Modern Western Sentimentalism And Moral Education

In the face of the moral crisis of contemporary world, moral education encountered unprecedented difficulties and challenges:complete education theory and the rigorous education planning cultivated more and more "immoral person". What is the problem of moral education? What moral education still missing? Ethicists and educators were discussed and reflected on our moral education, they tried to explore the new theoretical foundation and mainstay. Western academia thought they were focused on pursing western industrial civilization in a long time, which lay particular stress on constraining the behavior of people with external rules, and neglect emotion needs and human care of people, causing the internal division of human nature. Therefore, in the 1980 s western society raised a hot wave to revive the ancient Greek virtue ethics, to reconstruct a complete human nature and cultivate persons’ good qualities. They established based on the moral philosophy of virtue ethics character education system, and achieved remarkable achievement in practice. Our country academic circles and the government have focused attention on the theory of cultivating good character as the goal of character education; explore moral education suitable for China’s national conditions. This thesis based on the modern western moral sentimentalism ethics on the basis of the main defense according to ------sentiment, research background of western moral sentimentalism ethics, the status and role of sentiment in moral, as well as sentimental impact and significance of moral education. Try to take moral sentimentalism ethics as the ethical philosophy foundation of moral education, enrich human moral realm, make human nature harmony, and explore the new path of moral education.Thesis mainly includes five parts:Introduction part firstly analyzes the structure of the moral, that moral structure contained in the sentiment, sentiment is an indispensable part in moral education. Then to define the concept of sentimention, and discusses the research value of it. And then reviews the domestic and foreign research status about moral sentiment, moral education. Finally, it analysises the main ideas and research methods of the thesis.Chapter one, overview the modern western moral sentimentalism ethics. It mainly expounded the theory source, the theory background and development of moral sentimentalism. Its founder Shaftesbury proposed "moral sense" theory. Hutchison further completed and perfected "moral sense" theory. Butler put forward theory of "conscience", Hume raised "sympathy" thought and Smith proposed theory of "emotional resonance", which were respectively enriched and perfected the moral sentimentalism ethics theory at the different level, make it a complete theory system independently.Chapter two, the research scope of the modern moral sentimentalism. It analyzed the theory of moral sentimentalism in the domain of human nature, sentiment, rational, behavior and morality. Moral sentimentalism discussed the sentiment and moral from the perspective of human nature, as well as the influence of "moral sense", "conscience", "sympathy" and "emotional resonance" on the person’s sentiment, reason, behavior, moral, etc. All these that give an in-depth study in this thesis.Chapter three, moral sentimentalism ethics and moral education. It researched moral education problems from the angle of moral sentimentalism, with the height of the ethical philosophy, pay close attention to the effect and influence on the extreme form of sentiment in human moral psychological structure which produces to the moral education. And provide the human moral care for persons from the moral sentiment. Also, it tried to open new path of moral education.Chapter four, to be a sentimental moral person. Sentiment and moral are to demonstrate how to make human nature have a harmonious, comprehensive and free development. Both sentiment education and moral education, they have something in same, which is:through the study of sentiment and moral, as well as the relations of them, explore wonderful, to cultivate sentimental way and methods of the social moral people, both the value of the pursuit of goals, namely:to be a sentimental moral person.