Formation and Transcendence: Institutional Change from Moral Autonomy to Heteronomy

The transition of morality from autonomy to heteronomy is determined by examining the historical characteristics of the period of social transformation in China. Moral education, alone, has not been sufficient enough to solve the problem of a changing morality. The transformation of moral autonomy to moral heteronomy has become an inevitable method to solve this problem. Change in external conditions surrounding the moral life of a society, brought about by the transition of the old to the new, has led to a growing disparity of social lifestyles, and created a “moral vacuum”. Society is in bad need of constructing an institutional environment of morality in order to lead by example. If we want to propel the advancement of morality through institutional change, then morality must advance through institutional change, and keep pace and coincide with institutional evolution, conforming to the character of the institution as it undergoes change. Examining the transition from moral autonomy to moral heteronomy, we will proceed along three pathways: (1) by reinforcing building administrative ethic rules and administrative legislation; (2) by strengthening established professional ethics and industry legislation; and (3) by enhancing social morality education and public legislation.