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A Moral Education

The Ethics of Education in the Secular State

Andrew Copson considers some ethical problems for secular education in a pluralistic world.

Definitions of what makes a state ‘secular’ vary, but three aspects are common. First, a secular state is one in which there is separation of religious institutions from the institutions of the state and no domination of the one by the other. Second, a secular state seeks to maximise freedom of thought, conscience, and religion for all, with everyone free to manifest their beliefs within the limits of public order and the rights of others, and to change their beliefs. Finally, the state treats everyone equally and does not discriminate against or privilege individuals on grounds of their worldview, religious or non-religious. Almost a third of states in the world are secular in their constitutions according to these criteria, and many more are in fact secular even if constitutionally religious, in practice functioning not through their vestigial religious establishments but through democratic means.

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