Sergei Talanker

What does a Cretan mean when he says that all Cretans are liars? What is his intention? While formal logic only relates to the truth values of the Liar paradox, we relate to its normative and social aspects. We argue that such utterances are used to imply that certain behaviors, even if despicable, constitute local norms. One may posit such claims either to point out that he has transcended the local culture, to socialize others into local customs, or to deflect from being caught lying. This paradox exemplifies group self-deprecation, a communicative practice intended to get us to disagree, rather than agree, with the disparaging claim and blunt the negative consequences of poor behavior. Its rhetoric relies upon \emph{tu quoque}, \emph{secundum quid} and naturalistic fallacies.

Fake news is not a unique or stand-alone phenomenon. It is situated in a wider context of a post-truth condition, characterized by a breakdown of clear-cut categorical distinctions such as objective–subjective and fact–value. The naïve calls for returning to the mythical ‘golden standards’ of journalism are not rooted in history. While the contemporary public tends to distrust the press, historical research indicates that this is not unprecedented. A particularly unique feature of our times is the decline in the trust of the educated masses in public experts. In the background of these phenomena one may find postmodern tendencies towards the erosion of scientific and democratic meta-narratives within the circles of the ironic intellectuals, which have recently spilled over into the discourse of the mass-educated general public. Fact-checking or censoring the media by experts is premised upon the faulty assumption that the public trusts both the experts and the media, while neither is the case.

We argue that simplistic understanding of consequentialist moral theories, and their misapplication to educational context contribute to scholars’ inability to resolve relatively simple cases. Understanding consequentialism is necessary to resolve cases presented as dilemmatic in literature on teachers’ practice. In this context, the misrepresentations of consequentialism are more salient than of other ethical theories. A common misapplication of consequentialism is considering only the utility of an individual rule-breaker, while disregarding the utility of others. Consequentialism does not advocate for punishing the innocents or letting the guilty off the hook in the pursuit of greater good. While making false statements to protect a student is often presented in the literature on teachers’ moral dilemmas as supported by consequentialist moral theory, it is also not the case. The consequences of failing to punish plagiarism and going against the expressed policies and ethical codes “just this once” are negative overall.

We challenge the popular classification of the trolley problem as a series of thought experiments in possible worlds. The trolley world is, in fact, impossible. It is, rather, a fantasy world of role-playing language game within a graphic narrative. The trolley world has all the characteristics of a game that game designers seek to reproduce. Thus, the following paper is a spoilsport, revealing the playful aspects of the trolley problem. Historically, the trolley problem substantially contributed to ethical discourse. Nowadays, attempts to resolve it generate few applications and weigh down the theoretical discourse. We argue that it makes less sense to view the trolley problem as a flawed problem-solving, probative, or heuristic tool, than to view it as a strong intuition pump, well suited to teach fundamental ethical issues. While the process of engaging with the trolley problem may be prolific, the problem itself is not of our world.

Our survey of literature on moral dilemmas in teaching reveals that scholars declare the need to unequivocally resolve them yet refrain from doing so. This phenomenon is rooted in falure to distinguish between the different moral conflicts. The methods of resolving abstract hypothetical dilemmas, advocated but not implemented by the scholars, are poorly suited to deal with conflicts involving social pressure and high-stakes consequences for the parties involved, like most of the conflicts that teachers report. Thus, textbooks invite teachers to resolve dilemmas on their own through reflection and dialogue, beyond the limits which Habermasian ethics of dialogue allows. The scholarship licenses lax attitudes towards commitment to professional and ethical standards by appealing to the ethics of care. It appeals to outdated versions of ethics of care that posit care in opposition to the ethics of duties, no longer employed in ethics of nursing and other caring professions.

In the following paper we relate to the terms such as ‘true’ and ‘real’ in conjecture with dual character concepts such as ‘scientist’ and ‘artist’. They are often integrated into phrases broadly viewed as persuasive definitions. We argue that persuasive definitions are usually intended to marginalize individuals, sub-groups, and even objects, within a group. They may also be employed to elevate or preserve the status of a group by disassociating it with its marginal members, their actions, and characteristics. For example, ‘true’ art may be stipulatively defined as having certain features to persuade us to accept the marginalization of those objects of art that lack them, and to elevate the social status of the authors of the objects that have them. ‘No true Scotsman is cruel’ is uttered to distance the normative Scots from those who run afoul, so that they can maintain untarnished reputation and positive identity.

I argue that teaching evaluation tools may function as ethical codes, and answer certain demands that ECs cannot sufficiently fulfill. In order to be viable, an EC related to the teaching profession must assume a different form, and such a form is already present in several of the contemporary TETs. The TET matrix form allows for certain features that are incompatible with the EC form. The TET’s benchmark scale – ranging from below the acceptable to the ideal level across the dimensions of teachers’ competence – allows it to answer the demands upon ECs, raised by the EC critics. TETs embrace both minimal requirements and lofty ideals, while ECs of different types have a hard time combining these two features. TETs relate to different dimensions of teacher competence, connecting ethical and professional components with didactical, managerial and cognitive components, without lumping them together.