Ethics Education in Democratic Pluralist Contexts

Abstract

In this article Olof Franck examines some prerequisites for the development of an emancipatory ethics education in pluralist contexts. He first formulates a platform for the examination with regard to Gert Biesta's educational philosophy, particularly with reference to perspectives on education, subjectification, and democracy, and then discusses the concepts of unexpectedness and risk, as these are approached and elaborated by Biesta, with reference to possible challenges when ethics is taught in pluralist contexts. Next, he poses the question: How can such an education contribute to the development of democratic dialogue and democratic relations as well as to students' subjectification — and emancipation? Franck closes with a discussion of an answer to this question that seems to follow from Biesta's approach; in it, he raises certain critical considerations with respect to that approach and also offers some suggestions for how to find ways to meet challenges to the development of democratic, emancipatory ethics education.