MORAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION: ARISTOTLE AND KANT. Exploring the Need for Normative Foundations in Moral Education.

Abstract

Many claims in the field of moral education are made against a background of moral psychology, pedagogy, and other related disciplines. However, it is thereby attempted to derive grounds for moral education by combining descriptive claims with claims that no more than vaguely remind of normative theory. Within this thesis I will explore the possibility of deriving grounds for moral education from the normative theories of Aristotle and Kant, in respectively virtue ethics and deontology. I will consider their implications for moral education, in order to conclude that normative foundations for moral education can indeed be found and should be used.