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Journal ArticleDOI

Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy

01 Sep 1986-Journal of Medical Ethics (BMJ Group)-Vol. 12, Iss: 3, pp 165-165
TL;DR: Since the authors are approaching these topics from the standpoint of social scientists, their recommendations for legislative action which surely must be based on properly ethical considerations, not merely sociological ones seem devoid of any satisfactory rational support.
Abstract: Conclusions and Recommendations, are particularly interesting in view of the controversies aroused by the Warnock Report. Many of the recommendations contained here are similar to Warnock's (for example, concerning the legitimacy of AID children, the need for a licensing authority to supervise the work ofAID and IVF centres, etc), but others are at odds with the corresponding Warnock recommendations. In general, the authors place higher value on the family as an institution than did the Warnock Committee and display a much livelier awareness of the possible social dangers of the new techniques. One weakness of the book is that since its authors are approaching these topics from the standpoint of social scientists, their recommendations for legislative action which surely must be based on properly ethical considerations, not merely sociological ones seem devoid of any satisfactory rational support. For example, they concede that experimentation on human embryos is an objectionable practice, since 'the material acting as the subject of the experimentation is a human being at the beginning of its individual development' (p 178); but the practical recommendation which they make concerning this practice is disappointingly feeble:
Citations
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BookDOI
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate the relevance, rigor, and creativity of interpretive research methodologies for the social and human sciences, and discuss how research topics, evidence, and methods intertwine to produce knowledge.
Abstract: This book demonstrates the relevance, rigor, and creativity of interpretive research methodologies for the social and human sciences. The book situates methods questions within the context of broader methodological questions--specifically, the character of social realities and their "know-ability." Exceptionally clear and well-written chapters provide engaging discussions of the methods of accessing, generating, and analyzing social science data, using methods ranging from reflexive historical analysis to critical ethnography. Reflecting on their own research experiences, the contributors offer an inside, applied perspective on how research topics, evidence, and methods intertwine to produce knowledge in the social sciences.

967 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Brian Wynne1
TL;DR: This paper analyses the recent widespread moves to ‘restore’ public trust in science by developing an avowedly two-way, public dialogue with science initiatives, and argues that a continuing failure of scientific and policy institutions to place their own science-policy institutional culture into the frame of dialogue is a possible contributory cause of the public mistrust problem.
Abstract: This paper analyses the recent widespread moves to 'restore' public trust in science by developing an avowedly two-way, public dialogue with science initiatives. Noting how previously discredited and supposedly abandoned public deficit explanations of 'mistrust' have actually been continually reinvented, it argues that this is a symptom of a continuing failure of scientific and policy institutions to place their own science-policy institutional culture into the frame of dialogue, as possible contributory cause of the public mistrust problem.

823 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is proposed that strength of engagement can contribute to experienced value through its contribution to the experience of motivational force--an experience of the intensity of the force of attraction to or repulsion from the value target.
Abstract: Recognizing that value involves experiencing pleasure or pain is critical to understanding the psychology of value. But hedonic experience is not enough. I propose that it is also necessary to recognize that strength of engagement can contribute to experienced value through its contribution to the experience of motivational force—an experience of the intensity of the force of attraction to or repulsion from the value target. The subjective pleasure/pain properties of a value target influence strength of engagement, but factors separate from the hedonic properties of the value target also influence engagement strength and thus contribute to the experience of attraction or repulsion. These additional sources of engagement strength include opposition to interfering forces, overcoming personal resistance, using the right or proper means of goal pursuit, and regulatory fit between the orientation and manner of goal pursuit. Implications of the contribution of engagement strength to value are discussed for judgment and decision making, persuasion, and emotional experiences.

740 citations


Cites background from "Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy..."

  • ...Historically, the “cognitive” sources of value that I have just described correspond to the prevalent philosophical view of value that involves using reason and reflection to create an objective basis for determining what is good or bad (Haidt, 2001; Williams, 1985)....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a moral orientation to teaching and an aim of moral education is discussed, and four components of a model for moral education are described: modeling, dialogue, practice, and confirmation.
Abstract: Education for moral life has, until recently, been a primary aim of American schooling. In this essay, it is argued that the aim itself is appropriate but that our conception of morality needs revision. Caring is suggested both as a moral orientation to teaching and as an aim of moral education. After a brief discussion of ethics of caring, four components of a model for moral education are described: modeling, dialogue, practice, and confirmation. Use of this model requires that teachers and students spend more time together so that relations of trust may be established. Finally, the perspective of caring is used to make recommendations on research for teaching.

730 citations


Cites background from "Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy..."

  • ...Bernard Williams (1985), e.g., argues that philosophy plays a limited role in the re-creation of ethical life....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Findings suggest that a manager's ethical predispositions influence his or her responses to the characteristics of the moral issue, and provide support for the basic arguments underlying theories of moral development.
Abstract: The impact of the role of individual ethical predispositions, preferences for utilitarian and formalistic ideals, on managerial moral awareness was examined in 2 studies. Results suggested that a manager's ethical predispositions influence his or her responses to the characteristics of the moral issue. Both utilitarianism and formalism shaped moral awareness, but formalism demonstrated a greater capacity to do so in that formalists recognized both harm and the violation of a behavioral norm as indicators of the moral issue, whereas utilitarians responded only to harm. These findings provide support for the basic arguments underlying theories of moral development and offer several implications for the study and practice of moral awareness in organizations.

400 citations


Cites background from "Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy..."

  • ...Subsequently, this result also merited more attention....

    [...]

  • ...Although others have referred to this moral criterion as benevolence (Fritzsche & Becker, 1984; B. Williams, 1985), the general principles used at Kohlberg’s middle stages are similar to those of utilitarianism....

    [...]

References
More filters
BookDOI
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate the relevance, rigor, and creativity of interpretive research methodologies for the social and human sciences, and discuss how research topics, evidence, and methods intertwine to produce knowledge.
Abstract: This book demonstrates the relevance, rigor, and creativity of interpretive research methodologies for the social and human sciences. The book situates methods questions within the context of broader methodological questions--specifically, the character of social realities and their "know-ability." Exceptionally clear and well-written chapters provide engaging discussions of the methods of accessing, generating, and analyzing social science data, using methods ranging from reflexive historical analysis to critical ethnography. Reflecting on their own research experiences, the contributors offer an inside, applied perspective on how research topics, evidence, and methods intertwine to produce knowledge in the social sciences.

967 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Brian Wynne1
TL;DR: This paper analyses the recent widespread moves to ‘restore’ public trust in science by developing an avowedly two-way, public dialogue with science initiatives, and argues that a continuing failure of scientific and policy institutions to place their own science-policy institutional culture into the frame of dialogue is a possible contributory cause of the public mistrust problem.
Abstract: This paper analyses the recent widespread moves to 'restore' public trust in science by developing an avowedly two-way, public dialogue with science initiatives. Noting how previously discredited and supposedly abandoned public deficit explanations of 'mistrust' have actually been continually reinvented, it argues that this is a symptom of a continuing failure of scientific and policy institutions to place their own science-policy institutional culture into the frame of dialogue, as possible contributory cause of the public mistrust problem.

823 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is proposed that strength of engagement can contribute to experienced value through its contribution to the experience of motivational force--an experience of the intensity of the force of attraction to or repulsion from the value target.
Abstract: Recognizing that value involves experiencing pleasure or pain is critical to understanding the psychology of value. But hedonic experience is not enough. I propose that it is also necessary to recognize that strength of engagement can contribute to experienced value through its contribution to the experience of motivational force—an experience of the intensity of the force of attraction to or repulsion from the value target. The subjective pleasure/pain properties of a value target influence strength of engagement, but factors separate from the hedonic properties of the value target also influence engagement strength and thus contribute to the experience of attraction or repulsion. These additional sources of engagement strength include opposition to interfering forces, overcoming personal resistance, using the right or proper means of goal pursuit, and regulatory fit between the orientation and manner of goal pursuit. Implications of the contribution of engagement strength to value are discussed for judgment and decision making, persuasion, and emotional experiences.

740 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a moral orientation to teaching and an aim of moral education is discussed, and four components of a model for moral education are described: modeling, dialogue, practice, and confirmation.
Abstract: Education for moral life has, until recently, been a primary aim of American schooling. In this essay, it is argued that the aim itself is appropriate but that our conception of morality needs revision. Caring is suggested both as a moral orientation to teaching and as an aim of moral education. After a brief discussion of ethics of caring, four components of a model for moral education are described: modeling, dialogue, practice, and confirmation. Use of this model requires that teachers and students spend more time together so that relations of trust may be established. Finally, the perspective of caring is used to make recommendations on research for teaching.

730 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Findings suggest that a manager's ethical predispositions influence his or her responses to the characteristics of the moral issue, and provide support for the basic arguments underlying theories of moral development.
Abstract: The impact of the role of individual ethical predispositions, preferences for utilitarian and formalistic ideals, on managerial moral awareness was examined in 2 studies. Results suggested that a manager's ethical predispositions influence his or her responses to the characteristics of the moral issue. Both utilitarianism and formalism shaped moral awareness, but formalism demonstrated a greater capacity to do so in that formalists recognized both harm and the violation of a behavioral norm as indicators of the moral issue, whereas utilitarians responded only to harm. These findings provide support for the basic arguments underlying theories of moral development and offer several implications for the study and practice of moral awareness in organizations.

400 citations