Values

It is generally hoped that General Education programs will engage with ethical issues. Students should reflect on their own ethical attitudes and gain some understanding of the ethical attitudes of others. It is often also hoped that students will adopt certain values, especially those associated with Citizenship. We address the general first, followed by the specific.

Interdisciplinarity and Ethical Appreciation

The first point to stress is that "ethics" is itself an interdisciplinary endeavor. Philosophers address three main types of ethical analysis: Consequentialism (where an act is judged to be good if it has good consequences), Value ethics (where acts are judged good if they are courageous or caring or dutiful or accord with a variety of other values), and Deontology (where acts are judged in terms of ethical rules such as the Golden Rule, Kantian Imperative, or various Rights). But people also make ethical decisions on the basis of tradition (pursuing practices validated by their society or peer group) and intuition (seeking to avoid feelings of guilt). These latter types of ethical decision-making are studied by social scientists and psychologists. And these different types of ethical analysis are complements: In particular people are guided to follow any sort of ethical principle only because they wish to avoid feeling guilty. An interdisciplinary approach to ethics can identify the strengths and limitations of each of the five types of ethical analysis, seek attitudes and behaviors that accord with each, and appreciate differing ethical attitudes. See Integrating across Differences in Values

Modern society has laudably encouraged a respect for cultural diversity. An unfortunate side-effect is that young people when surveyed on ethical matters often answer that these are simply a matter of choice. An interdisciplinary approach to ethics can respect diversity -- in particular it encourages "perspective taking" or putting oneself in the position of another -- while also encouraging particular values such as honesty and responsibility (which can be justified, albeit imperfectly, by all five types of ethical analysis). It can transcend an "anything goes" mindset to encourage respectful discourse around values.

Interdisciplinarity and Particular Values

Repko, Szostak, and Buchberger, Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies (2016) discusses several personality traits or values associated with interdisciplinarity:

· Enterprise

· Love of learning

· Reflection

· Tolerance of ambiguity

· Openmindedness

· Willingness to achieve adequacy in disciplines

· Appreciation of diversity

· Willingness to collaborate

· Humility

Augsburg, Tanya, Becoming Interdisciplinary (2016) provides a somewhat different list:

· Reliability

· Flexibility

· Initiative

· Patience

· Resilience

· Risk-taking

· Sense of adventure

· Having a thick skin

· Being self-secure

· Sensitivity to others

· Preference for diversity

· Preference for new social roles.