Metaethics in Religious Education

In religious education, metaethics plays only a very minor role. Its debates are perceived to be as abstract as they are remote from life. This article is intended to show why metaethics is relevant to the everyday life of pupils and how it can be simplified for school education. After a brief exposition of the essential questions of metaethics, three specific options are presented. In recourse to these examples, the contribution of metaethics to religious education is discussed in a more fundamental way. Debates on metaethical questions prove to be particularly attractive for religious education as they show how moral orientation is connected to questions regarding the meaning of existence.

Religionsunterricht, Ethikunterricht, Metaethik, Dilemma, Fundamentalismus