Abstract Moral education programmes which concentrate exclusively on the process of developing critical thinking skills are criticized for their one?sided and incomplete conception of the rational enterprise. Rational moral thinking calls for both criticism and conformity to standards, and critical thinking is vacuous and impotent until it is linked with the prima?facie intuitions which constitute a moral way of life. The fostering of rational moral behaviour, therefore, requires, in addition to the development of critical skills, an element of instruction and (...) attention to moral content. Moral instruction is a necessary component of moral education programmes, and can help educators to promote rational morality and encourage pupils to avoid the extremes of moral bigotry and nihilism. (shrink)