The 'subject of ethics' and educational research OR Ethics or politics? Yes please!. Issue 10 (24th August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bazzul, Jesse
• Is Part Of: Educational philosophy and theory. Volume 49:Issue 10(2017)
• Page Start: 995
• Page End: 1005
• Publication Date: 2017-08-24
• Subjects: Foucault -- ethics -- subjectivity -- politics -- justice -- qualitative research -- anthropology; Education -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; Teaching -- Periodicals; Éducation; Philosophie de l'éducation; Théorie de l'éducation; Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 370.1
• DOI: 10.1080/00131857.2016.1270184
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-1857

Abstract

Abstract: This paper outlines a theoretical context for research into 'the subject of ethics' in terms of how students come to see themselves as self-reflective actors. I maintain that the 'subject of ethics', or ethical subjectivity, has been overlooked as a necessary aspect of creating politically transformative spaces in education. At the heart of egalitarian politics lies a fundamental tension between the equality of voices (or ways of being) and the notion that one way of being or one voice may be deemed more legitimate than another; which in turn puts the equality of beings into question. Building from Michel Foucault's work regarding ethics and subjectivity, I suggest that a 'subject of ethics' can be viewed, in part, as a series of relations of self that form the horizon upon which a subject comes to work on themselves relative to moral codes and power relations. Ethical relations of self can be a useful concept for those interested in educational research that furthers social and ecological justice. In the conclusion of this paper I also discuss the limitations of locating ethics entirely within a constituted human subject.