Should Australian Business Fund Ethics Education in Public Schools?

This article discusses the proposal of funding ethics education in public schools in Australia and analyzes it from utilitarian, Kantian, and Aristotelian virtue theory perspectives. It explores the benefits and limitations of each theory and provides insights into the ethical implications of the proposal. The article also introduces the concept of social contract theory as an additional perspective relevant to the case.

Running Head: SHOULD AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS FUND ETHICS EDUCATION IN PUBLIC
SCHOOLS?
Should Australian Business Fund Ethics education in public schools?
Name
Institutional Affiliation

SHOULD AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS FUND ETHICS EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS? 2
CONTENTS
AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS FUNDING FOR ETHICS EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.........3
UTILITARIAN ANALYSIS.................................................................................................................3
KANTIAN ANALYSIS........................................................................................................................4
ARISTOTELIAN VIRTUE THEORY..................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................5

SHOULD AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS FUND ETHICS EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS? 3
AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS FUNDING FOR ETHICS EDUCATION IN PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
The proposal looks into the basic reasoning of the demand and rise in the induction of
ethics education in public schools across Australia which is the fact that children of modern
times need to be equipped with the skills and ethical knowledge of working in a corporate
environment to prove themselves as better employees or entrepreneurs (Stahl, 2011).That is
why these topics are raised to create awareness regarding the study of ethics and its relevance
to real life work situations (Trevino & Nelson, 2016). This will not only benefit the children
but also the teachers as it will help them learn how to be more professional and ethical in
their own workplace (Boon, 2011).
UTILITARIAN ANALYSIS
Bentham’s theory of utilitarianism focuses entirely on only two points namely
pleasure and pain. From a utilitarian’s point of view, the proposal can be seen as an ethical
was it is looking towards the greater good without taking into consideration personal or
individual interests. The utilitarian analysis reveals the following limitations of the theory
that can be associated with its link to the proposal;
1. Not all consequences of the actions can be known of in terms of whether or not the
funding of Australian businesses for ethical education will turn out advantageous.
2. Integrity and personal responsibility for moral actions might be ignored in order to
achieve the final goal of implementing ethics education in public schools.
3. Individual rights like those of the businesses might be ignored in order to achieve the
goals.
4. The thought that is the basic reason might be ignored just to make sure the target of
funding ethical education is being worked upon.
Utilitarianism is related to providing strong support for democratic policies and institutions
and considers human-human relations to be the most important (Howell, 2010).
Quantitative Analysis of Happiness: - The theory focuses on how the stakeholders of
different businesses in Australia are morally driven towards this cause and discuss how they
think the non-acceptance of this case makes sense as moral and ethics should be openly
discussed in schools and other fields of education (Bentham, 2007). The quantitative analysis
of the case in light of Utilitarianism can be classified as a decision taken for the greater good
and not just an individual (Guidi, 2007). Here the rights of the students and their parents are
being neglected as forced education of ethics leaves them with no choice but to study that

SHOULD AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS FUND ETHICS EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS? 4
subject even if they are not willing to. The relation of Government and social institutes in
making ethics education necessary for the schools is ethical in this perspective as this proves
the theory and its focus on social well-being of the youth without giving credit to the
stakeholders and people who fund for this cause.
KANTIAN ANALYSIS
The Kant theory of ethics revolves around goodwill that is governed by reason and
motivated by duty and not by inclination or even the slightest consideration of the
consequences. From a Kantian’s point of view, the proposal can be seen as an ethical one
because of the reason that there is an intention of building the youth with the ability of critical
thinking and strong ethical characteristics. The Kantian analysis reveals the following
limitations of the theory that can be associated with its link to the proposal;
1. People or institutions should not be used as objects for our pleasure and satisfaction
purposes like in this case the Australian businesses are being used as building blocks
to achieve the target of building the youth through ethics education.
2. As Kantian ethics deem that all duties are absolute, it cannot help us in resolving
conflicts of duty no matter how much we have to sacrifice for that. The conflict of
interest that comes in to play when the proposal is discussed is the profitable image
enhancement of the Australian businesses and lack of consideration for the children
who will be forced to study this subject.
3. There is a lack of moral emotions like compassion, sympathy and remorse which
leads the Kantians into thinking that duty is the only thing to be focused on, no matter
what emotional or mental pain it might bring to the others like in the case of this
proposal where the Kantians are focused only on getting the youth to study ethics as a
part of their curriculum without considering if they are willing to do it or not. Their
consideration does not matter so long as the task is being fulfilled.
Qualitative Analysis of Goodwill: - Qualitative analysis of the Kantian theory with respect
to Australian funding for ethics education reveals that the duty is to ensure ethics education
rules are being implemented across all public schools in Australia (Ritchie, Lewis, Nicholls,
& Ormston, 2013). It focuses on getting the task done through funding s from Australian
businessmen that want to shape the youth for entrepreneurial duties of tomorrow. The
analysis also reveals that the funding might be a way to increase the profitability and other
benefits of the business and that youth education and enhancement is not one of primary
reasons for this. Like the Kant theory of ethics focuses on the sole purpose of fulfilling duties

SHOULD AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS FUND ETHICS EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS? 5
while overlooking human emotions and other immoral and insensitive reasons that may be
behind a certain duty, it can be seen that the stakeholders might have different personal
motivation and interests to fund the ethic education (Ritchie, Lewis, Nicholls & Ormston,
2013). But the theory still considers this an ethical act as it fulfilling the need of ethical
education in public schools which is a cause for the greater good, though at the price of
hidden reasons and no care for the emotions and choices of the students and their parents.
CATEGORIAL IMPERATIVES OF KANTIAN PERSPECTIVE: -
Categorical imperatives command unconditionally as they're unequivocal. For instance, one
moral principle states that you just have to solely follow ethical rules that you would expect
everybody else to follow. This implies on the case at hand in a sense that if the other
stakeholders are also participating for this cause, the remaining stakeholders will not stand by
and they will also have to fund the ethics education because it is the right thing to do no
matter if the moral does not resonate with their own beliefs. Another one states that you have
to never treat individuals as a means to associate end however as an end to themselves since
all people have ethical values and should be treated with dignity. For Kant, rules are
predominant. The case talks about the role of the Government of Australia in making ethics a
mandatory subject in the public schools for the reason that this will polish the youth for
tomorrow. The rule will be absolute and will be considered ethical and liable to follow in
Kantian perspective as it does not focus on what entities are against this act but rather on the
fact that this is a rightful decision made for everyone and is a rule to follow. The last
imperative deals with putting everybody in the same box and treating them all with a uniform
rule without changing it to their liking as rules are paramount in the Kantian perspective.
ARISTOTELIAN VIRTUE THEORY
This theory relies on doing well for human beings through the acts of human nature
that are virtuous ("11 Virtue Ethics Strengths and Weaknesses", 2016). The strengths of the
virtue ethics can be given as follows;
1. Character traits, where the virtues of a person are used so that he/she can act
morally towards a good cause.
2. Better people, where general virtues are practiced in everyday living such as
generosity, compassion, honesty and friendliness etc. so they can become better
persons.
3. Broad & Holistic, where different virtues are combined in everyday lives to live in
harmony with other people.

SHOULD AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS FUND ETHICS EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS? 6
4. Agent-Centered, where the focus is on the character of the moral agent and not
fixated on the task or duty to be done.
5. Sense of community, where an individual is motivated to be sensitive of others and
to take care of them through good virtues.
6. Preservation of Goodness, where virtue ethics act as a shield for the person against
factors that might pollute his mind or make him a bad person in general (Zagzebski,
2010).
Apart from the strengths, some weaknesses that set back the properties of this theory are as
follows;
1. Lack of focus, when it comes to implementing the various types of actions that are
morally acceptable.
2. Nature of virtues, where there is difficulty in determining what is morally right or
wrong for people in general.
3. Self-centeredness, where the focus is only on the person’s own character and virtues
and not on the actions of an individual affecting other people.
4. Misguidance, where people can be lead to believe that they should rely on luck only
when it comes to attaining moral maturity.
5. Limited virtues, where there is a lack of large number and types of virtues. This
limitation is suitable for individual purposes and not on a large population as a whole.
ADDITIONAL THEORY REVELANT WITH THE CASE
SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY
It is an associate degree moral perspective that states that a person's ethical and/or political
obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement that individuals have created to
establish the society in which they live. Through this theory, people are seen as explanation
beings who perceive that to make and maintain a society, people should work and conform to
follow bound tips and realize the advantages of social living. To do this, the individuals
should select rationality over their natural instincts. That is, they need to be willing to labor
under a government and its laws to measure in a very civil society, instead of boarding a
“natural’ state of disorder and chaos. The social contract theory provides justification for the
institution of ethical rules to manipulate relationships among voters still because the
mechanism is capable of imposing those (Herschel & Miroi, 2017). The main target of the
theory is to get people to accept different reforms and regulations set by the Government of
that country as they are to everyone’s benefit. This helps in creating uniformity in the

SHOULD AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS FUND ETHICS EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS? 7
environment and making sure that that there is stability in the country. The benefits of this
theory include uniform decisions made by the Government of the country and them being
followed as they will result in the betterment of the people and there is an ultimate goal of
doing better for the society. The drawbacks of this theory include insensitivity to society
standards, the ignorance of people’s choices and feelings and an overall authoritative
approach to doing things right.

SHOULD AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS FUND ETHICS EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS? 8
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