【重要】The use of biographical narratives in exemplarist moral education
Edward Brooks, Oliver Coates & Liz Gulliford (2024) The use of biographical narratives in exemplarist moral education, Journal of Moral Education, 53:1, 176-194.
本文以exemplarism为视角，探究传记叙事（如：奥古斯丁《忏悔录》）在道德教育中的意义。这套理论其中也存在一些张力，如传记式的榜样与实际相去甚远。
有两种榜样主义的道德教育：
（1）古典教育：以Homer, Livy, Plutarch, and Virgil为代表，关注英雄行为。
第一，对学习者描述一个卓越行为；
第二，描述这个行为之后的报应reward；
第三，如何复制这一行为。
（2）现代教育：借鉴Linda Zagzebski的理论EMT，关注榜样agent。
第一，道德教育的目标是人类兴旺；
第二，道德榜样的模仿是实现此一目标的主要方式；
第三，激发受教育者的崇敬admiration，并鼓励他们加以反思。
作者接着以奥古斯丁的《忏悔录》为例（一个重要转折点），阐述这种古今之变：从传统地接受名人堂到反思分析榜样的优缺点。奥古斯丁批判他受过的修辞学教育，其中的榜样是英雄。但是，奥古斯丁关注另一类榜样，即他的母亲、小老婆、一些朋友等等，这些人谦虚而怀有利他的爱。【这种榜样的转化，同样见于孟子2A1，管仲不是英雄，而是文王】
在榜样主义的道德教育中，具有四个关切concern的维度：
(i) Selectivity 选择哪位传主？
(ii) Indoctrination 灌输的方式？修辞与榜样的品格一致【修辞立其诚？】
(iii) Receptivity 如何使学习者接受这些榜样？奥古斯丁反思自己当初的不接受源于骄傲的自足proud self-sufficiency，或谓防御性的自我defensive ego。对于榜样的接受，在于gratitude and friendship.
(iv) Relevance 与学生自身经历的相关性
摘要
This article examines the use of biographical narratives in contemporary moral education, with particular reference to the exemplarist moral theory (EMT) of Linda Zagzebski. It distinguishes between classical and modern versions of exemplarist moral education, highlighting the seminal contribution of Augustine’s Confessions. Itself an autobiography, Confessions presents a new way to read a life, highlighting a transition from the conformist pattern of replication inherent in classical education to a central concern with self-identity and the inner life. We argue the educational benefits of a modern Augustinian approach, presenting and responding to four important concerns: (1) the selectivity of authors and educators in choosing which exemplars and life events to present; (2) the rhetorical power of narratives, which can be used as a means of indoctrination; (3) the need for students to be appropriately receptive in order for exemplar narratives to increase moral motivation; (4) the importance of relevance and realism in the exemplar narratives that are used. Along the way, we highlight a significant tension in EMT, relating to the instability of its grounding on the identification of human exemplars and the possibility of selecting individuals who may later come to light as far from exemplary persons.