| Abstract: | This paper presents a general case for the teaching of ethics in the contemporary Australian university, both across the curriculum generally and within a range of professional preparations specifically. It claims that social ethics has a central place in the mission of the university. Furthermore, recent developments in the Australian community and its universities have created a context which gives the teaching of ethics enhanced priority. Current initiatives in applied ethics are discussed. Vexed questions of implementation (such as who should teach these courses and how they should teach) are also examined. The author claims that applied ethics courses require interdisciplinary expertise, but demand a sufficient basis in moral philosophy to allow for the critical appraisal essential to ethics, and to go beyond a narrow discourse about professional codes of conduct. The argument supporting this perspective is informed by Habermasian critical theory, which maintains that the ethical should engage the technical and professional reality. |
