The poverty of contractarian moral education

Clayton, Matthew; Stevens, David

Abstract

In A Theory of Moral Education, Michael Hand claims that a directive moral education that seeks to persuade children that a particular conception of contractarian morality is justified can be undertaken without falling foul of the requirement not to indoctrinate. In this article, we set out a series of challenges to Hand’s argument. First, we argue that Hand’s focus on ‘reasonable disagreement’ regarding the status of a moral conception is a red-herring in this conception. Second, we argue that the endorsement of moral contractarianism and the prohibition on indoctrination pull in different directions: if contractarianism is sound, then teachers or governments should be less worried about indoctrination than Hand suggests. Third, we argue that moral contractarianism is mistaken; teachers should look elsewhere for guidance on the moral norms and principles towards which they should direct their pupils.

Citation

Clayton, M., & Stevens, D. (2019). The poverty of contractarian moral education. Journal of Moral Education, 48(4), 501-514. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2019.1576123

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 31, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Apr 1, 2019
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jan 16, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 2, 2020
• Journal: Journal of Moral Education
• Print ISSN: 0305-7240
• Electronic ISSN: 1465-3877
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 48
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 501-514
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2019.1576123
• Keywords: Michael Hand; Moral education; Moral contractarianism; Reasonable disagreement; Indoctrination
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1476276
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/TC8y5ZVXsSFgyRRtTGH9/full?target=10.1080/03057240.2019.1576123
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Moral Education on 01.04.2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/03057240.2019.1576123