformative thetaskfor which was designed. it for on Testing impacts themoral being ofthestudent obviously is from the quitedifferent testing student's ability to cognitively deal witha givenbodyof literature. In this it that citedsuggests that regard, is revealing noneoftheauthors scoreson theDIT or other forassigning tests Kohlberg-derived be used in on sucha link,forgrading students grades.Theyare correct avoiding thebasis of their moraladvancement sensitivity or wouldbe intolerable in light theprevailing of viewoftheuniversity itstask.Butitis both and and puzzlingthatnone acknowledges thattraditional striking testing has been oriented toward of students' assessing cognitive mastery thematerials therefore be viewedin relation theperhaps and must to unpleasant task butessential ofgrading. Giventhegoalsthey ethics courses, positfor itis notsurprising Callahanand Bok defend traditional that the methods of evaluation comparison the more recentempirical in to approaches is thandefended. The con[7,p. 27]. But that preference moreasserted flict between Rest's too easy dismissal and Callahanand Bok's too easy defense traditional of will onlybe solvedby morecareful work testing on articulating severalthings are trying accomplish moral/ the in we to values education, including appliedethics,and on how bestto testfor thoseoutcomes.

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Journal HigherEducation of

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