Courses in medical ethics , bioethics , and other humanities subjects flourish in professional schools , yet a tension exists about whether their teaching goals should include trying to make students more humane and virtuous . Some hold that these courses should help instill values and virtues professed by the medical community , such as fidelity , compassion , empathy , respect , and other qualities that will make students not only better professionals but also better and more humane people . Others reject this role , arguing that humanities courses should teach students the knowledge and skills to become better problem solvers regarding theoretical , moral , and social issues ; they regard it to be counterproductive , presumptuous , or futile to try to make students better persons . The author examines the extent to which these views are incompatible , arguing that a cogent philosophy of education can be neither value-free nor fully independent of moral choices . Within limits , diverse approaches to incorporating values in teaching can be a strength .