Moral Education for Structural Change

Abstract

The experience of the education for the social responsibility program at the University of Concepción suggests the viability of large-scale moral education forming a functional, realistic, and socially unifying ethical conscience. Three educational principles supported by scientific findings are proposed to guide moral education: understanding, participation, and empathy from experience. Taking as an example the 'structural trap' by which the good intention of complying with social human rights such as health, ends up discouraging economic investment, it is suggested that good large scale moral education is capable of facilitating the overcoming of structural obstacles to solutions to social and ecological problems.