h e Pedago gy o f College E t hics EDMUND S CONKLlN A DISSE RTATION SUB MITTE D T O T HE FACU LT Y OF CLARK VE W E E M IN ART IAL UNI RSITY . ORC ST R , ASS P FULFILM E NT OF T HE RE %UIRE M E NTS FOR T HE E G E E OF OF AN D E E D R DOCTOR PHILOSOPHY , ACC PT D N T HE E MM E F G E O R CO NDATION O . STANL Y HALL 10 0 0 J O 11 Rep rint e d fr om t h e P E D A G O GI CAL S E M INA R Y 1 11 % 42 1-474 D e cem e r V II . 9 Vo . I b , , l , p p T HE PED AGOGY O F COLLEGE ET HICS E M D K L By D U N S . CON I N I ETH ICS AND T H E COLLE GE YOU T H The fire of moral r eform which swept through the country - leaving in its path the scare heads of the muck raker , the renovated departments of government , and the investigated n public servant and interstate corporations , has bee followed and supplemented by the wave of reform and investigation for business efficiency and efficiency standards . The one is the complement of the other , if they are not identical in func t % tion . Moral enthusiasm bent on the suppression o . vice in f in all forms of life increases e ficiency ; and convers y , the enthu crease o f efficiency eliminates immorality . Hence the siast for either morals or efficiency cordially welcomes the work of the other . The wave of moral reform has struck the school , demanding appreciation of responsibility for the moral integrity of the coming generation . And the school is r trying to respond . Opinions and experiments galore are e ported ; France is claiming to be well on the road to the solution o f the problem of secular moral education ; and the eyes o f moral educators are turned with expectation and ff . interest to the e orts of Japan President Hall , after an exten sive review of the literature on moral education in the public schoo l , states that there is no agreement and thus far no accepted solution of the problem ( 34 . Vol . I . Chap . The ha s value of the various schemes yet to be ascertained . Much of the force of this storm of criticism h a s fallen upon the college course in ethics . Where it has not been struck has directly , it been severely j arred , for it is inevitable that immoral c onditions of college life and moral inefficiency of the college product should reflect upon the course in ethics . Perhaps the criticism may not be wholly j ustifiable , because 2 3 6 7 3 5 42 2 T HE PE DAGOGY OF COLLE GE E TH ICS many never take this course , and because there are so many other factors to build up or break down the moral life of the college student . Yet it has forced the teacher of ethics to many a hea rt searching with the result that m a ny reforms have been attempted ; a nd it is sure to cause a careful considera tion o f the proper content and the function of the ethics course . At present we have no scientific pedagogy of college ethics ; only im a vast collection of old line texts , a few attempts at an a o ‘ proved text , c nsiderable literature of criticism ; and a smaller literature reporting methods tried and suggestions for improvement based on an intimate knowledge of the needs and capacities of the college adolescent . The teaching of ethics and the cultivation of the moral lif e may never be reduced to an exact science , nor even as approximately exact as the teaching of other subj ects , for the large part of morality is below the threshold of consciousness and many other factors than the class room affect it ; but the fact that greater effi ciency has been attained in some cases indicates that the methods of the many may be improved and that a thorough understanding of the needs and capacities of the adolescent plus a knowledge and control of the moral influences of col lege life will produce a course in ethics the content of which and the teaching of which will be a tremendously effective part of the moral development of the student . The complexity and the seriousness of the problem must be hi appreciated . The teacher who knows s problem sees per fectly well that restrictions of college life cannot and must s not be o close as those of the home and preparatory school . Dean B riggs of Harvard calls attention to the protest on the part of the preparatory school teacher that students who under him have been exemplary in conduct for several years re break down in a few months after entering college , and plies that something must be wrong with the preparatory methods if the student cannot stand up under the new con i n d tio s more than a few months . The blame falls not entirely on the college . Freedom of life in college is necessary as a o f preparation fo r the greater freedom life after college . The adolescent must gradually learn to depend on himself and whether in college or not the process is at best a danger A ous one . side light is thus thrown on the importance of - some degree of self government in preparatory school days . in loco ar entis In a sense the college does stand p , but even in the best ordered home the parental cont rol begins to relax in these years. When a boy enters college he begins a new mode of life which immediately makes a deep impression upon i s him . The emotional change and excitation tremendous T HE PEDAGOGY OF COLLE G E E TH ICS 42 3 and for a time more important than what he learns of an in th t ellectual n ature . There is the thrill of realization of e a o r a desires of ye ”rs months of anticipation . At l st he is a m i college an . It s incumbent upon him to adopt the ways “ ” of a man . And here is danger . There is to be change , a e there must be change , but in what direction shall the ch ng and ? be , can the cou rse in ethics direct it In part the ethics taught can direct the change , but apart from some talks on hygiene in Freshman year the ethics rarely comes before Junior or Senior year . Much of the moral education must and will come from the contact with other”s , and from that - vague but rea l thing termed college Spirit . The nature of that spirit is all important and it may be directed somewhat by the teaching of ethics . As this course directly touches the upper classmen and the college spirit is largely determined m a nd influ by the , it may thus influence the environment the ences at work upon the younger students . The emotion aroused by the new experiences and opportunities of college life are bound to find expression in changed ideals and changed conduct . New moral problems arise because of the new opportunities and new freedom of conduct . With the large number , the moral attitudes and reactions have been a fl gradual growth under home and other healthful in uence . n un The moral character is very largely u conscious , or v reasoned . Habits of j udgment and conduct ha e been formed because such was the way of associates in home and school life . Now all this is seen from a new point of view . Real f moral questions arise , conscience is ef ective , and new stan to . dards are be reasoned out , rightly or wrongly The youth ' feels that h e should accommodate himself to the ways of the upper classmen who surely know what is right and in con trast with their learning and experience with life the old f h ways o t e home folks are likely to look prudish and picayune . He has not , far too often , learned to discriminate between the good and the bad among his college elders ; but even though he does attempt to discriminate and even though he does discriminate rightly , there is nevertheless a new and real experience with temptations and perhaps real wrong which he has never had before . Morality can no longer be f an unconscious a fair . He has thought upon these things ; he has been tempted ; he has met men who live according to d r a iffe rent a mo al sta nda rds than his own ; and it has forced morality to become a matter well within the field of con i u s c o s nes s . The nature of these college temptations an d the way they influence the stu dent thought must be taken into consideration in th e making of a course in ethics . How bad 42 4 TH E PEDAGOGY OF COLLE GE E TH ICS they are is a matter of much difference of opinion ; probably much of the disagreement due to the conditions prevailing in ff A di erent sections of the country . few yea rs ago a Con necticut woman caused a furore of discussion by publishing “ the statement that sh e would rather send her s on to hell ’ than to Yale College .