A moral community of a realm of ends: Its (im)possibility in education?

Abstract

When education only is affected by the instrumental principle and its substantiation vis-à-vis specific normative requirements as narratives, practices and traditions of certain kinds, education merely promotes and preserves such normative requirements rather than altering them. I therefore argue that education should not only be affected by the instrumental principle and its substantiation through certain narratives etc. Education should also embrace the value of moving beyond these so that new ways of thinking can be made possible. This it can do when it engages in the creation of a moral community of a realm of ends. However, even though such a creation is possible in principle, it is not necessarily the case that each and every one will engage in making such a moral community possible or that each and every one will be successful in such a pursuit. It is, nonetheless, a worthy quest, and when people engage in creating such a moral community, they strive to set and pursue morally permissible ends in systematic connection, rather than merely external ends valued in specific circumstances. By doing so, they respect each other as ends-in-themselves rather than as means to some further end, or so I argue.