| Immanuel Kant is one of the most important philosophers in western philosophical history,and he has a great role on the philosophical development in the east and the west.Foundations of the metaphysics of morals is Kant’s representative work,and it shows his theory of transcendent critique,and constructs his ethical system of deontology.The work sets seeking for the basis of morality as the starting point,which begins from the moral reason of ordinary people to the moral reason of philosophy,then to metaphysics of moral,finally reaches the critique of practical reason.Kant deduces the moral principles and moral criteria through good will,duty principle,categorical imperative,and practical reason,which ensures the universality,consistency,and compatibility.Ethics is a fundamental discipline of pedagogy,referring to ‘what is human’,‘which kind of human does education aim to cultivate’,and so on.Different educational theories have different humanity theories,and different educational ideas,contents and approaches,which decide the educational ends.What’s more,the instruction cannot be departed from corresponding ethical relationship or interactive relationship,for instance,what do teachers treat students—special humans--as in the actual teaching,how to cultivate students’ reason and virtue.The analysis to foundations is good to reflect the educational problems nowadays,identify final ends,basic principles,and developing prospect,and find the philosophical foundations to perfect education.Firstly,the paper introduces simply the life of Kant and the background of the book,the developing route of Kant’s theory,and the critique to other schools of ethics.Secondly,it elaborates the line of practical reason and the basis of metaphysics in details,and illustrates these concepts and propositions,for example,good will,duty principle,categorical imperative,three formulas,free will,and practical reason,so it sketches logically the ethical system of Kant.Thirdly,the paper enunciates what Kant’s ethics influences and implies to the education theory and practice through four aspects,education treats humans as an end,the moral education exceeds relativism and nihilism,education is from heteronomy to autonomy,education should avoid the totalitarianism of personal reason or communal reason.Education should persist the idea ‘treating humans as an end’ totally,morality faces the crises from relativism and nihilism,schools are important places of carrying out moral education,which aims at cultivating critical consciousness,capacity to reflect,attitude towards toleration,and skill of communicating with others.So students can develop good virtue to flexibly deal with moral dilemmas with moral principles.The education can gradually cause students’ self-consciousness and self-ability,to cultivate excellent reason and good virtue,so that they can treat others,society,and the world dependently,autonomously,justly,and equally.So students obtain the interior self-legislation from exterior imperative.Lastly,We should learn good ideas from Kant’s ethics to guide moral education and teaching activities,simultaneously,we should avoid the rigorism and formalism to implement multiple and plural education,and promote modern education to a new step. |
