Individualist Moral Understanding and ‘Moral Reasoning’ in Education

Year 2021, Issue: 73, 105 - 142, 15.07.2021

Eyüp Aktürk

Abstract

Education has a cognitive/academic aim as well as a moral aim. But there is a lot of
discussion about what motivates or makes the moral aim/action. On one side of these
discussions is the Kantian-individualist understanding that reduces the moral field to the
individual and his reason. There is a direct connection between the individualistic grounding
of morality and the preference of moral behavior independently of external factors.
The individual has the status of a ‘legislator’ that determines the moral law based on his
own reason. In moral matters, everyone makes their own decisions and in order for one’s
actions to have a moral value, these decisions must be made with a sense of duty. As a
moral agent, the person does not prefer and apply the right thing based on any external
factor. What gives a person this opportunity is his moral reasoning or reasoning capacity.
As moral reasoning develops, individuals who have to judge in moral situations will be
more likely to use moral principles. This study examines the place of moral reasoning in
moral education and aims to investigate this alleged relationship between moral reasoning
and moral behavior.

Keywords

Kant, Moral Education, Moral Reasoning, Moral Development

BİREYCİ AHLAK ANLAYIŞI VE EĞİTİMDE ‘AHLAKİ MUHAKEME’

Abstract

Eğitimin bilişsel/akademik bir hedefi olduğu gibi ahlaki bir hedefi de söz konusudur. Fakat
ahlaki hedefi/eylemi motive eden veya gerçekleşmesini sağlayan şeyin ne olduğuna
ilişkin birçok tartışma vardır. Bu tartışmaların bir tarafında ahlak alanını bireye ve onun
aklına indirgeyen Kantçı-bireyci anlayış bulunmaktadır. Ahlakın bireyci bir temele dayanması
ile ahlaki davranışların dışsal unsurlardan bağımsız olarak tercih edilmesi arasında
doğrusal bir bağlantı vardır. Birey kendi aklından hareketle ahlaki yasayı belirleyen bir
‘yasa-koyucu’ statüsüne sahiptir. Ahlaki meselelerde herkes kendi kararını vermektedir ve
kişinin eylemlerinin ahlaki bir değer taşıması için bu kararların görev bilinciyle verilmesi
zorunludur. Ahlaki bir özne olarak kişi herhangi bir dış faktörden hareketle doğru olanı
tercih etmemekte ve uygulamamaktadır. Kişiye bu imkânı sağlayan şey ise onun sahip
olduğu ahlaki muhakeme veya akıl yürütme kapasitesidir. Ahlaki muhakeme geliştikçe,
ahlaki durumlarda hüküm vermesi gereken bireyler ahlaki ilkeleri kullanmaya daha yatkın
hale geleceklerdir. Bu çalışma, ahlaki muhakemenin (ahlaki akıl yürütmenin) ahlak
eğitimindeki yerini irdeleyerek, ahlaki muhakeme ile ahlaki davranış arasındaki var olduğu
iddia edilen bu ilişkiyi araştırmayı hedeflemektedir.

Keywords

Kant, Ahlak Eğitimi, Ahlaki Muhakeme, Ahlaki Gelişim

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