Professional Ethics Education: Studies in Compassionate Empathy

1. 1 Practical Ethics Education at an Impasse Why is some practical ethics training a requirement of nearly all programmes in higher education? The short answer is that it is thought to be conducive to ethical decision-making and ethical behaviour. In recent years, the received idea that competency in moral reasoning implies moral responsibility on the ground has been the subject of critical attention. Today, researchers in moral education widely regard moral reasoning as but one among at least four dimensions of moral dev- opment alongside moral motivation, moral character, and moral sensitivity (Rest, 1986). Reflecting these changes, educationalists in the diverse fields of medicine, education, business, and applied ethics can now be found openly questioning how to take practical ethics education beyond the development of skills in moral r- soning. Frequently topping the list of suggested improvements is to provide s- port for empathic capacities of response. This work gives this proposal the systematic attention that it deserves. Contemporary applied ethics, and by extension practical and professional ethics education, can be considered an offshoot of the broad philosophical doctrine of moral realism. Moral realism takes many forms but in broad outline it is an est- lished meta-ethical position that emerged as a seemingly attractive alternative to another family of established philosophical positions that sometimes goes under the name of expressivism.

Provides sustained, critical and multi-disciplinary treatment of the important and much-discussed question of addressing emotional aspects of moral functioning in professional ethics education Designed to be accessible and engaging to instructors of professional and practical ethics in a wide variety of fields Offers practical evidence-based suggestions on how to incorporate the promotion of empathic development into the everyday teaching of professional ethics

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Why is practical ethics training a now requirement of nearly all professional training programmes? The short answer is that it is thought to be conducive to ethical decision-making and ethical behaviour. In recent years, the received idea that competency in moral reasoning implies moral responsibility has been the subject of much critical attention. Today, researchers in moral education widely regard moral reasoning as but one among at least 4 dimensions of moral development alongside moral motivation, moral character and moral sensitivity. Reflecting these developments, educationalists in the diverse fields of medicine, education, business, philosophy and nursing now openly question how to take professional ethics education beyond the development of skills in moral reasoning. Frequently topping the list of suggested improvements is to provide support for empathic capacities of response. This work gives this proposal the sustained attention that it deserves but which it has until now lacked. The challenge of empathic development in practical ethics education, it argues, is to encourage the appropriate extension of natural concern for one's kith and kin to the needs of strangers as well.

Contenu
The Disambiguation of Empathy: Affective and Cognitive Conceptions.- A Conceptual and Empirical Sketch of Compassionate Empathy.- The Paradox of Compassionate Empathy's Moral Worth.- Compassionate Empathy, Moral Perception and Moral Conscience.- Intermezzo on Moral Emotion Education: Imagination, Imitation, and Reappraisal.- Compassionate Empathy in Professional and Practical Ethics Education.