Showing papers on "Morality published in 1985"

Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy

Abstract: Foreword to The Routledge Classics Edition Preface 1. Socrates' Question 2.The Archimedian Point 3. Foundations: Well-Being 4. Foundations: Practical Reason 5. Styles of Ethical Theory 6. Theory and Prejudice 7. The Linguistic Turn 8. Knowledge, Science, Convergence 9. Relativism and Reflection 10. Morality. The Peculiar Institution Postcript Commentary on the Text by A. W. Moore Notes Index

Religion in America

Abstract: This article reviews recent survey indicators on religi˙ous life in America. Generally the surveys reveal a rising tide of religious interest. The “highly spiritually committed” are more satisfied with their lives, more tolerant of others, and more concerned with the betterment of society. Despite the high interest in religion, there are glaring inconsistencies: levels of morality and ethics remain low, hunger is a reality for many Americans, and levels of self-esteem are low for many persons.

Support for Environmental Protection: The Role of Moral Norms

Abstract: A theoretical model is presented that traces support for environmental protection to a social-psychological process involving the activation of moral norms against harming innocent people. In a preliminary test of the model's social-psychological hypotheses, judgments about the moral obligations of industry with respect to hazardous chemicals were found to depend both on awareness of harmful consequences to people and on ascription of responsibility for those consequences to industry; government, however, was held to be morally obligated to act even if it was not responsible for the harm. Suggestions are offered for using the model to study the determinants of changing public opinion on the environment, the tactics of advocacy groups in environmental policy conflicts, and the process that mobilizes pressure for political causes in the absence of tangible group interests.

The philosophies of science

Abstract: Harre shows how various views about the nature of science are related to the great historical schools of philosophy. He sets out his argument in terms of concrete episodes in the history of science. This new edition includes a chapter on science and society, which explores issues such as the morality of experimentation on live animals and the premise that knowledge is a basis for moral good. Harre also examines the theory that science is a form of art, and looks at the way scientific knowledge affects out religious beliefs.

Marxism and Morality

Abstract: It is reported that the moment anyone talked to Marx about morality, he would roar with laughter. Yet, plainly, he was fired by outrage and a burning desire for a better world. This paradox is the starting point for Marxism and Morality. Discussing the positions taken by Marx, Engels, and their descendents in relation to certain moral issues, Steven Lukes addresses the questions on which Marxist thinkers and actors have taken a number of characteristic stands as well as other questions--personal relations and the moral virtues of the individual, for example--on which Marxism falls silent. A provocative exploration of the gray area where Marxism and morality meet, this book argues that Marxism makes a number of major moral claims and that its appeal has always been, in large part, a moral one.

Liberty, market, and state: Political economy in the 1980s

Abstract: Most economists read more than they write. James Buchanan manages to write more than most economists can read. Because his varied writings on social philosophy and political economy are necessarily scattered among publications around the globe, Buchanan’s latest book, Liberty, Market and State, should prove to be a valuable collection to Buchanan watchers. It brings together his writings under therubric of“constitutional political economy,” or what I prefer to call “constitutional economics.” This book is of significance to the readers of this journal for two fundamental reasons. First, it breaks irrevocably with the conventional wisdom among economists, namely, that economics as a discipline, per Se, has little or nothing to contribute to ourunderstanding ofnormative matter, including justice, fairness, and morality. Economists are able to assume the role of the detached observer-analyst largely because the rules of the market and/or political game are assumed to be given, meaning the distribution ofpower, an intrinsically ethical matter, has already been determined. With matters of power given by assumption, economists are largely free to discuss how people trade to improve their lot. “The predictive ‘science of economics,’” Buchanan writes, “is positively valuable to government agents, business firms, andprivate individuals. Persons can ‘play better games’ if they can predict their opponents’ strategy more accurately” (p. 33). However, the realm of the “science of political economy” has, according to Buchanan, a much different purpose: “to evaluate the structure of the constraints, ‘the law,’ with some ultimate objective of redesign or reform aimed at securing enhanced efficiency in the exploitation of the potential mutuality of alternative systems” (p. 33). ,The science of (constitutional) political economy cannot sidestep normative matters or even the question of how alternative systems of constraints can and should be evaluated. Throughout the book, Buchanan espouses general agreement as the critical normative test for adoptions of social systems or reforms in those systems:

Capitalism and the Origins of the Humanitarian Sensibility, Part 1

Abstract: AN UNPRECEDENTED WAVE OF HUMANITARIAN reform sentiment swept through the societies of Western Europe, England, and North America in the hundred years following 1750. Among the movements spawned by this new sensibility, the most spectacular was that to abolish slavery. Although its morality was often questioned before 1750, slavery was routinely defended and hardly ever condemned outright, even by the most scrupulous moralists. About the time that slavery was being transformed from a problematical but readily defensible institution into a selfevidently evil and abominable one, new attitudes began to appear on how to deter criminals, relieve the poor, cure the insane, school the young, and deal with primitive peoples.' The resulting reforms were, by almost any reasonable standard, an improvement over old practices that were often barbarous. Even so, twentiethcentury historians have not been satisfied to attribute those reforms either to an advance in man's mnoral sense or, simply, to a random outburst of altruism. In explaining the new humanitarianism, historians have repeatedly pointed to changes in what Marxists generally call the economic base or substructure of society, that is, the growth of capitalism and beginnings of industrialization. Tracing links between humanitarianism and capitalism has been a major preoccupation of historians, and the enterprise has succeeded, I believe, in greatly extending our understanding of the new sensibility. We know now that the reformers were motivated by far more than an unselfish desire to help the downtrodden, and we

The Moral Standing of the Market

Abstract: How valuable is the market mechanism for practical morality? What is its moral standing? We can scarcely doubt that as individuals we do value tremendously the opportunity of using markets. Indeed, without access to markets most of us would perish, since we don't typically produce the things that we need to survive. If we could somehow survive without using markets at all, our quality of life would be rather abysmal. It is natural to feel that an institution that is so crucial to our well-being must be valuable. And since moral evaluation can hardly be indifferent to our interests and their fulfillment, it might appear that there is nothing much to discuss here. The market's moral standing “has to be” high.

The Possibility of Administrative Ethics

Abstract: The most serious objections to administrative ethics arise from two common conceptions of the role of individuals in organizations—what may be called the ethic of neutrality and the ethic of structure. Administrative ethics involves the application of moral principles to the conduct of officials in organizations. The most general challenge to administrative ethics would be to deny the possibility of ethics at all or the possibility of political ethics. The more direct challenge to administrative ethics comes from those who admit that morality is perfectly possible in private life but deny that it is possible in organizational life. The conventional theory and practice of administrative ethics holds that administrators should carry out the orders of their superiors and the policies of the agency and the government they serve. The ethic of neutrality does not deny that administrators often must use their own judgment in the formulation of policy.

Common-Sense Morality and Consequentialism

Abstract: Originally published in 1985 and now re-issued with a new preface, this study assesses the two major moral theories of ethical consequentialism and common-sense morality by means of mutual comparison and an attempt to elicit the implications and tendencies of each theory individually. The author shows that criticisms and defences of common-sense morality and of consequentialism give inadequate characterizations of the dispute between them and thus at best provide incomplete rationales for either of these influential moral views. Both theories face inherent difficulties, some familiar but others mentioned for the first time in this work. The argument proceeds by reference to historical figures like Bentham, Ross and Sidgwick and to contemporary thinkers such as Williams, Nagel, Hare and Sen.

Individual differences in moral development: the relation of sex, gender, and personality to morality.

Abstract: Individual differences in moral development are examined, with a particular emphasis on sex and gender differences. This examination includes an extensive review of the empirical and theoretical literature in psychology on morality. Based on this review, it is concluded that sex differences occur with less frequency and with a less systematic favoring of males than is predicted by several theories of moral development. In addition, a study is presented which considers the relation of sex, gender, and personality to morality. Two age cohort samples, college sophomores (n = 169) and adults (n = 151), were assessed with the moral judgment scale of the cognitive-developmental model (Kohlberg, 1984) and a newly developed moral character template of the personological model (Lifton, in press). Participants also completed the CPI and MMPI personality inventories. Results of the study indicate (1) the absence of sex differences for either model, (2) the presence of gender differences favoring masculine persons for the cognitive-developmental but not personological model, and (3) that individual differences in moral development parallel individual differences in personality development. The implications of these findings are discussed with regard to Gilligan's (1982) claim that men and women differ in their moral orientations. Finally, it is argued that an individual difference approach, particularly one that emphasizes personality, would prove useful for future research on moral development.

A Psychological Approach

Abstract: This article has the purpose of calling attention to CG Jung's archetypal concept of the Self as an approach to ethics The distinction between simple morality and transcendent ethics is established Comparison is made between the archetype of the Self and Kant's categorical imperative Freud's superego, however, is assimilated to a "natural" outlook on morality, such as the notion of altruism in sociobiology The superego is only the psychic effect of the current moral code?which could be explained either culturally or as a Lamarckian acquired characteristic of the unconscious Jung's transcendent ethics is expressed in an "ethical m?n dala"

The morality of spending : attitudes toward the consumer society in America, 1875-1940

Abstract: "For centuries," Daniel Horowitz writes, "Americans have worried about the consequences of comfort, affluence, and luxury. They have often greeted a rising standard of living with a mixture of pleasure and disquiet. Anxious about the impact of ease on the commitment to hard work, savings, and self-control, and ambivalent about the implications of increased wealth, many in the United States have expressed concern about new levels and kinds of consumption. This book traces the development of such misgivings." "Clear, judicious, thorough and unfailingly interesting; a solid work on a most significant topic."-Technology and Culture. "An illuminating study...intelligent and perceptive...full of interesting insights."-Reviews in American History. "Daniel Horowitz has made creative use of diverse sources in order to integrate several fascinating strands of American cultural history.... His findings have broad implications...."-American Historical Review. "An imaginative and carefully researched study.... The Morality of Spending accomplishes what it sets out to do: not a sociology of money but a history of ideas about money."-Journal of Social History.

A biological interpretation of moral systems

Abstract: Moral systems are described as systems of indirect reci- procity, existing because of histories of conflicts of interest and arising as outcomes of the complexity of social interactions in groups of long-lived individuals with varying conflicts and conflu- ences of interest and indefinitely iterated social interactions. Al- though morality is commonly defined as involving justice for all people, or consistency in the social treatment of all humans, it may have arisen for immoral reasons, as a force leading to cohesiveness within human groups but specifically excluding and directed against other human groups with different interests.

Unto this last, and other writings

Abstract: First and foremost an outcry against injustice and inhumanity, "Unto this Last" is also a closely argued assault on the science of political economy, which dominated the Victorian period. Ruskin was a profoundly conservative man who looked back to the Middle Ages as a Utopia, yet his ideas had a considerable influence on the British socialist movement. And in making his powerful moral and aesthetic case against the dangers of unhindered industrialization he was strangely prophetic. This volume shows the astounding range and depth of Ruskin's work, and in an illuminating introduction the editor reveals the consistency of Ruskin's philosophy and his adamant belief that questions of economics, art and science could not be separated from questions of morality. In Ruskin's words, 'There is no Wealth but Life.'

Women and Values: Readings in Recent Feminist Philosophy

Abstract: 1 Feminist Theory and Practice Women Do Theory, Jane Flax Have We Got a Theory for You! Feminist Theory, Cultural Imperialism, and the Demand for 'The Woman's Voice', Maria C Lugones and Elizabeth V Spelman 2 Women's Nature and Women's Values Theories of Sex Difference, Caroline Whitbeck Do Women Have a Distinct Nature? Nancy Holmstrom Towards a New Consciousness, Gloria Anzaldua The Laugh of the Medusa, Helene Cixous 3 Social Philosophy The Culture of Romance, Shulamith Firestone Against Marriage and Motherhood, Claudia Card Maternal Thinking, Sara Ruddick The Future of Mothering: Reproductive Technology and Feminist Theory, Anne Donchin Prostitution, Alison M Jaggar Rewriting the Prostitute Body, Shannon Bell 4 Political Philosophy Lesbians in Revolt, Charlotte Bunch Some Reflections on Separatism and Power, Marilyn Frye Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power, Sandra Bartky Mammies, Matriarchs, and Other Controlling Images, Patricia Hill Collings The Gender Closet: Lesbian Disappearance Under the Sign 'Women', Cheshire Calhoun 5 Philosophy of Law On Being the Object of Property, Patricia J Williams Women in the Public Domain: Sexual Harassment and Date Rape, Andrea Dworkin Pornography, Oppression, and Freedom: A Closer Look, Helen E Longino Rape: The All-American Crime, Susan Griffin Rape: On Coercion and Consent, Catharine A MacKinnon 6 Philosophy of Religion The Qualitative Leap Beyond Patriarchal Religion, Mary Daly Why Women Need the Goddess: Phenomenological, Psychological, and Political Reflections,Carol P Christ Womanist Theology: Black Women's Voices, Deloress Williams 7 Philosophy of Art Is the Gaze Male? E Ann Kaplan Oppressive Texts, Resisting Readers, and the Gendered Spectator: The 'New' Aesthetics, Mary Devereaux Toward a Butch-Femme Aesthetic, Sue-Ellen Case Commitment from the Mirror-Writing Box, Trinh T Minh-ha 8 Feminist Ethics On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion, Mary Anne Warren Moral Revolution, Kathryn Pyne Addelson Abortion Through a Feminist Ethics Lens, Susan Sherwin In a Different Voice: Women's Conceptions of Self and of Morality, Carol Gilligan Ethics from the Standpoint of Women, Nel Noddings Women and Caring: What Can Feminists Learn About Morality From Caring, Joan C Tronto Lesbian Ethics: Beginning Remarks, Sara Lucia Hoagland Moral Wisdom in the Black Women's Literary Tradition, Katie G Cannon Each Sex Must Have Its Own Rights, Luce Irigaray Contributors

Sexuality and the Moral "Construction" of Women in an Islamic Society

Abstract: judgments. In Iran women could talk abstractly of moral behavior that differed from normative generalizations. Women could make judgments about actions and relationships but were constrained publicly from acting on them by what was considered moral behavior in their social class. The contradiction between their own judgments and my observation of what they did (as well as their own accounts of these contradictions) underscores that the construction of women's personal and moral identities can be independent of socially located decision-making. Women rarely had the opportunity to make decisions that affected their own morality given class and other constraints on behaviors, but they could and did when their actions were less visible. Moreover, their abstract moral thinking sometimes focused on principles of individual rights and sometimes on responsibilities; sometimes women agreed with interpretations of Islamic prescriptions and sometimes they didn't. While this paper focused on how sexuality and sexual behavior are bases for the moral construction of women, women themselves made specific moral judgments regarding behavioral obligations to others, This content downloaded from 157.55.39.102 on Mon, 03 Oct 2016 05:12:46 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms WOMEN IN ISLAMIC SOCIETY 128 sometimes on the basis of kinship or social relations and sometimes on the basis of more universal principles of need and concern. Rural women were more likely to see a moral obligation to assist anyone who was sick, old or unemployed because of their need; urban men and women were more likely to feel these obligations were based on kinship relations to those afflicted. These examples of women's thinking on social responsibilities are based on abstract considerations of obligation, sometimes related to religious prescriptions and sometimes to personal interpretations. Women's notions of selfhood and their ability to talk abstractly about self or about relations to others were also affected by region and class differences because of variations in individual exposure to and education in religious and secular knowledge. The degree to which women could make abstract choices and conceive of things that did not seem possible under current conditions was partly reflected in degree of education and class circumstances. Presented with hypothetical situations for moral behavior or decision-making, more rural (and nonliterate) women than urban (and more educated) women were unable to conceive of possible scenarios-to say to whom one could talk or what they could do under certain circumstances. When choices were put in terms of concrete and immediate situations, these women deliberated and delivered judgme ts. Access to information and education may prepare people to abstract themselves from situations and to consider the abstract motives of action, although not all researchers believe education is so pivotal in the process (Street 1984). There has been a call for new frameworks to understand the development of gender differences in moral thinking and action as well as self-identity, to which the present discussion has been tied (Young 1984). Any such framework must consider both developmental aspects and contingency aspects of moral thinking in a way that (a) takes into account class and cultural differences, especially in normative conceptions of morality,9 and (b) clarifies the role of social relations in women's morality, in both normative constraint and cognitive, individual selection of behavior. Although much of the debate on women and morality has developed outside of anthropology, these debates may be informed by anthropological approaches to understanding the complex relationship between individuals and society. Anthropologists, especially those working in the Middle East, have a tradition of investigating the negotiation of cultural ideals and individual acceptance of these within social and economic contexts.