soil-conservation-people-religion-and-land.pdf - South West NRM

Can Values and ~thics be Taught?
Plato wrote, "Education makes good men and good men act
nobly". v1Noble19 can be equated to flresponsiblevl in today's
era of environmental awareness, but the task of changing
values through education is a daunting one in a dollar-driven
society-where-success.has only material. criteria. Would it be
old fashioned to introduce "Moral Philosophyvw as a subject in
today's curriculum in an effort to nurture a sensitivity to
Nature and the environment? Could this result in moral and
ethical responsibility for our actions toward the land and its
elements? Some would argue that such fundamental values are
Itcaught not taught", inferring that role models and exemplary
behaviour are the key to passing on such noble community
values. In this time of vocational training, many would argue
that the desired lqsensus communi~~~ in our teaching
institutions is absent to such a degree that they are
ltsoullesslt and perhaps even valuef ree. It has become
fashionable not to moralize and not to be dogmatic in teaching
what is right. The l'should-oughtll notion is now seen as
subjective personal bias.
Why have ethics and morals moved from the centre to the
periphery of our education? One reason is that religion, as a
basis for community values, has waned. Another is the
increase in pluralism and relativism. The rise of alternative
ideologies has led to what has been termed a "free market of
ideasvt, all seen as equally acceptable options. A discussion
of land ethics does not allow for an evaluation of the role of
educational institutions but it is timely to consider what is
expected of Australian universities when policy changes are
challenging their role. Their role may be to seek out and
transmit knowledge and to train students in the processes
whereby truth is made known. To attempt to convert students
to a particular view is regarded as unacceptable to the
dispassionate search for knowledge. Where it is necessary to
consider social or political viewpoints, these are not taught
but rather dissected and examined objectively. The logic of
the facts is not allowed to tip the scales toward any
particular conclusion on desirable social values. Many
academics would argue that moral and ethical. values are best
taught by not focussing directly on them, but rather by
inference.
The fact is that unless a philosophy based on modern
ecological realities is embraced by future decision-makers,
the resource base of all alternative economic and social
systems will collapse. This irrefutable situation narrows
down the acceptable alternative lltruthslt considerably when the
long term global perspective is taken. The inherent inability
of the majority to recognize the unsustainability of the '@Me-
Now" desires of human nature is shown in the simple diagram