Showing papers on "Morality published in 2019"

Enquiry Concerning Political Justice

Abstract: 'To a rational being there can be but one rule of conduct, justice, and one mode of ascertaining that rule, the exercise of his understanding.' Godwin's Political Justice is the founding text of philosophical anarchism. Written in the immediate aftermath of the French Revolution, it exemplifies the political optimism felt by many writers and intellectuals. Godwin drew on enlightenment ideas and his background in religious dissent for the principles of justice, utility, and the sanctity of individual judgement that drove his powerful critique of all forms of secular and religious authority. He predicts the triumph of justice and equality over injustice, and of mind over matter, and the eventual vanquishing of human frailty and mortality. He also foresees the gradual elimination of practices governing property, punishment, law, and marriage and the displacement of politics by an expanded personal morality resulting from reasoned argument and candid discussion. Political Justice raises deep philosophical questions about the nature of our duty to others that remain central to modern debates on ethics and politics. This edition reprints the first-edition text of 1793, and examines Godwin's evolving philosophy in the context of his life and work. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Moral Injury: An Integrative Review

Abstract: Individuals who are exposed to traumatic events that violate their moral values may experience severe distress and functional impairments known as "moral injuries." Over the last decade, moral injury has captured the attention of mental health care providers, spiritual and faith communities, media outlets, and the general public. Research about moral injury, especially among military personnel and veterans, has also proliferated. For this article, we reviewed scientific research about moral injury. We identified 116 relevant epidemiological and clinical studies. Epidemiological studies described a wide range of biological, psychological/behavioral, social, and religious/spiritual sequelae associated with exposure to potentially morally injurious events. Although a dearth of empirical clinical literature exists, some authors debated how moral injury might and might not respond to evidence-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) whereas others identified new treatment models to directly address moral repair. Limitations of the literature included variable definitions of potentially morally injurious events, the absence of a consensus definition and gold-standard measure of moral injury as an outcome, scant study of moral injury outside of military-related contexts, and clinical investigations limited by small sample sizes and unclear mechanisms of therapeutic effect. We conclude our review by summarizing lessons from the literature and offering recommendations for future research.

Twilight Of The Idols and The Anti-Christ

Abstract: "Twilight of the Idols", an attack on all the prevalent ideas of his time, offers a lightning tour of his whole philosophy. It also prepares the way for "The Anti-Christ", a final assault on institutional Christianity. Both works show Nietzsche lashing out at self-deception, astounded at how often morality is based on vengefulness and resentment. Both reveal a profound understanding of human mean-spiritedness which still cannot destroy the underlying optimism of Nietzsche, the supreme affirmer among the great philosophers.

Taking Stock of Moral Approaches to Leadership: An Integrative Review of Ethical, Authentic, and Servant Leadership

Abstract: Moral forms of leadership such as ethical, authentic, and servant leadership have seen a surge of interest in the 21st century. The proliferation of morally based leadership approaches has resulted...

Is It Good to Cooperate? Testing the Theory of Morality-as-Cooperation in 60 Societies

Abstract: What is morality? And to what extent does it vary around the world? The theory of “morality-as-cooperation” argues that morality consists of a collection of biological and cultural solutions to the problems of cooperation recurrent in human social life. Morality-as-cooperation draws on the theory of non-zero-sum games to identify distinct problems of cooperation and their solutions, and it predicts that specific forms of cooperative behavior—including helping kin, helping your group, reciprocating, being brave, deferring to superiors, dividing disputed resources, and respecting prior possession—will be considered morally good wherever they arise, in all cultures. To test these predictions, we investigate the moral valence of these seven cooperative behaviors in the ethnographic records of 60 societies. We find that the moral valence of these behaviors is uniformly positive, and the majority of these cooperative morals are observed in the majority of cultures, with equal frequency across all regions of the world. We conclude that these seven cooperative behaviors are plausible candidates for universal moral rules, and that morality-as-cooperation could provide the unified theory of morality that anthropology has hitherto lacked.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman : With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects

Abstract: Dedication Introduction 1. The rights and involved duties of mankind considered 2. The prevailing opinion of a sexual character discussed 3. The same subject continued 4. Observations on the state of degradation to which woman is reduced by various causes 5. Animadversions on some of the writers who have rendered women objects of pity, bordering on contempt 6. The effect which an early association of ideas has upon the character 7. Modesty. Comprehensively considered, and not as a sexual virtue 8. Morality undermined by sexual notions of the importance of a good reputation 9. Of the pernicious effects which arise from the unnatural distinctions established in society 10. Parental affection 11. Duty to parents 12. On national education 13. Some instances of the folly which the ignorance of women generates with concluding reflections on the moral improvement that a revolution in female manners may naturally be expected to produce.

The Psychology of Morality: A Review and Analysis of Empirical Studies Published From 1940 Through 2017:

Abstract: We review empirical research on (social) psychology of morality to identify which issues and relations are well documented by existing data and which areas of inquiry are in need of further empirical evidence. An electronic literature search yielded a total of 1,278 relevant research articles published from 1940 through 2017. These were subjected to expert content analysis and standardized bibliometric analysis to classify research questions and relate these to (trends in) empirical approaches that characterize research on morality. We categorize the research questions addressed in this literature into five different themes and consider how empirical approaches within each of these themes have addressed psychological antecedents and implications of moral behavior. We conclude that some key features of theoretical questions relating to human morality are not systematically captured in empirical research and are in need of further investigation.

Leaders matter morally: The role of ethical leadership in shaping employee moral cognition and misconduct.

Abstract: There has long been interest in how leaders influence the unethical behavior of those who they lead. However, research in this area has tended to focus on leaders' direct influence over subordinate behavior, such as through role modeling or eliciting positive social exchange. We extend this research by examining how ethical leaders affect how employees construe morally problematic decisions, ultimately influencing their behavior. Across four studies, diverse in methods (lab and field) and national context (the United States and China), we find that ethical leadership decreases employees' propensity to morally disengage, with ultimate effects on employees' unethical decisions and deviant behavior. Further, employee moral identity moderates this mediated effect. However, the form of this moderation is not consistent. In Studies 2 and 4, we find that ethical leaders have the largest positive influence over individuals with a weak moral identity (providing a "saving grace"), whereas in Study 3, we find that ethical leaders have the largest positive influence over individuals with a strong moral identity (catalyzing a "virtuous synergy"). We use these findings to speculate about when ethical leaders might function as a "saving grace" versus a "virtuous synergy." Together, our results suggest that employee misconduct stems from a complex interaction between employees, their leaders, and the context in which this relationship takes place, specifically via leaders' influence over employees' moral cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

From Ethics Washing to Ethics Bashing: A View on Tech Ethics from Within Moral Philosophy

Abstract: The word 'ethics' is overused in technology policy circles. Weaponized in support of deregulation, self-regulation or hands-off governance, “ethics” is increasingly identified with technology companies’ self-regulatory efforts and with shallow appearances of ethical behavior. So-called “ethics washing” by tech companies is on the rise, prompting criticism and scrutiny from scholars and the tech community at large. In parallel to the growth of ethics washing, its condemnation has led to a tendency to engage in “ethics bashing.” This consists in the trivialization of ethics and moral philosophy now understood as discrete tools or pre-formed social structures such as ethics boards, self-governance schemes or stakeholder groups. The misunderstandings underlying ethics bashing are at least three-fold: (a) philosophy is understood in opposition and as alternative to law, political representation and social organizing; (b) philosophy and “ethics” are seen as a formalistic methodology, vulnerable to instrumentalization and abuse, and thus ontologically flawed; and (c) engagement in moral philosophy is downplayed and portrayed as mere “ivory tower” intellectualization of complex problems that need to be dealt with through alternative and more practical methodologies. This essay argues that the rhetoric of ethics and morality should not be reductively instrumentalized, either by the industry in the form of “ethics washing,” or by scholars and policy-makers in the form of “ethics bashing.” Grappling with the role of philosophy and ethics requires moving beyond simplification and seeing ethics as a mode of inquiry that facilitates the evaluation of competing tech policy strategies. In other words, we must resist narrow reductivism of moral philosophy as instrumentalized performance and renew our faith in its intrinsic moral value as a mode of knowledge-seeking and inquiry. Far from mandating a self-regulatory scheme or a given governance structure, moral philosophy in fact facilitates the questioning and reconsideration of any given practice, situating it within a complex web of legal, political and economic institutions. Moral philosophy indeed can shed new light on human practices by adding needed perspective, explaining the relationship between technology and other worthy goals, situating technology within the human, the social, the political. It has become urgent to start considering technology ethics also from within and not only from outside of ethics.

Critiquing the Reasons for Making Artificial Moral Agents

Abstract: Many industry leaders and academics from the field of machine ethics would have us believe that the inevitability of robots coming to have a larger role in our lives demands that robots be endowed with moral reasoning capabilities. Robots endowed in this way may be referred to as artificial moral agents (AMA). Reasons often given for developing AMAs are: the prevention of harm, the necessity for public trust, the prevention of immoral use, such machines are better moral reasoners than humans, and building these machines would lead to a better understanding of human morality. Although some scholars have challenged the very initiative to develop AMAs, what is currently missing from the debate is a closer examination of the reasons offered by machine ethicists to justify the development of AMAs. This closer examination is especially needed because of the amount of funding currently being allocated to the development of AMAs (from funders like Elon Musk) coupled with the amount of attention researchers and industry leaders receive in the media for their efforts in this direction. The stakes in this debate are high because moral robots would make demands on society; answers to a host of pending questions about what counts as an AMA and whether they are morally responsible for their behavior or not. This paper shifts the burden of proof back to the machine ethicists demanding that they give good reasons to build AMAs. The paper argues that until this is done, the development of commercially available AMAs should not proceed further.

Morality as a Basic Psychological Need

Abstract: We investigate the long-standing yet understudied assumption that feeling moral is a basic psychological need, perhaps like the needs to feel autonomous, competent, and related (ACR). We report an ...

Ideology Justifies Morality: Political Beliefs Predict Moral Foundations

Abstract: Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) is employed as a causal explanation of ideology that posits political attitudes are products of moral intuitions. Prior theoretical models, however, suggest the opposite causal path, that is, that moral judgments are driven by political beliefs. In both instances, however, extant research has assumed rather than explicitly tested for causality. So do moral intuitions drive political beliefs or do political beliefs drive moral intuitions? We empirically address this question using data from two panel studies and one nationally representative study, and find consistent evidence supporting the hypothesis that ideology predicts moral intuitions. The findings have significant implications for MFT as a theory of ideology, and also about the consequences of political beliefs for shaping how individuals rationalize what is right and what is wrong.

The impact of leader moral humility on follower moral self-efficacy and behavior.

Abstract: This study utilizes social-cognitive theory, humble leadership theory, and the behavioral ethics literature to theoretically develop the concept of leader moral humility and its effects on followers. Specifically, we propose a theoretical model wherein leader moral humility and follower implicit theories about morality interact to predict follower moral efficacy, which in turn increases follower prosocial behavior and decreases follower unethical behavior. We furthermore suggest that these effects are strongest when followers hold an incremental implicit theory of morality (i.e., believing that one's morality is malleable). We test and find support for our theoretical model using two multiwave studies with Eastern (Study 1) and Western (Study 2) samples. Furthermore, we demonstrate that leader moral humility predicts follower moral efficacy and moral behaviors above and beyond the effects of ethical leadership and leader general humility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

An ideological asymmetry in the diffusion of moralized content on social media among political leaders.

Abstract: Online social networks constitute a major platform for the exchange of moral and political ideas, and political elites increasingly rely on social media platforms to communicate directly with the public. However, little is known about the processes that render some political elites more influential than others when it comes to online communication. Here, we gauge influence of political elites on social media by examining how message factors (characteristics of the communication) interact with source factors (characteristics of elites) to impact the diffusion of elites' messages through Twitter. We analyzed messages (N = 286,255) sent from federal politicians (presidential candidates, members of the Senate and House of Representatives) in the year leading up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election-a period in which Democrats and Republicans sought to maximize their influence over potential voters. Across all types of elites, we found a "moral contagion" effect: elites' use of moral-emotional language was robustly associated with increases in message diffusion. We also discovered an ideological asymmetry: conservative elites gained greater diffusion when using moral-emotional language compared to liberal elites, even when accounting for extremity of ideology and other source cues. Specific moral emotion expressions related to moral outrage-namely, moral anger and disgust-were impactful for elites across the political spectrum, whereas moral emotion expression related to religion and patriotism were more impactful for conservative elites. These findings help inform the scientific understanding of political propaganda in the digital age, and the antecedents of political polarization in American politics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The intuitive greater good: Testing the corrective dual process model of moral cognition.

Abstract: Building on the old adage that the deliberate mind corrects the emotional heart, the influential dual process model of moral cognition has posited that utilitarian responding to moral dilemmas (i.e., choosing the greater good) requires deliberate correction of an intuitive deontological response. In the present article, we present 4 studies that force us to revise this longstanding "corrective" dual process assumption. We used a two-response paradigm in which participants had to give their first, initial response to moral dilemmas under time-pressure and cognitive load. Next, participants could take all the time they wanted to reflect on the problem and give a final response. This allowed us to identify the intuitively generated response that preceded the final response given after deliberation. Results consistently show that in the vast majority of cases (+ 70%) in which people opt for a utilitarian response after deliberation, the utilitarian response is already given in the initial phase. Hence, utilitarian responders do not need to deliberate to correct an initial deontological response. Their intuitive response is already utilitarian in nature. We show how this leads to a revised model in which moral judgments depend on the absolute and relative strength differences between competing deontological and utilitarian intuitions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Understanding the process of moralization: How eating meat becomes a moral issue.

Abstract: A large literature demonstrates that moral convictions guide many of our thoughts, behaviors, and social interactions. Yet, we know little about how these moral convictions come to exist. In the present research we explore moralization—the process by which something that was morally neutral takes on moral properties—examining what factors facilitate and deter it. In 3 longitudinal studies participants were presented with morally evocative stimuli about why eating meat should be viewed as a moral issue. Study 1 tracked students over a semester as they took a university course that highlighted the suffering animals endure because of human meat consumption. In Studies 2 and 3 participants took part in a mini-course we developed which presented evocative videos aimed at inducing moralization. In all 3 studies, we assessed participants’ beliefs, attitudes, emotions, and cognitions at multiple time points to track moral changes and potential factors responsible for such changes. A variety of factors, both cognitive and affective, predicted participants’ moralization or lack thereof. Model testing further pointed to two primary conduits of moralization: the experience of moral emotions (e.g., disgust, guilt) felt when contemplating the issue, and moral piggybacking (connecting the issue at hand with one’s existing fundamental moral principles). Moreover, we found individual differences, such as how much one holds their morality as central to their identity, also predicted the moralization process. We discuss the broad theoretical and applied implications of our results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

Moral, Wasteful, Frugal, or Thrifty? Identifying Consumer Identities to Understand and Manage Pro-Environmental Behavior:

Abstract: Moral motives are important for pro-environmental behavior. But such behavior is not only motivated by moral or environmental concerns. We examined what higher-order motives, other than morality, may be important for understanding pro-environmental behavior, by studying consumer identities. In three studies (N = 877) four consumer identities were distinguished: moral, wasteful, frugal, and thrifty. Frugal and moral consumer identities were most salient and were the strongest predictors of pro-environmental behaviors, but in different ways. Frugality, which is related to, but distinct from thriftiness, was particularly important for behaviors associated with waste reduction of any kind (including money). The findings suggest that people adopt the same behavior for different reasons, in ways consistent with their consumer identities. People manage multiple consumer identities simultaneously and environmental policy is likely to be more effective if it addresses these multiple identities.

Being Realistic and Demanding the Impossible

Abstract: Characterising realism by contrasting it with moralism leaves open several questions to do with realism’s practical import. If political judgment is not to be derived — exclusively or at all — from pre-political moral commitments, what scope is there for genuinely normative political thinking? And even if there is some scope for political normativity, does realism’s reliance on interpretations of political practices condemn it to some form of status quo bias? In this paper I address those questions. My main aim is to assuage some worries about realism’s alleged conservative tendencies. I argue that there is an important sense in which realists can support radical and even unachievable political change — one can be realistic and demand the impossible, as the soixante- huitard slogan goes. To see how that may be the case one needs to characterise realism by contrasting it with both non-ideal theory and utopianism. In a nutshell, realism differs from non- ideal theory because it need not be concerned with feasibility constraints, and it differs from utopianism because it eschews detailed blueprints of the perfect polity.

Rationality or morality? A comparative study of pro-environmental intentions of local and nonlocal visitors in nature-based destinations

Abstract: People's pro-environmental behavior (PEB) is commonly recognized as a result of individual rationality or moral considerations. However, the compative roles of rationality and morality in fostering such behavior in the tourism/leisure context remains to be investigated. This paper uses the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the norm-activation model (NAM) as representatives of rational and moral notions, and examines the relative strengths of the models in explaining visitors' pro-environmental intentions in nature-based destinations. An empirical study was conducted in three natural parks in Hangzhou, China. Local visitors (N = 323) and tourists (N = 231) participated in the survey. Structural equation modeling was adopted. It is found that although both the rational and the moral models could explain the participants' pro-environmental intentions, yet the NAM model was superior, especially in interpreting nonlocal tourist pro-environmental intentions. Recommendations are provided for a more holistic understanding and effective promotion of PEB in nature-based destinations.

Undocumented lives : exclusion as moral injury in everyday Life

Abstract: The general exclusion of undocumented migrants�€”in the form of constraints of access to goods and resources, lacks in entitlements and in legal and social protections, and so on�€”impacts their lives in different ways. As being afforded equal respect and dignity is a prerequisite to social, economic, and political integration, impediments in these domains can also lead to a lack of participation in matters they regard to be of consequence in their lives. Accordingly, such experiences are given meaning and responded to by the individuals who live through them, and thus, their subjective perceptions, moral understandings, judgments, and dispositions ultimately matter and need due consideration. This thesis is a qualitative enquiry into the structural and moral dimensions of the exclusionary experiences endured by undocumented migrants. Drawn from fifty-five in-depth qualitative interviews conducted in the US, the study examines issues of (1) civic membership (through ID cards and identification), (2) intimate relationships and relationship formation, and (3) labour and employment to account for how the subjects�€™ experiences of exclusion are evaluated and are also influenced by their moral sentiments, behaviours, and practices. The research is informed by a moral economy perspective (Thompson, 1971; Scott, 1976) which builds on ideas from notions of lay morality (Sayer, 2011) and moral injury (Honneth, 1995). This hybrid approach helps identify the material and non-material dimensions of exclusion and the corresponding moral charge of the subjects�€™ struggles and responses against these harms. Building on the emergent literature centring on the moral and ethical dimensions of the exclusionary harms against undocumented migrants, the thesis contributes both theoretical and empirical grounding for explaining how various forms of exclusion can be morally injurious: they violate the legitimate and normative expectations of individuals. The study also shows how certain practices and strategies of action can be explained by people�€™s desire to prevent, respond, or remedy their experiences of moral injury. Emphasising a context-sensitive approach to exclusion, the study further identifies the moral repertoires (both universal and local) that underscore the migrants�€™ varied capacities to ignore, anticipate, manage, channel, defy, or recover from the impacts of exclusion in their everyday lives.

Language-capable robots may inadvertently weaken human moral norms

Abstract: Previous research in moral psychology and human-robot interaction has shown that technology shapes human morality, and research in human-robot interaction has shown that humans naturally perceive robots as moral agents. Accordingly, we propose that language-capable autonomous robots are uniquely positioned among technologies to significantly impact human morality. We therefore argue that it is imperative that language-capable robots behave according to human moral norms and communicate in such a way that their intention to adhere to those norms is clear. Unfortunately, the design of current natural language oriented robot architectures enables certain architectural components to circumvent or preempt those architectures' moral reasoning capabilities. In this paper, we show how this may occur, using clarification request generation in current dialog systems as a motivating example. Furthermore, we present experimental evidence that the types of behavior exhibited by current approaches to clarification request generation can cause robots to (1) miscommunicate their moral intentions and (2) weaken humans' perceptions of moral norms within the current context. This work strengthens previous preliminary findings, and does so within an experimental paradigm that provides increased external and ecological validity over earlier approaches.

Psychology and morality of political extremists: evidence from Twitter language analysis of alt-right and Antifa

Abstract: The recent rise of the political extremism in Western countries has spurred renewed interest in the psychological and moral appeal of political extremism. Empirical support for the psychological explanation using surveys has been limited by lack of access to extremist groups, while field studies have missed psychological measures and failed to compare extremists with contrast groups. We revisit the debate over the psychological and moral appeal of extremism in the U.S. context by analyzing Twitter data of 10,000 political extremists and comparing their text-based psychological constructs with those of 5000 liberal and 5000 conservative users. The results reveal that extremists show a lower positive emotion and a higher negative emotion than partisan users, but their differences in certainty is not significant. In addition, while left-wing extremists express more language indicative of anxiety than liberals, right-wing extremists express lower anxiety than conservatives. Moreover, our results mostly lend support to Moral Foundations Theory for partisan users and extend it to the political extremists. With the exception of ingroup loyalty, we found evidences supporting the Moral Foundations Theory among left- and right-wing extremists. However, we found no evidence for elevated moral foundations among political extremists.