Research On Durkheim’s Moral Education Thoughts From Heteronomy To Self-discipline

Emile Durkheim’s research on moral issues is not inferior to his contribution to sociology,and his sociology is even directly regarded by some scholars as a synonym for "moral science".Durkheim has his own logic system for moral education.He summarized the core of morality as three elements: discipline spirit,collective spirit and self-discipline spirit.Among them,disciplinary spirit and collective spirit embody the essence of morality as a social derivative and indicate social morality.The spirit of self-discipline points to the requirements of the subject practicing morality,that is,the will and attitude of individuals in society,and moral self-discipline should be the final state of individual morality.Personal moral development begins with heteronomy,and the moral education finds its own goal and meaning from the process of gradual transformation from heteronomy to self-discipline.It can be said that Durkheim has constructed his own formation mechanism and moral education method about moral self-discipline by taking "morality from heteronomy to self-discipline" as the clue throughout his moral education thought.Influenced by the theories of Kant,Rousseau,and Comte,Durkheim developed his own unique theory on moral education,and integrated his sociological theory,educational idea and rationalist approach into it.In Durkheim’s view,morality originates from society and is a combination of obligation and goodness.Moral heteronomy is passive obedience to established moral norms,while moral self-discipline is the active and active observance of moral norms based on rational identification.Durkheim studies how the cultivation of moral self-discipline is possible from the perspective of human nature.Generally speaking,there are mainly two ways: The first one is to promote the development of moral habits through the management of the individual’s external behavior;The second one is the guidance of thought promotes the generation of moral knowledge,and the two factories continue to influence and cooperate with each other to promote moral self-discipline.Durkheim believed that the moral education of children is a critical period,therefore the school is an excellent place for moral education.Moral education must follow the mechanism of individual morality.On the premise of ensuring the quality of teachers,school moral education should promote the transformation of students’ morality from heteronomy to self-discipline through the cultivation of students’ moral knowledge and the cultivation of moral habits by moral education practice.From an objective point of view,Durkheim’s moral education theory can undoubtedly answer the debate on the contradiction between indoctrination and anti-indoctrination,and can effectively promote individual to grow into an " independent social person".However,it also exaggerates the role of knowledge and overemphasizes sociality,ignoring the disadvantages of individual value.We should treat Durkheim’s theory dialectically and draw lessons from it selectively in order to improve the effectiveness of moral education in schools in our country and help to promote the self-discipline and self-development of individual morality.