Francona Moral Education Theories

On the basis of criticizing the traditional and contemporary ethical education, William Frankena put forward his ethical education theory. The theoretical basis of Frankena's ethical education theory is his ethics. In the standard ethics, Frankena summarized his own ethical view—"A mixed deontological theory of obligation"and proposed the principle of good-will and justice. As for the metaethics, it stresses the demonstration of ethical obligation, ethical value and the non-ethical value. Accordingly Frankena held that ethical education should include two aspects: form and content, i.e. to learn the ethical knowledge and to foster ethical autonomy. With regard to the essence of ethical education, Frankena took advantages from both the traditional and contemporary ethical theories, which had a clear compromising tendency and represented an orientation for the development of the ethical education theory and practice. At the same time, Frankena's theory provides a strong reference for the development of ethical education in China. Due to the lack of domestic introduction of and study on Frankena's theory, this thesis intends to probe tentatively into Frankena's ethical education theory. The whole thesis falls into four parts:The first part mainly states the background of the emergence and development of Frankena's ethical education theory, including the social and theoretical backgrounds. Living in America in the 20th century, William Frankena was deeply influenced by the ideological trend of the Western moral education in 20th century. While it was on the basis of criticizing the traditional and contemporary ethical education that Frankena proposed his own view. And he also put that ethical education should follow a moderate path.The second part takes a premium on the discussion of the theoretical basis of Frankena's ethical education, i.e. his ethics. It gives a brief outline to the standard ethics and metaethics. As for the the standard ethics, Frankena put forward his understanding about ethics from the perspective of its definition, connotation and origin. Accordingly he defined the deontic ethics and ethics of virtue. Synthesizing the advantages and the disadvantages of deontological theories and teleological theories, Frankena raised his"mixed deontological theory of obligation"along with two basic principles—the good-will and justice. As for the metaethics, Frankena acknowledged its importance and pointed out its definition and the significance in studying the ethics.The third part elaborates on Frankena's view of ethical education, including the definition of ethical education, its purpose, content and the research method. On Frankena's opinion, ethical education is a process of self-drilling and self-educating; the purpose of ethical education is to reserve the good social order and to foster students'sense of ethics so much so that students'ethical autonomy could be promoted under such social circumstance; the content of ethical education included the cultivation of the sense of ethics and demonstration of the specific ethical principles and virtues; and by way of the combination of rational and irrational ways, the ethical education was to be underway.The fourth part finally evaluates Frankena's ethical education theory. First Frankena's ethical education theory shows a compromising tendency and paves a sound way for the development of modern ethical education theory. Then through evaluating the details of Frankena's ethical education theory, it is justifiable that Frankena's views on the nature, purpose, content and method of ethical education are reasonable and can be referred to. In the end, the influence of Frankena's ethical education theory on its practice in China is illustrated. With the acceleration of the globalization and the practice of the policy of reforming and opening, such questions as how to carry out the reformation of ethical education in China and by which kind of value to guide students have become inevitable. Drawing on Frankena's ethical education theory, the development of ethical education in China should be reinforced and the partiality towards any one between traditional and contemporary ethical education should also be avoided. And the practice of ethical education aims to foster students'autonomy while avoiding cramming.