ABSTRACT
Most moral philosophers have presented us with constructive pictures of morality and, by implication at least, of moral education. They have advocated a thorough use of reflection and critical thinking and have been convinced of the necessity and possibility of discovering moral standards that are in some sense rationally justifiable. Just as in moral theology there has been much criticism of Fletcher and situation ethics, so in philosophy there has been much criticism of these extreme actarian Methods, usually in the form of attacks on act-utilitarianism. As for the moral education of the young, it will on such views consist largely in the teaching and internalization of the Gens incorporated in social codes and institutions. On the view being described, however, morality is itself a social institution, like law in many respects but also different. Each society has a more or less prevailing moral code or ‘moral value system,’ not the same as its code of etiquette.
