Inventing Narratives in Ethical Reasoning in an Administrative Ethics Course

Abstract

Unlike ethics courses in some fields, professional programs characteristically expect their graduates to demonstrate relatively sophisticated and, at the same time, highly practical moral reasoning. This article investigates an approach that develops students' ability to reason through common practice situations that require them to justify a particular choice of action. Students practice casuistry by initially studying model cases or exemplars chosen by the instructor to illustrate an ethical principle, and then by considering a problem in light of modifications and from several interpretive frames. In the reflexive activity described, students refine their problem narratives, analyze them, and participate in structured critiques of each other's work. Using this approach, students complete the course better equipped to grapple with ethical dilemmas in government.