The 'subject of ethics' and educational research OR Ethics or politics? Yes please

• Published in: Educational philosophy and theory Vol. 49; no. 10; pp. 995 - 1005
• Main Author: Bazzul, Jesse
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 24.08.2017; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Anthropology; Education; Educational Philosophy; Educational Research; Egalitarianism; Equality; Ethics; Foucauldian analysis; Foucault; Justice; Metacognition; Moral Values; Philosophy; Politics; Power; Power Structure; Qualitative Research; Research Needs; Research subjects; Self Concept; Subjectivity; Teaching Methods; Transformative Learning
• ISSN: 0013-1857; 1469-5812; 1469-5812
• DOI: 10.1080/00131857.2016.1270184

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.