Showing papers on "Morality published in 2005"
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: In this article, an ethical-political framework that is multicultural, gender inclusive, pluralistic, and international in scope has been proposed for qualitative research, which is based on the Enlightenment mind and its progeny.
Abstract: Getting straight on ethics in qualitative research is not an internal matter only Putting ethics and politics together is the right move intellectually, but it engages a major agenda beyond adjustments in qualitative theory and methods The overall issue is the Enlightenment mind and its progeny Only when the Enlightenment’s epistemology is contradicted will there be conceptual space for a moral-political order in distinctively qualitative terms The Enlightenment’s dichotomy between freedom and morality fostered a tradition of value-free social science and, out of this tradition, a means-ends utilitarianism Qualitative research insists on starting over philosophically, without the Enlightenment dualism as its foundation The result is an ethical-political framework that is multicultural, gender inclusive, pluralistic, and international in scope
1,289 citations
Book•
02 Dec 2005
TL;DR: The Evolution of Morality as mentioned in this paper is one of the few books in this area written from the perspective of moral philosophy, with a focus on the evolution of moral thinking and its evolutionary origins.
Abstract: Moral thinking pervades our practical lives, but where did this way of thinking come from, and what purpose does it serve? Is it to be explained by environmental pressures on our ancestors a million years ago, or is it a cultural invention of more recent origin? In The Evolution of Morality, Richard Joyce takes up these controversial questions, finding that the evidence supports an innate basis to human morality. As a moral philosopher, Joyce is interested in whether any implications follow from this hypothesis. Might the fact that the human brain has been biologically prepared by natural selection to engage in moral judgment serve in some sense to vindicate this way of thinking -- staving off the threat of moral skepticism, or even undergirding some version of moral realism? Or if morality has an adaptive explanation in genetic terms -- if it is, as Joyce writes, "just something that helped our ancestors make more babies" -- might such an explanation actually undermine morality's central role in our lives? He carefully examines both the evolutionary "vindication of morality" and the evolutionary "debunking of morality," considering the skeptical view more seriously than have others who have treated the subject. Interdisciplinary and combining the latest results from the empirical sciences with philosophical discussion, The Evolution of Morality is one of the few books in this area written from the perspective of moral philosophy. Concise and without technical jargon, the arguments are rigorous but accessible to readers from different academic backgrounds. Joyce discusses complex issues in plain language while advocating subtle and sometimes radical views. The Evolution of Morality lays the philosophical foundations for further research into the biological understanding of human morality.
668 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that existing research on consumption fails to register the full complexity of the practices, motivations and mechanisms through which the working-up of moral selves is undertaken in relation to consumption practices.
Abstract: Geography’s debates about how to maintain a sense of morally responsible action often emphasise the problematic nature of caring at a distance, and take for granted particular kinds of moral selfhood in which responsibility is bound into notions of human agency that emphasise knowledge and recognition. Taking commodity consumption as a field in which the ethics, morality, and politics of responsibility has been problematised, we argue that existing research on consumption fails to register the full complexity of the practices, motivations and mechanisms through which the working-up of moral selves is undertaken in relation to consumption practices. Rather than assuming that ethical decision-making works through the rational calculation of obligations, we conceptualise the emergence of ethical consumption as ways in which everyday practical moral dispositions are re-articulated by policies, campaigns and practices that enlist ordinary people into broader projects of social change. Ethical consumption, then, involves both a governing of consumption and a governing of the consuming self. Using the example of Traidcraft, we present a detailed examination of one particular context in which self-consciously ethical consumption is mediated, suggesting that ethical consumption can be understood as opening up ethical and political considerations in new combinations. We therefore argue for the importance of the growth of ethical consumption as a new terrain of political action, while also emphasising the grounds upon which ethical consumption can be opened up to normative critique.
519 citations
TL;DR: This article examined philosophical and religious traditions in China (Confucianism and Taoism), South Asia (Buddhism and Hinduism), and the West (Athenian philosophy, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) for the answers each provided to questions of moral behavior and the good life.
Abstract: Positive psychology needs an agreed-upon way of classifying positive traits as a backbone for research, diagnosis, and intervention. As a 1st step toward classification, the authors examined philosophical and religious traditions in China (Confucianism and Taoism), South Asia (Buddhism and Hinduism), and the West (Athenian philosophy, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) for the answers each provided to questions of moral behavior and the good life. The authors found that 6 core virtues recurred in these writings: courage, justice, humanity, temperance, wisdom, and transcendence. This convergence suggests a nonarbitrary foundation for the classification of human strengths and virtues.
470 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual framework is put forward and it is suggested that individuals may be categorized as Active or Frustrated Corporate Social Entrepreneurs; Conformists or Apathetics, distinguished by their individualistic or collectivist personal values.
Abstract: The literature acknowledges a distinction between immoral, amoral and moral management. This paper makes a case for the employee (at any level) as a moral agent, even though the paper begins by highlighting a body of evidence which suggests that individual moral agency is sacrificed at work and is compromised in deference to other pressures. This leads to a discussion about the notion of discretion and an examination of a separate, contrary body of literature which indicates that some individuals in corporations may use their discretion to behave in a socially entrepreneurial manner. My underlying assumption is that CSR isn’t solely driven by economics and that it may also be championed as a result of a personal morality, inspired by employees’ own socially oriented personal values. A conceptual framework is put forward and it is suggested that individuals may be categorized as Active or Frustrated Corporate Social Entrepreneurs; Conformists or Apathetics, distinguished by their individualistic or collectivist personal values. In a discussion of the nature of values, this paper highlights how values may act as drivers of our behavior and pays particular attention to the values of the entrepreneur, thereby linking the existing debate on moral agency with the field of corporate social responsibility.
466 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive research program is reviewed showing that moral content dominates person-perception because it typically has a direct and unconditional bearing on the well-being of other people surrounding the person who is described by the trait (including the perceiver).
Abstract: Morality and competence are posited to constitute two basic kinds of content in person- and self-perception. Moral content dominates person-perception because it typically has a direct and unconditional bearing on the well-being of other people surrounding the person who is described by the trait (including the perceiver). Competence dominates self-perception because it has a direct bearing on the well-being of the perceiver. A comprehensive research programme is reviewed showing that morality of others matters to the perceiver to a much higher degree than his/her competence. When forming global evaluations of others, the perceiver is more interested in their moral than competence qualities, construes their behaviour in moral terms, and his or her impressions and emotional responses are more strongly based on morality than competence considerations. Just the opposite is true for self-perception and self-attitudes. Own behaviours are construed more readily in competence than moral terms, and own competence...
444 citations
TL;DR: Theory and research regarding moral motivation has focused for decades on the roles of moral reasoning and, to some extent, moral emotion as mentioned in this paper, however, several models of morality have positioned identity as an additional important source of moral motivation.
Abstract: Theory and research regarding moral motivation has focused for decades on the roles of moral reasoning and, to some extent, moral emotion. Recently, however, several models of morality have positioned identity as an additional important source of moral motivation. An individual has a moral identity to the extent that he or she has constructed his or her sense of self around moral concerns (e.g., moral values). This paper reviews theory and research linking moral identity to moral behavior and commitment. Additionally, it suggests several key unanswered questions about moral identity and provides recommendations for future research.
346 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that class inequalities render equality of conditional recognition impossible, because they prevent equal access to practices and goods worthy of recognition, and argued that lay morality is weakly differentiated and assumes a universalizing character.
Abstract: The article advances a case for greater consideration of the moral aspects of the experience of class, and the concerns that people have regarding their class position and how others view them. First it outlines an approach to understanding lay normativity, especially morality, in which moral sentiments are viewed as evaluative judgements on how behaviour affects well-being. Drawing upon concepts from moral philosophy and examples of moral boundary drawing and shame, it argues that lay morality is weakly differentiated and assumes a universalizing character. Secondly it considers the close relations between economic distribution and recognition, arguing that it is necessary to distinguish between conditional and unconditional recognition, and internal and external goods in order to understand the struggles of the social field. Class inequalities render equality of conditional recognition impossible, because they prevent equal access to practices and goods worthy of recognition.
318 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that a majority of participants judged that such agents act of their own free will and are morally responsible for their actions, and discussed the philosophical implications of their results as well as various difficulties inherent in such research.
Abstract: Philosophers working in the nascent field of ‘experimental philosophy’ have begun using methods borrowed from psychology to collect data about folk intuitions concerning debates ranging from action theory to ethics to epistemology. In this paper we present the results of our attempts to apply this approach to the free will debate, in which philosophers on opposing sides claim that their view best accounts for and accords with folk intuitions. After discussing the motivation for such research, we describe our methodology of surveying people’s prephilosophical judgments about the freedom and responsibility of agents in deterministic scenarios. In two studies, we found that a majority of participants judged that such agents act of their own free will and are morally responsible for their actions. We then discuss the philosophical implications of our results as well as various difficulties inherent in such research.
312 citations
Book•
01 Mar 2005
TL;DR: De Goede as discussed by the authors discusses moral, religious, and political transformations that have slowly naturalized the domain of finance, using a deft integration of feminist and poststructuralist approaches, demonstrating that finance is a profoundly cultural and politically contingent practice.
Abstract: Less than two centuries ago finance - today viewed as the center of economic necessity and epitome of scientific respectability - stood condemned as disreputable fraud. How this change in status came about, and what it reveals about the nature of finance, is the story told in Virtue, Fortune, and Faith. A unique cultural history of modern financial markets from the early eighteenth century to the present day, the book offers a genealogical reading of the historical insecurities, debates, and controversies that had to be purged from nascent credit practices in order to produce the image of today's coherent and - largely - rational global financial sphere. Marieke de Goede discusses moral, religious, and political transformations that have slowly naturalized the domain of finance. Using a deft integration of feminist and poststructuralist approaches, her book demonstrates that finance - not just its rules of personal engagement, but also its statistics, formulas, instruments, and institutions - is a profoundly cultural and politically contingent practice. When closely examined, the history of finance is one of colonial conquest, sexual imagination, constructions of time, and discourses of legitimate (or illegitimate) profit making. Regardless, this history has had a far-reaching impact on the development of the modern international financial institutions that act as the stewards of the world's economic resources. De Goede explores the political contestations over ideas of time and money; the gendered discourse of credit and credibility; differences among gambling, finance, and speculation; debates over the proper definition of the free market; the meaning of financial crisis; and the morality of speculation. In an era when financial practices are pronounced too specialized for broad-based public, democratic debate, Virtue, Fortune, and Faith questions assumptions about international finance's unchallenged position and effectively exposes its ambiguous scientific authority.
307 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that self-transcendent values and positive other-directed emotions are important determinants of authentic leadership, and they introduce an interactive approach to the cognitive and emotional processes that motivate authentic leaders to act in ways that are consistent with their self-transforment values.
Abstract: In response to concerns about the morality of inspirational styles of leadership, this article incorporates current theory from the emotion and positive psychology literatures to present an alternative approach to the role of emotions in leadership. Rather than focusing on the detrimental effects of affective responses, this approach suggests that frequent experiences of positive other-directed emotions motivate leaders to act on their other-regarding values [Oakley, J. 1992. Morality and the emotions. London: Routledge]. We begin by arguing that self-transcendent values and positive other-directed emotions are important determinants of authentic leadership. Then, we introduce an interactive approach to the cognitive and emotional processes that motivate authentic leaders to act in ways that are consistent with their self-transcendent values.
Book•
10 Aug 2005TL;DR: A Theory of Social Motivation and Justice: Logic and Development as discussed by the authors is a theory of social motivation and justice that includes cultural and individual differences and rewards and punishes reward and punishment.
Abstract: Contents: Preface. Prologue. A Theory of Social Motivation and Justice: Logic and Development. Testing the Theory and Incorporating Cultural and Individual Differences. The Moral Emotions and Creating Positive Moral Impressions. Reward and Punishment. A Visit to the Courtroom Settings: Is the Theory Useful? Epilogue.
TL;DR: The main goal of the discipline of artificial morality is to design artificial agents to act as if they are moral agents as mentioned in this paper, and the intermediate goals of AI systems are directed at building into AI systems sensitivity to the values, ethics, and legality of activities.
Abstract: A principal goal of the discipline of artificial morality is to design artificial agents to act as if they are moral agents. Intermediate goals of artificial morality are directed at building into AI systems sensitivity to the values, ethics, and legality of activities. The development of an effective foundation for the field of artificial morality involves exploring the technological and philosophical issues involved in making computers into explicit moral reasoners. The goal of this paper is to discuss strategies for implementing artificial morality and the differing criteria for success that are appropriate to different strategies.
TL;DR: The authors outline in 11 propositions a framework for a new approach that is more attentive to the purposes that people use morality to achieve, and introduce a more pragmatic approach.
Abstract: In this article, the authors evaluate L. Kohlberg's (1984) cognitive- developmental approach to morality, find it wanting, and introduce a more pragmatic approach. They review research designed to evaluate Kohlberg's model, describe how they revised the model to accommodate discrepant findings, and explain why they concluded that it is poorly equipped to account for the ways in which people make moral decisions in their everyday lives. The authors outline in 11 propositions a framework for a new approach that is more attentive to the purposes that people use morality to achieve. People make moral judgments and engage in moral behaviors to induce themselves and others to uphold systems of cooperative exchange that help them achieve their goals and advance their interests.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that a sixth ethics platform is needed to interrogate the morality of the positions taken in policy, planning, development, and management in tourism, against a background of environmental ethics and global political economy.
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: The common image of the moral agent is one who makes decisions as discussed by the authors, and moral autonomy is grounded in the rational capacity to discern options, make decisions, and enact intentions, and the costly investment of cognitive resources into moral deliberation underlie the very notion of moral autonomy.
Abstract: the common image of the moral agent is one who makes decisions. Moral decisions are the product of vast calculation. Principles are discerned, judgments are formed, rules of application are weighed. The requirements of duty, the probative force of outcomes and consequences, and the adjudication of competing claims are all fairly transparent to the rational, deliberative agent who engages in extensive cognitive effort in order to resolve dilemmas, make choices, and justify actions. Indeed, the costly investment of cognitive resources into moral deliberation is thought to underlie the very notion of moral autonomy. Moral freedom is grounded in the rational capacity to discern options, make decisions, and enact intentions.
Book•
12 Sep 2005
TL;DR: Children's narrative accounts and moral evaluations of their own interpersonal conflicts with peers were examined, and children's interpretations of the social interactions that are at the basis of moral thinking were integrated, bringing us a step closer to conceptualizing the study of children's moral behavior.
Abstract: Children's narrative accounts and moral evaluations of their own interpersonal conflicts with peers were examined. Girls and boys (N = 112) in preschool (M= 4.8 years), first grade (M = 6.9 years), fifth grade (M = 10.9 years), and tenth grade (M = 16.2 years) provided one narrative of a time when they had been hurt by a peer ("victim"), and one of a time when they had hurt a peer ("perpetrator"). Victim and perpetrator narratives were equally long and detailed and depicted similar types of harmful behaviors, but differed significantly in terms of various measures of content and coherence. Narratives given from the victim's perspective featured a self-referential focus and a fairly coherent structure. When the same children gave accounts of situations in which they had been the perpetrators, their construals were less coherent and included multiple shifts between references to their own experience and the experience of the other. Children's moral judgments also varied by perspective, with the majority of victims making negative judgments and nearly half the perpetrators making positive or mixed judgments. These differences in moral judgments were related to the distinct ways in which victims and perpetrators construed conflict situations. Age differences were also found in both narrative construals and moral evaluations, but regardless of their age children construed conflict situations differently from the victim's and the perpetrator's perspectives. By integrating, within the study of moral development, children's interpretations of the social interactions that are at the basis of moral thinking, this approach brings us a step closer to conceptualizing the study of children's moral behavior.
TL;DR: There appear to be cases in which people's moral judgments actually serve as input to the process underlying their application of theory-of-mind concepts.
TL;DR: A pragmatic research philosophy is introduced in this article that embraces mixed-method approaches to applied research questions, emphasizing the practical problems experienced by people, the research questions posited, and the consequences of inquiry.
Abstract: A pragmatic research philosophy is introduced that embraces mixed-method approaches to applied research questions. With its origins in the work of Peirce (1984), James (1907), Dewey (1931), and contemporary support from Rorty (1982, 1990,1991), pragmatism emphasizes the practical problems experienced by people, the research questions posited, and the consequences of inquiry. As a way to highlight applications of pragmatism in sport psychology, pragmatism is compared to constructivism and positivism in terms of philosophical underpinnings and methodological applications. The pragmatic researcher is sensitive to the social, historical, and political context from which inquiry begins and considers morality, ethics, and issues of social justice to be important throughout the research process. Pragmatists often use pluralistic methods during multiphase research projects. Exemplar design types are discussed that logically cohere to a pragmatic research philosophy.
Book•
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: Sandel as mentioned in this paper argues that the most prominent ideals in our political life -individual rights and freedom of choice - do not by themselves provide an adequate ethic for a democratic society and calls for a politics that gives greater emphasis to citizenship, community and civic virtue, and that grapples more directly with questions of the good life.
Abstract: In this book, Michael Sandel takes up some of the hotly contested moral and political issues of our time, including affirmative action, assisted suicide, abortion, gay rights, stem cell research, the meaning of toleration and civility, the gap between rich and poor, the role of markets, and the place of religion in public life. He argues that the most prominent ideals in our political life - individual rights and freedom of choice - do not by themselves provide an adequate ethic for a democratic society. Sandel calls for a politics that gives greater emphasis to citizenship, community and civic virtue, and that grapples more directly with questions of the good life. Liberals often worry that inviting moral and religious argument into the public sphere runs the risk of intolerance and coercion. These essays respond to that concern by showing that substantive moral discourse is not at odds with progressive public purposes, and that a pluralist society need not shrink from engaging the moral and religious convictions that its citizens bring to public life.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the relationship between perceived motivational climate and moral functioning, moral atmosphere, and legitimizing sports acts among competitive youth football players, finding that perceived performance climate will be associated with lower moral functioning and less appropriate moral atmosphere perceptions, and a greater likelihood of legitimizing aggression in competitive football.
Book•
[...]
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: The authors argued that blame is inseperable from morality itself and that any considerations that justify us in accepting a set of moral principles must also call for the condemnation of those who violate the principles.
Abstract: Blame is an unpopular and neglected notion: it goes against the grain of a therapeutically-oriented culture and has been far less discussed by philosophers than such related notions as responsibility and punishment. This book seeks to show that neither the opposition nor the neglect is justified. The book's most important conclusion is that blame is inseperable from morality itself - that any considerations that justify us in accepting a set of moral principles must also call for the condemnation of those who violate the principles. Properly understood, blame and morality must stand or fall together.
TL;DR: In this article, a definition of ubuntu/botho and an analysis of some of the definitions which have been proffered so far by various authors on the subject are presented.
Abstract: This article begins with a definition of ubuntu/botho and moves into an analysis of some of the definitions which have been proffered so far by various authors on the subject. It also examines the nature and characteristics of ubuntu, especially its understanding of a person, of community and morality. There are many ways in which people express what is valuable to them and one of these ways is their use of language. Some African proverbs will help us illustrate and understand the concept of ubuntu, especially the respect and care that was accorded strangers in traditional African society.
Book•
19 Mar 2005
TL;DR: The body, its parts, and the market: Revisionist Interpretations from the history of philosophy as mentioned in this paper have been used to argue against human organ sales and moral arguments for profit maximization.
Abstract: Introduction Chapter One: Human Organ Sales and Moral Arguments: The Body for Beneficence and Profit IntroductionChallenges for Public Health Care Policy"Global Consensus"Prohibition: Controversies and Criticisms Chapter Two: Metaphysics, Morality, and Political Theory: The Presuppositions of Proscription Reexamined Introduction Initial Considerations: Assessing Standards of Evidence and Placing the Burden of Proof Persons and Body Parts Owning One's Body Repugnance: Adjudication Among Moral Institutions Government, Health Care Policy, and Private Choices Summary Chapter Three: A Market in Human Organs: Costs and Benefits, Vices and Virtues Introduction Health Care Costs and Benefits Special Moral Costs and Benefits: Equality and Liberty Exploitation: Organ Markets Verses Other Procurement and Allocation Strategies Community, Altruism, and Free Choice Scientific Excellence and the Market Place The Market and Profit: The Virtues and Vices of Free Choice Summary Chapter Four: The Body, Its Parts, and the Market: Revisionist Interpretations From the History of Philosophy Introduction Major Theories Summary Chapter Five: Prohibition: More Harmful than Benefit? Aspiring to an International Bioethics False Claims to Moral Consensus Crafting Health Care Policy Amidst Moral Pluralism Appendix: Sample of International Legislation Restricting the Sale of Human Organs for Transplantation List of Cases Notes Index
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine antifan interaction with the television text, focusing on the ensuing splintering of this text into aesthetic, moral, and rational-realistic dimensions.
Abstract: Opposed and yet in some ways similar to the fan is the antifan: he or she who actively and vocally hates or dislikes a given text, personality, or genre. By studying antifan discussion and postings at the Web site Television Without Pity, this article examines antifan interaction with the television text. Focusing on the ensuing splintering of this text into aesthetic, moral, and rational-realistic dimensions, it is argued that antifan engagement with television forces a reevaluation of existing assumptions of textual ontology and of audience behavior and consumption.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the psychic meaning of corruption, and suggest that conduct normally interpreted as corrupt often expresses a powerful attachment to primitive moral thinking rather than a rejection of morality.
Abstract: This article explores the psychic meaning of corruption understood as an attack on norms of conduct in organizations. The primary focus is on why individuals fail to become securely attached to norms, and on the part played in this failure by certain key features of corruption: greed, arrogance, a sense of personal entitlement, the idea of virtue as personal loyalty, and the inability to distinguish between organizational and personal ends. The essay considers the moral dimension of the problem and suggests that conduct normally interpreted as corrupt often expresses a powerful attachment to primitive moral thinking rather than a rejection of morality.
12 Apr 2005
TL;DR: For instance, the authors examines how development projects around the world intended to promote population management, disease prevention, and maternal and child health intentionally and unintentionally shape ideas about what constitutes "normal" sexual practices and identities.
Abstract: Sex in Development examines how development projects around the world intended to promote population management, disease prevention, and maternal and child health intentionally and unintentionally shape ideas about what constitutes “normal” sexual practices and identities. From sex education in Uganda to aids prevention in India to family planning in Greece, various sites of development work related to sex, sexuality, and reproduction are examined in the rich, ethnographically grounded essays in this volume. These essays demonstrate that ideas related to morality are repeatedly enacted in ostensibly value-neutral efforts to put into practice a “global” agenda reflecting the latest medical science.
Sex in Development combines the cultural analysis of sexuality, critiques of global development, and science and technology studies. Whether considering the resistance encountered by representatives of an American pharmaceutical company attempting to teach Russian doctors a “value free” way to offer patients birth control or the tension between Tibetan Buddhist ideas of fertility and the modernization schemes of the Chinese government, these essays show that attempts to make sex a universal moral object to be managed and controlled leave a host of moral ambiguities in their wake as they are engaged, resisted, and reinvented in different ways throughout the world.
Contributors. Vincanne Adams, Leslie Butt, Lawrence Cohen, Heather Dell, Vinh-Kim Nguyen, Shanti Parikh, Heather Paxson, Stacy Leigh Pigg, Michele Rivkin-Fish