Showing papers on "Morality published in 1973"

Problems of the self : philosophical papers, 1956-1972

Abstract: Preface 1. Personal identity and individuation 2. Personal identity and bodily continuity 3. Imagination and the self 4. The self and the future 5. Are persons bodies? 6. The Makropulos case: reflections on the tedium of immortality 7. Strawson on individuals 8. Knowledge and meaning in the philosophy of mind 9. Deciding to believe 10. Imperative inference 11. Ethical consistency 12. Consistency and realism 13. Morality and the emotions 14. The idea of equality 15. Egoism and altruism Bibliography.

Violence without Moral Restraint: Reflections on the Dehumanization of Victims and Victimizers

Abstract: The paper identifies a class of violent acts that can best be described as sanctioned massacres. The special features of sanctioned massacres are that they occur in the context of a genocidal policy, and that they are directed at groups that have not themselves threatened or engaged in hostile actions against the perpetrators of the violence. The psychological environment in which such massacres occur lacks the conditions normally perceived as providing some degree of moral justification for violence. In searching for a psychological explanation of mass violence under these conditions, it is instructive to focus on factors reducing the strength of restraining forces against violence. Three interrelated processes are discussed in detail: (a) processes of authorization, which define the situation as one in which standard moral principles do not apply and the individual is absolved of responsibility to make personal moral choices; (b) processes of routinization, which so organize the action that there is no opportunity for raising moral questions and making moral decisions; and (c) processes of dehumanization which deprive both victim and victimizer of identity and community. The paper concludes with suggestions for corrective efforts that might help to prevent sanctioned massacres by counteracting the systemic and attitudinal supports for the processes described.

John Rawls: A Theory of Justice

Abstract: It may be helpful to those who are not familiar with Rawls to plot his position against a better-known moral theory, namely utilitarianism. At any rate, on this side of the Atlantic, where no modern charter contains the compact under which we consent to be governed, the defence of truth and justice has most often in the last hundred years appeared to be in the hands of the utilitarians. This raises two immediate questions: first, is justice a "special department" of morality? And second, do we by this mean to commit ourselves further to the position that the province of justice is not (whatever be the case for the rest of morality) governed by the principles of utility? After looking at these questions, we can go on to assess the particular solution proposed by Rawls. It is perfectly possible to be, broadly, an utilitarian and yet to give the principles of justice a special status. For instance, in The Concept of Law, Professor Hart carefully distinguishes "fairness" (which roughly covers justice) from morality in general.1 And Hart, I suppose, is a modern utilitarian. Why should the two ever have been confused? The explanation can be found by looking at Mill's chapter on the connection between justice and utility.2 Mill rightly saw the idea of justice as an obstacle to the simple test of utility in assessing right and wrong. People, that is, went on referring to this rather old fashioned notion, and seemed remarkably attached to it, despite being urged to look to expediency instead. But to Mill, this notion of justice had to be either irrational or the reflection of the operation of a perhaps concealed principle of utility.

Some Limits of Rational Man Organizational Theory

Abstract: Organizational theory in public administration may be undergoing an important transformation. The new critics find much administrative descriptive theory to be nonrelevant to many critical problems of organization. They suggest that the present theories are based on a concept of man, indeed a morality, that leads the scholar to conduct research that is, intentionally or unintentionally, supportive of the status quo (Marini 1971). The newer, critical writings are also concerned with individual morality, authenticity, human self-actualization. The scholars are not only asking what makes organizations more effective; they are concerned with the issues: For whom are organizations designed? How humane can organizations become and still be effective?

A cognitive-developmental analysis of achievement and moral judgments.

Abstract: 300 Black and White subjects aged 4-18 made moral and achievement evaluative judgments in sixteen situations. The situations differed according to the intent (effort) and ability of the person being judged, and in the objective consequences of the behavior. Analyses of variance revealed that the three evaluative dimensions cf intent, ability, and outcome are systematically used it both achievement and moral appraisal. Further, there are highly significant age trends. In both the achievement and the moral conditions subjective intent replaces objective outcome as the main determinant oi judgment. However, following the age of twelve in the achievement context objective outcome again becomes the more important determinant of evaluation. It is contended that society reinforces this more "primitive" developmental stage. Racial differences in the time of onset of the various stages were exhibited, although the sequence of evaluative stages was identical between racial and sex groupings. In addition, the data strongly support the position that achievement strivings are maintained by social reward, while moral behavior is controlled by social punishment. FILMED FROM BEST AVAILABLE COPY U. S. DEPARTMENT Of KA! T4, ronrArtoN & WELFARE OfFla Gr. I This ;11.1'..'i";t F" Prr !XT." IV *J !1". ai.:rEivro rROM THE Y71 OR Oil:A:6 Sr" PC; 7;';r Ji LA' EDUCANUN POSI HOPI OR roi icv. A Cognitive-Developmental Analysis of Achievement and Moral Judgments/ Bernard Weiner:Ihnd Nancy V. Peter University of California, Los Angeles The most prominent approach to the study of the development of achievement motivation is to search for differentialchild rearing antecedents that produce high versus low achievement needs. The usual methodology has been to relate contrasting parental practices, or the demographic correlates of those practices, to subsequent individual differences in fantasy or real achievement behaviors. The initial and oft-cited contributions of Winterbottom (1953) and Rosen and D'Andrade (1959), respectively reporting relationships between early independence and achievement training and later need for achievement, offered swift and exciting promise that the sodial origins of achievement motivation could be identified. Ilut the ensuing research did not fulfill the early hopes, and the mysteries of the development of achievement motivation remain unraveled. Therefore, it may prove fruitful to turn towards a different research strategy or developmental paradigm than that associated with social learning theory. The cognitive-developmental theoretical orientation, exemplified Ci2.) in the writings of Piaget;(1932) and Kohlberg (1969), offers one alter-CD native approach to the understanding of change processes. The basic tenets of this viewpoint have been described in detail (Kohlberg, 1969; (in Langer, 1969; Piaget, 1960). Rather than stressing disparate parental C:14 training and individual differences, the cognitive approach examines the universals in development. A postulated invariant sequence of 2 developmental stages, and a hierarchical. integration of these stages, is the center of focus. This theoretical conception has been most successful in explaining the growth of intellective functioning. However, it also has proven useful in the explication of moral judgment and moral behavior (Kohlberg, 1969; Piaget, 1932) . There are a number of logical and empirical reasons to believe that the cognitive-developmental orientation, and specifically the cognitive model advanced in the study of moral systems, can be applied to the study of achievement motivation.First, there appears to be moral components in achievement striving. For example, in a recent study individuals were asked: "What might cause them to feel guilty?" One high frequency response was "a failure to expend sufficient effort to accomplish one's aims" (Leedham, Signori, and Sampson, 1967, p. 918). It also has been reported that individuals are especially punishiag of others who are able yet fail because of a lack of effort (Lanzetta and Hannah, 1969; Leventhal and Michaels, 1971; Weiner and Kukla, 1970). Thus, one feels guilty and is judged harshly for a failure to utilize his or her capacities. In addition, one source of motivation in group achievements is an experienced obligation toward the other group mem-

Canonical Quantization of Gravity

Abstract: In Roman Catholic canon law permission of the bishop is required for the publication of any work on Sacred Scripture, dogmatic, moral or ascetical theology, or, in general, writings containing anything of peculiar significance to religion or morality (can. 1385, sec. 1).

Essays and Aphorisms

Abstract: One of the greatest philosophers of the nineteenth century, Schopenhauer (1788-1860) believed that human action is determined not by reason but by 'will' - the blind and irrational desire for physical existence. This selection of his writings on religion, ethics, politics, women, suicide, books and many other themes is taken from Schopenhauer's last work, "Parerga and Paralipomena", which he published in 1851. These pieces depict humanity as locked in a struggle beyond good and evil, and each individual absolutely free within a Godless world, in which art, morality and self-awareness are our only salvation. This innovative - and pessimistic - view has proved powerfully influential upon philosophy and art, directly affecting the work of Nietzsche, Wittgenstein and Wagner among others.

Ethics without God

Abstract: Nielsen argues that morality cannot be based on religion, and that there is no evidence to show that non-believers despair or lose their sense of identity and purpose. He shows that the implications of Christian absolutism are more likely to be monstrous than are those of a secular ethic that incorporates an independent principle of justice.

On morality and society : selected writings

Abstract: Emile Durkheim is best known in this country as a great sociologist and methodologist. Yet it was Durkheim's reflections on morality and society that spoke most deeply of his vital concerns. In his informative introduction to this work, Robert N. Bellah describes Durkheim as moralist, philosopher, theologian, and prophet, as well as sociologist, and the selections in this volume are representative of these aspects of Durkheim's many-faceted scholarship. The first two selections of the volume set the context for the development of Durkheim's sociology of morality. Section I, "The French Tradition of Social Thought," gives Durkheim's picture of how his sociology is to be situated relative to the general French tradition. Section II, "Sociology and Social Action," shows Durkheim grappling with moral and political issues in his society and indicates the immediate social context of his thinking. The remaining selections indicate some of the major substantive areas of Durkheim's sociology of morality. Section III, taken from "The Division of Labor in Society," demonstrates his basically evolutionary approach to the development of moral norms in society. Section IV, "The Learning of Morality," gives examples of Durkheim's work on socialization. Section V, "Social Creativity," deals with the important question of how new moral norms arise in society.

Purity Crusade: Sexual Morality, and Social Control, 1868–1900

Abstract: (1973). Purity Crusade: Sexual Morality, and Social Control, 1868–1900. History: Reviews of New Books: Vol. 1, No. 10, pp. 223-223.

Problems of the Self: Morality and the emotions

Abstract: Recent moral philosophy in Britain has not had much to say about the emotions. Its descriptions of the moral agent, its analyses of moral choice and moral judgement, have made free use of such notions as attitude, principle and policy, but have found no essential place for the agent's emotions, except perhaps for recognising them in one of their traditional roles as possible motives to backsliding, and thus potentially destructive of moral rationality and consistency. Much the same is true when one turns to what has been said about the objects of moral judgement: here there is much discussion of what it is to judge favourably or unfavourably actions, decisions, principles, states of affairs, intentions; indeed, men and men's characters. There is less, however, about what a man ought or ought not to feel in certain circumstances, or, more broadly, about the ways in which various emotions may be considered as destructive, mean or hateful, while others appear as creative, generous, admirable, or – merely – such as one would hope for from a decent human being. Considerations like these certainly play a large part in moral thought, except perhaps in that of the most restricted and legalistic kind; but it is my impression that the part they play has not adequately been mirrored in the recent concerns of moral philosophers. There are a number of reasons for this neglect.

The Humanist Alternative: Some Definitions of Humanism

Abstract: Those who have contributed to this volume represent a wide spectrum of Humanist opinion in the world today. They are primarily philosophers, psychologists, social scientists, ethical and religious leaders. Among the themes they discuss are historic roots of Humanism, the general problem of definition, the relationship of Humanism to ethics and morality, Humanism and religion, Humanism and atheism and Humanism on the world scene.Most of the varieties of Humanism are represented, including naturalistic Humanism, liberal Humanism, atheistic Humanism, humanistic psychology, behaviourism, Marxism, and Zen. If there is a common thread running throughout this volume, it is the conviction that Humanism is committed to the method of reason as the chief means of solving problems and the belief that mankind can survive and humans can enjoy a significant life. This conviction and this belief, however, can be realised only if men continue to have confidence in their own natural powers and abilities and the courage to use them.

Doctrinal Belief: a Major Factor in the Differential Perception of Social Issues*

Abstract: An association between doctrinal beliefs and positions on social issues is posited. This study of the clergy in an industrial city demonstrated that doctrinal orthodoxy had an independent effect on positions taken on issues related to social control, personal morality, use of power by the elite, civil liberties, minority rights, and welfare support. Absolutist clergymen with a doctrinally conservative other-worldly focus were reluctant to change society: they supported social control, personal morality, and considerable use of force by the power elite. Evolutionist, this-worldly clergymen who were more doctrinally liberal were open to change and focused more on issues such as civil liberty, minority rights, and welfare support.

The Problem of the Pleasure Maximum

Abstract: Since the English utilitarians have popularized the concept of a ‘maximum happiness of a human society’, it has never gone quite out of fashion in [social] science. Discussions on the maximum of pleasure have been fruitful especially in the fields of legal and moral philosophy. However, although this concept is often so used, its analysis has been given little attention. This seems partly due to the fact that the frontline of utilitarians was primarily directed against those who insisted on basing morality not on pleasure but on other principles.

The English ideology

Abstract: The English ideology is parliamentary. In this study, which first appeared in 1973, George Watson shows how literary evidence, much of it fictional, can illuminate the life of a great institution like the British parliament. The book contains chapters on political oratory and the parliamentary novel that uniquely Victorian form which Disraeli created and in which Trollope excelled. It is the first comprehensive attempt to use literary evidence to expose the politics of a whole age. It expounds nineteenth century controversies over democracy, class, race, morality and empire a study of political language in the era when modern politics was born.