Can goodness be taught? How? Though committed to ethical concerns in the teaching and practice of public administration, this article warns how little basis there is for an evidently burgeoning confidence in the ability to prepare others to do good actions. Yet skepticism is not despair, and ethical reflection is surely required. Ethics may, paradoxically, be both the easiest and the most difficult element of public administration to teach. This article examines the possibilities of teaching a "vulgar ethics" of public administration.
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