The ethics of belief and the ethics of teaching

Notwithstanding its obvious educational importance, the idea of an ethics o f belief has been little explored by educational philosophers. The notion t urns out to be more complex and to involve more difficulties than is usuall y supposed. Exploring these complexities and difficulties opens up many ave nues of philosophical and educational inquiry. These in turn can enrich our reflections on contemporary educational developments and on ethical aspect s of teaching. In particular they alert us to the need for educational theo rists to give overdue attention to the intellectual virtues.