Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of educating for democracy in Chile and other places where human rights have been violated. Based on a research project conducted about the ethical foundations of human rights, I maintain that ethical education must be an indispensable ingredient of an education for democracy. I argue that an effective ethical education requires both an appropriate setting for the fostering of an open and tolerant discussion, and adequate guidance from the teacher for the understanding of complex ethical problems. As the ideal setting for it, I propose the creation of a ‘Community of Inquiry’ as it is understood and practised by the Philosophy for Children Program created by Matthew Lipman. As the basis both for identifying the main problems and for the training of the teachers, I build on Ernst Tugendhat’s ethical theories. The most significant consequence for ethical education derived from Tugendhat is the inclusion of a discussion of the problem of the foundation of ethics in order to avoid ethical relativism resting on the individual’s personal decision to belong to a moral community. To this the child should be invited through philosophical dialogue in a community of inquiry.