Case method strategies for teaching sexual ethics to relativists and skeptics

Many undergraduates are culturally shaped to avoid making ethical judgments. They spontaneously adopt relativist and skeptical strategies such as "It all depends," or "Whose morality?" or "Who's to say?" as ways of fending off the challenge of making moral decision...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Teaching theology and religion
Main Author: Vacek, Edward Collins (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2017]
In: Teaching theology and religion
RelBib Classification:FB Theological education
NCF Sexual ethics
ZF Education
Further subjects:B Sexual ethics
B Character
B Relativism
B Autonomy
B Method
B Case
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Many undergraduates are culturally shaped to avoid making ethical judgments. They spontaneously adopt relativist and skeptical strategies such as "It all depends," or "Whose morality?" or "Who's to say?" as ways of fending off the challenge of making moral decisions. The current tsunami that is washing away traditional sexual norms is both a result and a cause of this cultural shift. Case studies can mitigate this decline and help students to grow in both confidence and ability to make good ethical judgments. The case method, used with a Socratic pedagogy, engages imagination and counters the deficits in empathy found in many contemporary students. It moves students toward understanding morality itself. Against skepticism, it assists students in exercising practical reason, culminating in decision. Five cases invite students to overcome extreme relativism, to look for and evaluate relevant differences, and to enter into ethical discussion with other students on the sexual issues they face in their college years.
ISSN:1467-9647
Contains:Enthalten in: Teaching theology and religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/teth.12375