Dallas Willard Dallas Willard Ministries
First-Time Visitor
About Dallas
Contact

Moral Education in the Academy: Optional or Necessary?

November 5, 2004
MacLaurin Institute Lecture - St Paul, MN

Academia Ethics and Morals Lecture Audio

Dallas discusses whether universities should take responsibility for moral education. He examines the current state of moral guidance in higher education, highlighting the tension between those who believe moral instruction should be part of academic life and those who see it as unnecessary or even inappropriate. Dallas argues that universities inevitably impart moral education, even if unintentionally, and he advocates for a more intentional approach rooted in the moral teachings of Jesus.

 

READING:

“The University’s Responsibility for Moral Guidance,” by Dallas Willard. The Real Issue, #1, March 2004.

“The Aims of Education” by John J. Mearsheimer, Philosophy and Literature, 1998, vol 22.

“The Disparity Between Intellect and Character,” by Robert Coles. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol 42, #4 (Sept 1995).

The Making of the Modern University: Intellectual Transformation and the Marginalization of Morality, by Julie Reuben.

From Soul to Mind: The Emergence of Psychology, from Erasmus Darwin to William James, by Edward Reed

“Aim Low: Confusing Democratic Values with Academic Ones Can Easily Damage the Quality of Education,” by Stanley Fish, The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 16, 2003, Vol. 49, Issue. 36, page C. 5.  The book Fish is commenting on is Educating Citizens: Preparing America’s Undergraduates for Lives of Moral and Civic Responsibility, Jossey-Bass, 2003.

 

The MacLaurin Institute is one of the oldest university-affiliated Christian study centers in the USA. It was rebranded as Anselm House in 2016.

Resources

Moral Education in the Academy: Optional or Necessary?

Is moral education in universities a relic of the past, or an essential element missing in modern academia? Dallas tackles the question head-on, exploring the confusion surrounding moral guidance in higher education. He illustrates how universities, even when they claim to be morally neutral, still impart values that shape their students. Dallas challenges educators to consider the moral influence they wield and invites them to look toward the teachings of Jesus as a potential source of profound moral instruction.

The resources on this website are freely available here because of the generous gifts of our supporters.

Give

Related Resources

You may also like...

Knowing Christ Today

Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge

Knowing Christ Today

Books

The Disappearance of Moral...

The Disappearance of Moral Knowledge

Books

Is There A Human Nature? What Does It Mean To Be Human?

Video
Download & Listen Offline

Moral Education in the Academy: Optional or Necessary?

Highlights:

  • Historical Perspective on Moral Education: Dallas delves into how moral education has been a central concern of philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, who saw shaping good people as the primary aim of education. He contrasts this with the modern reluctance of universities to engage in explicit moral guidance.
  • Universities’ Reluctance to Teach Morality: He explores how many faculty members disown the responsibility for moral guidance, seeing it as outside their academic role. This, he argues, is a misunderstanding because moral values are imparted through teaching, even when they are not overtly discussed.
  • Confusion of Faculty on Moral Guidance: Dallas highlights the ambivalence among university professors about whether they engage in moral education. While many believe they are imparting values through discussions of texts and ideas, he points out that this often lacks the depth required to shape moral character.
  • Role of Faculty in Imparting Morality: Without even realizing it, professors communicate moral values through their behavior, body language, and the subjects they choose to emphasize. Dallas argues that this unintentional moral education is happening, whether universities acknowledge it or not.
  • Modern Ethical Teaching Is Fragmented and Shallow: Dallas critiques the current approach to ethics in universities, describing it as fragmented, shallow, and primarily focused on legalistic behavior rather than moral character. He calls for a deeper engagement with the ethics of character formation.
  • Christian Model of Moral Education: In concluding, Dallas suggests that the Christian ethic of love, especially the teaching to "love your neighbor as yourself," offers a powerful framework for moral education. He encourages universities to consider this model as a potential solution to the moral vacuum in academia.