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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 8, No. 4

Publication Date: April 25, 2021

DOI:10.14738/assrj.84.10006. Yajun, F. (2021). On the Teachability of Moral. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(4). 204-209.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

On the Teachability of Moral

Fang Yajun

ABSTRACT

From the perspective of moral connotation and moral conditions, moral is

essentially a tendency of human nature to be good, which embodies the practical

wisdom of human beings. The article combines predecessors' discussion and

research on moral education, and demonstrates that moral is teachable from two

aspects: whether moral is innate and whether moral can be developed. Then three

paths of moral education are proposed: the telling of moral stories; the

development of moral education teaching materials; the awakening of cultural

sympathy,in order to promote people’s moral understanding and moral practice.

Keywords: moral; teaching; moral education

The discourse on moral can be traced back to the period of ancient Greece. Socrates believes

that all virtues are derived from practical wisdom. He believes that "justice and all other virtues

are wisdom, there is no doubt about it" (Xenophon,1938;cf. Hilda D. Oakeley,1925) Plato

described the individual types of virtues in the "Ideal Land", which is through three ways of

talking with citizens. The analogy of this kind of social class function. He believes that the third

level, the highest level, is rational, and its corresponding virtue is practical wisdom. And

Aristotle disclosed Socrates’ belief that virtue is reason (because all virtue is knowledge). In his

view, virtue is accompanied by reason. It is obviously clear that there is no wisdom. Aristotle

belives that there is no major good, and there is no wise without ethical virtue. Even if wise has

no practical meaning, it is obviously necessary. Because it is a part of virtue. “Furthermore,there

is no right choice without wise, just as there is no It is the same as virtue. Because virtue

provides purpose, wiseness provides the practice to achieve the purpose." (Aristotle,2003) In

addition, the philosopher Kant clearly pointed out: "Self-discipline is the only principle of

moral." (Kant,2005) Through research on Kant’s ethics, Liu Tongfang proposed that “in Kant’s

moral edifice, self-discipline is indispensable The self-discipline principle is self-legislation and

self-obedience. Kant’s self-discipline is a kind of positive freedom. Positive freedom is not

arbitrarily acting, but obeying the law and being restricted by it. This restriction does not come

from external The restraint or restriction of the laws of nature comes from the constraints and

norms imposed by themselves, that is, from the norms and norms prescribed by the rational.

The rational motivation of self-legislation and the realization of self-compliance form self- discipline."(Liu,2014) And he believes that in moral education , Heteronomy can only be used

as a guide for the initial stage, not as the main method of moral education. Self-discipline is the

most fundamental method of moral education and the only principle of moral. Although in his

opinion, the main method of moral education is self-discipline, he does not deny the guiding

role played by heteronomy in moral education. In other words, in his view, moral education can

be taught in the initial stage, but in the later stage, it shifts from heteronomy to self-discipline.

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Yajun, F. (2021). On the Teachability of Moral. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(4). 204-209.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.84.10006

IS MORAL TEACHABLE?

To find out whether moral is teachable, we must first explore the connotation of "teaching" and

the conditions of moral. Regarding the connotation of teaching, Mr. Shi Zhongying once said:

"How to locate the teachable "teaching" of conscience is also a question of the connotation of

teaching. "Teaching" has different levels of connotation and extension in education. In terms of

form, “Teaching” in the formal sense emphasizes the need for systematic purposes, methods,

processes, evaluations, etc.; “teaching” in the informal sense only refers to purposeful influence

or promotion. From a spatial perspective, “teaching” in schools emphasizes the need to have

Standard courses, teaching materials and teaching methods; social "teaching" is only an

individual, no fixed form of influence and promotion. So how to determine the "teaching" that

can be taught by conscience? In fact, "teaching" that can be taught by conscience The level of

"teaching" is determined by the connotation and nature of conscience."( Shi,2005) It can be

seen from Shi Zhongying that the connotation of teaching is multi-layered, and its extension

also has different manifestations. The connotation and nature of conscience directly determines

whether it is teachable. He believes that conscience, as a moral sense of goodness, is not

inherently fixed, but can be developed and taught. In addition, he pointed out the moral

conditions in the article "The Value Logic and Reconstruction of the Moral Story Archetype of

"The Wolf Is Coming"". He believes: "For human behavior, only when the following conditions

are met, can it be regarded as "moral": first, altruism in intention rather than self-interest;

second, altruism is an end rather than a means ; Third, altruism is an inner need rather than a

calculation of utility; fourth, altruistic behavior has universal legitimacy and acceptability. This

kind of “moral” behavior may bring some “benefits” to the actors ", it may also bring some

"losses" and even some "risks"." (Shi,2009) Two questions need to be clarified as to whether

moral is teachable. One is: Is moral innate? The second is: Is moral developable? Regarding

these two aspects, many people have given their own discussions.

Moral Education Thought of Confucius

Confucius' thinking about whether moral can be taught or not focused on the proposition of

"similar sex, distant habits". Human beings are similar in nature. Although Confucius did not

explicitly say whether the "close" human nature is good or bad, good or evil, he tends to think

that human nature has a tendency to be good. His "literary quality theory" can be used as a

footnote to this. "Quality wins the word wild, quality wins the word history. The gentleman,

then the gentleman". (Confucius,2011)There is more simplicity than literary talent, like a

countryman, vulgar; literary talent is more than simple, hypocritical and exaggerated. Only the

combination of simplicity and literary talent is a gentleman. He believes that people have good

innate genetic qualities, but these qualities are still relatively rough, and they are only

possibilities. To make these good qualities a real realistic moral, it also depends on acquired

education and learning. How can moral be taught? Confucius further answered this question

through the concept of learning. "Ten has five to learn, thirty to stand, forty without confusion,

fifty to know the destiny, sixty to be compliant with ears, seventy to follow the heart's desire,

not to exceed the distance." (Confucius,2011).In Confucius’s eyes, there must be a teacher

within three learners ; as for the merit and demerit ,people should follow the former, and

change the latter. He told his students that he can know something because of his struggling for

knowledge. At the age of seventy, he was finally able to integrate the internal and external ethics

and rose to the level of moral freedom and aesthetics. Where he went, he learned. It is not a

person who is born with knowledge, but he likes ancient things and seeks knowledge diligently

and swiftly. What is the content of learning emphasized by Confucius? Confucius argues that a

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gentleman has courage but injustice is chaos, and a villain has courage but injustice is a thief.

And he uncovers that brave and rude is chaotic, and straight and rude is twisted. The courage

of a gentleman is based on righteousness. If a gentleman does not have the cultivation of

righteousness and culture, he will be courageous in vain, and he will easily cause chaos and

cause social chaos. If you have courage to people without a foundation of justice and culture,

you will easily do bad things. For acts such as bandits, being brave and not being polite will lead

to reckless chaos, and being straightforward and not polite will hurt others. Then, to learn,

naturally, is to learn "rituals" and "righteousness". To learn is to learn ethics and ethics, that is,

to learn how to form a complete personality, how to act "benevolence" and become a gentleman

and a benevolent person. This is the main content of learning. Therefore, learning is essentially

knowing "Tao" and "Tao", and knowing "Rite" in parallel with "Rite".

"Virtue is Knowledge" of Socrates

Socrates' thinking on "whether virtue is teachable" is concentrated in his proposition that

"virtue is knowledge". The issue of "virtue teachability" is clearly raised in the article "Mino".

"Virtue is knowledge" is also made clear in this dialogue. If virtue is knowledge, then it can be

taught. The question then becomes, is virtue knowledge? "Is it? Socrates introduced another

concept: "good." He believed that virtue is a kind of "good." If knowledge includes all goodness,

then it is right to think that "virtue is knowledge". Through a series of The dialogue proves that

knowledge is all good: when behaviors are beneficial, what is leading them? Knowledge. When

behaviors are harmful to us, what is guiding them? It is ignorance. Only under the guidance of

knowledge can they be guided. There is virtue; therefore virtue is knowledge. "In fact, Socrates'

proof of "knowledge is virtue" is simply the sufficiency of knowledge for virtue: first of all,

knowledge is a necessary condition for virtue. Only behaviors guided by knowledge can be good

behaviors; behaviors not guided by knowledge will never become good behaviors. Take some

human qualities, such as bravery. If they are not guided by knowledge, they may become

reckless, which may be harmful. Furthermore, knowledge is a sufficient condition for virtue:

with good knowledge, there must be good deeds; on the contrary, without knowledge, there

must be no good deeds. "(Liu,2009) In addition, Aristotle discussed five intellectual virtues in

"On the Soul". Three of them are theoretical and inferential: one is the intuition of the first

principle, it is Innate: The other is acquired habits, and the other is the philosophical wisdom

that combines intuition and reasoning. It can be seen that in Aristotle’s view, people are born

with a natural tendency to pursue virtues, through acquired habits Obtained prudence

promotes the development of these natural tendencies, so that they become conscious factors

in a good life. This kind of good life leads to happiness. In other words, moral is not inherently

possessed, it can be developed Therefore, moral is also teachable from this perspective.

Moral Education Thinking of Others

Liu Tongfang believes that: "In the real moral education situation, formal moral education has

penetrated into all aspects of moral education, and it is prominently manifested in two aspects,

educational methods and educational content. One is that the educational methods are mainly

indoctrination, ignoring the correctness. The exploration of the inner moral motivation of the

educated. The second is that the content of education emphasizes knowledge and teaching

rather than practice training."(Liu,2014)"As universal and objectified moral principles and

codes appear in the form of knowledge, they have guiding significance for moral life. It should

play an important role in civic moral education. However, moral practice training

corresponding to moral knowledge education should attract enough attention, because only

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Yajun, F. (2021). On the Teachability of Moral. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(4). 204-209.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.84.10006

moral practice training can really touch the core of moral education. Only in moral practice It is

possible to form moral laws, and only moral practice can truly provide a wide range of realities

for self-disciplined moral behavior." (Liu,2014) It can be seen that in his view, moral is

teachable, and the moral principles of universalization and objectification And ethics are

teachable. He not only attaches importance to the cultivation of the inner moral motivation of

the educated, but also emphasizes the importance of moral practice. At this point, it coincides

with the practical wisdom emphasized by Aristotle. Or it is the inheritance of Aristotle's ethics.

In addition, Feng Yonggang also pointed out in the article "The Limits of "Ethical Teachability"

and Its System Guarantee": "For the improvement of students' moral standards, the school's

moral teaching is indispensable." (Feng,2012) "In family education, In the three-dimensional

integrated moral education system composed of school education and social education, school

education occupies a dominant position."(Feng,2012) In his view, moral is teachable, and

teachers can teach students ethics and codes of conduct. But in addition to this, family education

and social education need to be combined. He believes that, at present, if moral education is to

return to life and obtain sufficient moral resources in the entire social arena, it is necessary to

step out of the narrow world of schools, strengthen social regulation and control mechanisms,

rely on the strength of the family and society, and use ethical spirit and The system of ethics

guides the behavior of individuals and seeks inexhaustible power to promote the coordinated

development of all elements of the moral education system in the context of the entire society.

"Unlike moral science, Aristotle's "prudence" cannot be taught, but (if any) a technique that

must be acquired through personal effort. Aristotle School Part of the "prudence" of "knowing"

how to behave is related to "knowing" how to behave-but it also involves the direction of

individual voluntary activities and their adjustments. On this second point, prudential

management of behavior, so it is a moral virtue. " (Burke,2016 ) It can be seen that prudence is

a virtue, and prudence can be obtained through personal efforts, that is, prudence is not innate.

So prudence is social and can be developed. So prudence is teachable, but this kind of teaching

is a kind of self-teaching, more of a kind of self-learning or being influenced by others, not being

taught by others.

THREE PATHS OF MORAL EDUCATION

Telling Moral Stories

"In order to cultivate virtue, children should first hear beautiful and noble stories." (Plato,1986

) It can be seen that moral stories are a good form of moral education. Children are born with a

kind of ability, that is, the ability to listen. It can be said that children like to hear stories from

others. The simpler the plot of the story, the better. To this end, children can use their own

cognition to understand the content of moral stories, and to think about the moral behind the

story. Perhaps, for many children, due to cognitive difficulties, they cannot understand the truth

of the story well. At this time, adults can directly tell the children the meaning contained in it.

Of course, it is very important to properly use the form of moral stories. Chinese education

scholar,named Shi Zhongying, thinks that teachers can still introduce the story of "The Wolf is

Coming" to students in the vital form of moral education. However, it is not permitted that the

value logic presented in the story is always pursuing the line of utilitarianism. The final ending

to the protagonist is good or not is not the key. “Instead, it is important that the audience could

be involved in the context of the story through storytelling and awakened.”( Shi,2009) From his

opinion,we can realize that audience’s sympathy for the protagonist in the story leads the

audience to experience the spiritual harm caused by the protagonist’s immoral behavior on

other people and the serious impact on the good relationship between the protagonist and