“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” (Aristotle) Can we teach students to be ethical? This is something I’ve thought about a lot during my 30+ years teaching ethics at the university level. On the one hand, I know that I can teach it. I... Read more →
Making Ethical Decisions It has been said that “The true test of a person’s character is how they behave in difficult times.” John C. Maxwell is credited with making this important observation. Maxwell is an American author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership. I... Read more →
Relationship to the Law We all know that a compass is a device for determining directions by means of a magnetic needle or group of needles turning freely on a pivot and pointing to the magnetic north. The expression that your moral compass should be directed due north for ethical... Read more →
I have previously blogged about the concept of being “woke.” It was some time ago so rather than update it, I decided to ask ChatGPT to define the term. I asked twice and got substantially different answers each time. The answers also seem to be somewhat shallow. The best way... Read more →
Gallup Survey Results The results of a 2023 survey conducted by Gallup shows that Americans believe morality in society is on the decline. Here are some of those results: 54% say the state of moral values in U.S. is poor; 33% only fair. 83% think U.S. moral values are getting... Read more →
Can Anything Be Done to Stem the Rising Tide of Gun Violence? It is alarming how so many senseless murders have occurred in the U.S. just in 2022. The country has returned to its earlier days when the idea of a wild west ruled the day. The Wild West was... Read more →
Why is America Such a Violent Country? The number of senseless murders that have occurred in the U.S. in 2022 is alarming, several of which have occurred in November alone. We need to recognize that the country has now returned to the days of the “Wild West” that began after... Read more →
There Are No Consequences for Bad Behavior It is no surprise to me that a record-high 50% of Americans rate the overall state of moral values in the U.S. as "poor," and another 37% say it is "only fair." Just 1% think the state of moral values is "excellent" and... Read more →
A Framework for Judging Right from Wrong I am a big supporter of teaching virtues and values to both college students and professionals. The reason is they lay a foundation for ethical behavior. In this blog I will explain why. Moral Values Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that govern... Read more →
Are U.S. Students Choosing the Easy Path to Success? Much has been written about the low achievement scores of U.S. high-schoolers when compared to those of other countries. The chart below shows how badly U.S. students lag behind their peers in foreign countries. When comparing achievement scores in reading, math,... Read more →