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Showing papers on "Value (ethics) published in 1982"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Work is the social process of shaping and transforming the material and social worlds, creating people as social beings as they create value It is that activity by which people become who they are Class is its structure, production its consequence, capital its congealed form as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Sexuality is to feminism what work is to marxism: that which is most one's own, yet most taken away Marxist theory argues that society is fundamentally constructed of the relations people form as they do and make things needed to survive humanly Work is the social process of shaping and transforming the material and social worlds, creating people as social beings as they create value It is that activity by which people become who they are Class is its structure, production its consequence, capital its congealed form, and control its issue

737 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that positive accounting theories are also normative and value-laden in that they usually mask a conservative ideological bias in their accounting policy implications, and they use an alternative philosophical position (of Historical Materialism) together with a historical review of the concept of value to illustrate the partisan role played by theories and theoreticians in questions concerning social control, social conflict and social order; and last, some indications of alternative (radical) approaches to accounting policy.
Abstract: “Positive”, “descriptive” and “empirical” theories are frequently promoted as being more realistic, factual and relevant than normative approaches. This paper argues that “positive” or “empirical” theories are also normative and value-laden in that they usually mask a conservative ideological bias in their accounting policy implications. We argue that labels such as “positive” and “empirical” emanate from a Realist theory of knowledge; a wholly inadequate epistemological basis for a social science. We use an alternative philosophical position (of Historical Materialism) together with a historical review of the concept of value to illustrate first, the partisan role played by theories and theoreticians in questions concerning social control, social conflict and social order; second, the ideologically conservative underpinnings of positive accounting theories; and last, some indications of alternative (radical) approaches to accounting policy.

641 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that estimates based on the human capital approach--reformulated using a willingness-to-pay criterion--produce the only clear, consistent, and objective values for use in cost-benefit analyses of policies affecting risks to life.
Abstract: Human capital estimates of the economic value of life have been routinely used in the past to perform cost-benefit analyses of health programs. Recently, however, serious questions have been raised concerning the conceptual basis for valuing human life by applying these estimates. Most economists writing on these issues tend to agree that a more conceptually correct method to value risks to human life in cost-benefit analyses would be based on individuals.' "willingness to pay" for small changes in their probability of survival. Attempts to implement the willingness-to-pay approach using survey responses or revealed-preference estimates have produced a confusing array of values fraught with statistical problems and measurement difficulties. As a result, economists have searched for a link between willingness to pay and standard human capital estimates and have found that for most individuals a lower bound for valuing risks to life can be based on their willingness to pay to avoid the expected economic los...

253 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, an alternative theory of value change is presented, contrasting Inglehart's "needs theory" approach with a "functional constraints" theoretic construct, and it is demonstrated that these two subdimensions have sharply contrasting properties in both their causal origins and behavioral prop...
Abstract: Ronald Inglehart has demonstrated the important political and behavioral implications of value change in advanced industrial societies. In an effort to enhance our understanding of this politically relevant “silent revolution,” an alternate theory of value change is presented, contrasting Inglehart's “needs theory” approach with a “functional constraints” theoretic construct. It is then argued that both kinds of value change are taking place, the first a change in the priorities attached to economic as opposed to noneconomic, value issues as measured by a materialism-nonmaterialism scale, and the second a change in basic social value preferences as measured by an authoritarian-libertarian scale. It is further argued that Inglehart's acquisitive-postbourgeois value scale combines both of these value priority and value preference dimensions. Relying primarily on Japanese data, it is demonstrated that these two subdimensions have sharply contrasting properties in both their causal origins and behavioral prop...

195 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Piskijakirja as mentioned in this paper argued that the history of the last half-century of constitutional law is largely an exploration of exactly these political morality, and that this is of major importance in arguments about whether the original intention of the Framers requires, for example, abolishing racial discrimination, or capital punishment.
Abstract: and a concrete intention here: the delegate intends to prohibit discrimination in whatever in fact is of fundamental interest and also intends not to prohibit segregated schools. These are not isolated, discrete intentions; our descriptions, we might say, describe the same intention in different ways. But it matters very much which description a theory of legislative intention accepts as canonical. If we accept the first description, then a judge who wishes to follow the delegate's intentions, but who believes that education is a matter of fundamental interest, will hold segregation unconstitutional. If we accept the second, he will not. The choice between the two descriptions cannot be made by any further reflection about what an intention really is. It must be made by deciding that one rather than the other description is more appropriate in virtue of the best theory of representative democracy or on some other openly political ground. (I might add that no compelling argument has yet been produced, so far as I am aware, in favor of deferring to a delegate's more concrete intentions, and that this is of major importance in arguments about whether the "original intention" of the Framers requires, for example, abolishing racial discrimination, or capital punishment.) 546 547 O PISKIJAKIRJA TO 2002 When we consider the common-law problems of interpretation, the author's intention theory shows in an even poorer light. The problems are not simply evidentiary. Perhaps we can discover what was "in the mind" of all the judges who decided cases about accidents at one time or another in our legal history. We might also discover (or speculate) about the psychodynamic or economic or social explanations of why each judge thought what he or she did. No doubt the result of all this research (or speculation) would be a mass of psychological data essentially different for each of the past judges included in the study, and order could be brought into the mass, if at all, only through statistical summaries about which proportion of judges in which historical period probably held which opinion and was more or less subject to which influence. But this mass, even tamed by statistical summary, would be of no more help to the judge trying to answer the question of what the prior decisions, taken as a whole, really come to than the parallel information would be to one of our chain novelists trying to decide what novel the novelists earlier in the chain had collectively written. That judgment, in each case, requires a fresh exercise of interpretation which is neither brute historical research nor a clean-slate expression of how things ideally ought to be. A judge who believed in the importance of discerning an author's intention might try to escape these problems by selecting one particular judge or a small group of judges in the past (say, the judges who decided the most recent case something like his or the case he thinks closest to his) and asking what rule that judge on group intended to lay down for the future. This would treat the particular earlier judges as legislators and so invite all the problems of statutory interpretation including the very serious problem we just noticed. Even so, it would not even escape the special problems of common-law adjudication after all, because the judge who applied this theory of interpretation would have to suppose himself entitled to look only to the intentions of the particular earlier judge or judges he had selected, and he could not suppose this unless he thought that it was the upshot of judicial practice as a whole (and not just the intentions of some other selected earlier judge) that this is what judges in his position should do. IV. Politics in Interpretation If my claims about the role of politics in legal interpretation are sound, then we should expect to find distinctly liberal or radical or conservative opinions not only about what the Constitution and laws of our nation should be but also about what they are. And this is exactly what we do find. Interpretation of the equal protection clause of the Constitution provides especially vivid examples. There can be no useful interpretation of what that clause means independent of some theory about what political equality is and how far equality is required by justice, and the history of the last half-century of constitutional law is largely an exploration of exactly these issues of political morality, Conservative lawyers argued steadily (though not consistently) in favor of an author's intentions style of interpreting this clause, and they accused others, who used a different style with more egalitarian results, of inventing rather than interpreting law. But this was bluster meant to hide the role their own political convictions played in their choice of interpretive style, and the great legal debates over the equal protection clause would have been more illuminating if it had been more widely recognized that reliance on political theory is not a corruption of interpretation but part of what interpretation means. Should politics play any comparable role in literary and other artistic interpretation? We have become used to the idea of the politics of interpretation. Stanley Fish, particularly, has promoted a theory of interpretation which supposes that contests between rival schools of literary interpretation are more political than argumentative: rival professoriates in search of dominion. And of course it is a truism of the sociology of literature, and not merely of the Marxist contribution to that discipline, that fashion in interpretation is sensitive to and ex. presses more general political and economic structures. These important claims are external: they touch the causes of the rise of this or that approach to literature and interpretation. We are now concerned with the internal question, about politics in rather than the politics of interpretation.9 How far can principles of political morality actually count as arguments for a particular interpretation of a particular work or for a general approach to artistic interpretation? There are many possibilities and many of them are parasitic on claims developed or in these essays. It was said that our commitment to feminism, or our fidelity to nation, or our dissatisfaction with the rise of the New Right, ought to influence our evaluation and appreciation of literature. Indeed it was the general (though not unanimous) sense of the conference that professional criticism must be faulted for its inattention to such political issues. But if our convictions about these particular political issues count in deciding how good some novel or play or poem is, then they must also count in deciding, among particular 9 See Politics of Interpretation, 9 CRITICAL INQUIRY I (1982) 548 549 O PISKIJAKIRJA TO 2002 interpretations of these works, which is the best interpretation. Or so they must if my argument is sound. We might also explore a more indirect connection between aesthetic and political theory. Any comprehensive theory of art is likely to have, at its center, some epistemological thesis, some set of views about the relations that hold among experience, self-consciousness, and the perception or formation of values. If it assigns self-discovery any role in art, it will need a theory of personal identity adequate to mark off the boundaries of a person from his or her circumstances, and from other persons, or at least to deny the reality of any such boundaries. It seems likely that any comprehensive theory of social justice will also have roots in convictions about these or very closely related issues. Liberalism, for example, which assigns great importance to autonomy, may depend upon a particular picture of the role that judgments of value play in people's lives; it may depend on the thesis that people's convictions about value are beliefs, open to argument and review, rather than simply the givens of personality, fixed by genetic and social causes. And any political theory that gives an important place to equality also requires assumptions about the boundaries of persons, because it must distinguish between treating people as equals and changing them into different people. It may be a sensible project, at least, to inquire whether there are not particular philosophical bases shared by particular aesthetic and particular political theories so that we can properly speak of a liberal or Marxist or perfectionist or totalitarian aesthetics, for example, in that sense. Common questions and problems hardly guarantee this, of course. It would be necessary to see, for example, whether liberalism can indeed be traced, as many philosophers have supposed, back into a discrete epistemological base, different from that of other political theories, and then ask whether that discrete base could be carried forward into aesthetic theory and there yield a distinctive interpretive style. I have no good idea that this project could be successful, and I end simply by acknowledging my sense that politics, art, and law are united, somehow, in philosophy.

151 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors found that with development, the old-age security value of the child decreases, which appears to be a key process contributing to lower fertility as well as to the modification of values concerning the place of a child and the care of the aged in society.
Abstract: Some of the findings of the nine-country "Value of Children Study" pertaining to the perceived value of children in providing old-age security to their parents are presented. To what extent this value is attributed by parents to their children and what benefits are expected from children were assessed in the context of socioeconomic development. Specifically, it was found that with development, the old-age security value of the child decreases, which appears to be a key process contributing to lower fertility as well as to the modification of values concerning the place of the child and the care of the aged in society. Thus, the value attributed to the child forms an explanatory link at the individual level between development and declining fertility.

142 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper initiated a colloquy in the Chapel Hill area with the intent of identifying the value conflicts and ethical issues germane to the academic profession, where the focus has been on the ethical dilemmas intrinsic to a professional role, or what Bill May has usefully termed "quandary ethics."
Abstract: Several years ago my colleague Larry Churchill and I initiated a colloquy in the Chapel Hill area the intent of which was to identify the value conflicts and ethical issues germane to the academic profession. Our orientation was consistent with that employed in law, business, and medicine, where the focus has been on the ethical dilemmas intrinsic to a professional role, or what Bill May has usefully termed "quandary ethics." That is, what are the bases of choice to be employed by academic professionals faced with conflicting values?

90 citations


Book
10 Sep 1982
TL;DR: Hartshorne as mentioned in this paper has set himself the task of formulating the idea of deity "to preserve perhaps even increase, its religious value, while yet avoiding the contradictions which seem inseparable from the notion of customarily defined." This is a brilliant attempt to redefine problems that have long challenged the Western world in its search for understanding both God and man.
Abstract: Charles Hartshorne has set himself the task of formulating the idea of deity "to preserve perhaps even increase, its religious value, while yet avoiding the contradictions which seem inseparable from the idea of customarily defined." This is a brilliant attempt to redefine problems that have long challenged the Western world in its search for understanding both God and man. "The compact, closely reasoned book employs a skill in logic reminiscent of scholasticism at its best to refute traditional notions, scholastic and otherwise, of divine absoluteness, and to expound a conception of God which is both free of contradiction and religiously adequate. The position taken is described by Professor Hartshorne as surrelativism, or panentheism, and these terms indicate the two major emphases of the volume...He who follows its precise logic with the alertness it demands will have a clarifying and enriching experience."-S. Paul Schiling, Journal of Bible and Religion "In what respects is God absolute and in what respects relative? Or is it meaningless to say that he is both? In a rigorously analytical study Professor Hartshorne explains why he thinks both statements are necessary...One comes from this book with new confidence in the ability of philosophy to attack religious problems and, through careful analysis, to reveal what as alone conceivable must be true. "-J.S. Bixler, Review of Religion "Hartshorne's work is a major achievement in religious thought because it strives to clear away errors that have been insuperable obstacles to religious search."-Henry N. Wieman, The Philosophical Review "This book is not merely theoretical, as might be supposed; it has its practical application to the larger social issues of our time, including the problem of democracy."-Jay William Hudson, Christian Register

74 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an ecological model of valuing is proposed, which is set in an evolutionary context, and natural value in its relation to consciousness is examined as an epiphenomenon, an echo, an emergent, an entrance and an education, with emphasis on the latter categories.
Abstract: Prevailing accounts of natural values as the subjective response of the human mind are reviewed and contested. Discoveries in the physical sciences tempt us to strip the reality away from many native-range qualities, including values, but discoveries in the biological sciences counterbalance this by finding sophisticated structures and selective processes in earthen nature. On the one hand, all human knowing and valuing contain subjective components, being theory-laden. On the other hand, in ordinary natural affairs, in scientific knowing, and in valuing, we achieve some objective knowing of the world, agreeably with and mediated by the subjective coefficient. An ecological model of valuing is proposed, which is set in an evolutionary context. Natural value in its relation to consciousness is examined as an epiphenomenon, an echo, an emergent, an entrance, and an education, with emphasis on the latter categories. An account of intrinsic and instrumental natural value is related both to natural objects, life forms and land forms, and to experiencing subjects, extending the ecological model. Ethical imperatives follow from this redescription of natural value and the valuing process.

62 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this context, Howard Brotz's (1980) refreshing article on the muddled state of Canadian multiculturalism policy is a welcome contrast to the usual tributes as discussed by the authors, and some ideas which suggest that the Canadian policy of multiculturalism is not only muddled but misconceived.
Abstract: Ideologies are ill-founded beliefs which are often uncritically held by those whose interests are furthered by such justifications. For reasonable people, ideologies are stifling because they discourage what is essential for a balanced view the judicious consideration of alternative ideas and evidence. In this context, Howard Brotz's (1980) refreshing article on the muddled state of Canadian multiculturalism policy is a welcome contrast to the usual tributes. Following Brotz, we wish to introduce some ideas which suggest that the Canadian policy of multiculturalism is not only muddled but misconceived. Brotz's central point, that the ambiguous use of 'culture' confuses rather than clarifies discussions of multiculturalism, is well taken. Unfortunately, by juxtaposing 'culture' and 'civilization,' he does not focus on a more important distinction between 'culture' and 'social structure.' Though most human behaviour is influenced by both cultural and structural forces, separation of these components is necessary for an appraisal of the multiculturalism policy. Kornhauser identifies the essence of these two concepts: 'Culture ... is restricted to the realm of meaning; it refers to the shared meanings by which a people give order, expression, and value to common experiences.... In the grand tradition of cultural analysis, the distinctively cultural refers to those symbols by which a people apprehend and endow experience with ultimate human significance.... If culture is manifested in those aspects of behaviour enjoined by ideal patterns of belief, social structure is manifested in those aspects of behaviour enjoined by patterns of interrelationship among social positions. Social structure refers to the stabilization of cooperative efforts to achieve goals, by means of the differentiation of a social unit according to positions characterized by a set of activities, resources, and links to other positions and collectivities' (1978:6-7, emphasis added). Culture, then, represents a shared symbolic blueprint which guides action on an ideal course and gives life meaning. In contrast,

BookDOI
01 Jan 1982
TL;DR: Human Subjects Research as mentioned in this paper is no "philosophical tome on the ethics and moral dilemmas of human subjects." But it does not pretend or aspire to be, and researchers will value its explicit description of techniques for conducting unimpeachable research.
Abstract: its highly practical approach attractive, and researchers will value its explicit description of techniques for conducting unimpeachable research. Although nowhere near as sophisticated and comprehensive as Robert Levine's Ethics and Regulation of Clinical Research (Urban & Schwarzenberg, 1981), it does not pretend or aspire to be. As the preface states, Human Subjects Research is no "philosophical tome on the ethics and moral dilemmas of

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results offer qualified support for the existence of generic value orientations as revealed by public attitudes toward legal abortion, suicide, euthanasia, and capital punishment.
Abstract: Opinion trends in this country indicate sharp divisions in public sentiment over a number of life-taking actions. While legal abortion and capital punishment clearly head a list, a number of other issues have gained national attention in recent years. The present paper explores the structure of belief systems giving rise to normative conflicts of this kind. Of particular interest is the notion of a "pro-life" or other generic life orientation (e.g., the alleged "right-to-die" orientation of those who favor "mercy killings" in the case of terminally ill patients) as a possible explanation for public attitudes toward specific issues such as suicide and euthanasia. The present analysis assesses the empirical claims associated with such a model. The results offer qualified support for the existence of generic value orientations as revealed by public attitudes toward legal abortion, suicide, euthanasia, and capital punishment. Language: en

Book
01 Jan 1982
TL;DR: Arapahoe Politics as discussed by the authors was the winner of the American Society for Ethnohistory's Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin Award as best ethnohistorical book of 1982.
Abstract: "This important, seminal work has been impressively researched and extremely well written. Fowler has effectively combined the fruits of intensive fieldwork with an eleven-year study of primary ethnohistorical documents." - "Journal of American History" "Destined to be a major study of a Plains Indian tribe." - "Choice" "Scholars of the Northern Plains and the Arapahoe people will find this work of long-standing value. Historians and anthropologists, especially those who combine the historical with fieldwork, will undoubtedly use Fowler's book as a model for comparing similar works in the future." - "Western Historical Quarterly" "This book clearly deserves to become a model for modern research in American Indian Studies. Without any waving of banners and shouting of slogans it leaps far ahead of earlier acculturation studies by shifting the focus to strategies of ethnic survival." - E. Adamson Hoebel, Plains Anthropologist The Northern Arapahoes of the Wind River Reservation contradict many of the generalizations made about political change among native plains people. Loretta Fowler explores how, in response to the realities of domination by Americans, the Arapahoes have avoided serious factional divisions and have succeeded in legitimizing new authority through the creation and use of effective political symbols. "Arapahoe Politics" was the winner of the American Society for Ethnohistory's Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin Award as best ethnohistorical book of 1982.

Book ChapterDOI
Hilary Putnam1
TL;DR: In this paper, the hostess made a remark that stuck in my mind that she envied the Iranians for their intense faith in Islam, and that science has taught us that the universe is an uncaring machine.
Abstract: Several years ago I was a guest at a dinner party at which the hostess made a remark that stuck in my mind. It was just after the taking of the American embassy in Iran, and we were all rather upset and worried about the fate of the hostages. After a while, my hostess said something to the effect that she envied, or almost envied, the consolation that their intense faith in Islam must give the Iranian people, and that we are in a disconsolate position because “science has taught us that the universe is an uncaring machine.”

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The third quarter or so of this paper discusses considerations of the appropriateness of decision mobilizing and accounting for support, leading, rules, including sub-decisions about which rule and supervising, and reviewing and evaluating ought or ought not to be used as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Student unrest and the dissatisfaction of ac- literature of economics and philosophic value tivists with the performance of "the establish- theory includes such scholars as Adam Smith, ment" shook our society to its roots in the late John S. Mill, Henry Sidgwick, Jeremy Bentham, 1960s and early 1970s, as underlying values and Karl Marx, and Vilfredo Pareto. Currently, accepted concepts of right and wrong were crit- Nobel Laureate Kenneth Arrow can claim icized. Agriculture did not escape and is still philosophic status on the basis of his work on widely criticized. Agro-ethics was born. Phrases social choices and individual preferences, while sufficient to indicate the extent of the current the late C. I. Lewis, Professor Emeritus at Colconcern about agro-ethics include: animal rights, umbia University, could have been classified as environmental ethics, recombinant DNA, hard an economist because of his conception of righttomatoes/hard times, the export of our soil, ness as optimal and wrongness as non-optimal. energy ethics, Nestle and the multi-nationals, Land-grant universities and their colleges of feeding the world's hungry, the plight of the agriculture accept responsibility for producing small farm, helping the poorest of the poor, useful information and even recommendations farmer-adapted technology, small is beautiful, for solutions for practical problems facing agand who controls U.S. agriculture. riculture. Thus, agro-ethics, as conceived above, Ethics is conceived here as being evaluative of is an integral part of the activities of land-grant decisions about right and wrong actions and of agricultural colleges. Within these colleges, dedecision processes. It follows, then, that ethics is partments of agricultural economics have a key the study, among other things, of rightness and logical role to play because of the long-standing wrongness as well as goodness and badness and, close connection between economics and the hence, of decisions and decision processes philosophic sub-disciplines of ethics and phil(Runes, p. 98). So conceived, agro-ethics has to osophic value theory. do with the adequacy of information, as well as In this paper, I examine decision making or the appropriateness of rules followed to process problem solving in terms of the kinds of research, information into decisions about what ought or extension, and teaching practical in colleges of ought not to be done about agricultural problems. agriculture, the kinds of knowledge acquired, As such, it is also concerned with knowledge of and the underlying philosophies that facilitate goodness and badness as well as positivistic and/or constrain our agro-ethical activities. The knowledge. Involved, in addition, are ethical third quarter or so of this paper discusses considerations of the appropriateness of decision mobilizing and accounting for support, leading, rules, including sub-decisions about which rule and supervising, and reviewing and evaluating ought or ought not to be used. such activities; in short, it deals with administraAgro-ethics could also involve a code of con- tion. The paper concludes with a short summary duct for agriculturalists such as has developed of requirements for improving decision-making for the legal and medical professions. While such (agro-ethical) research, extension, and teaching codes are important, this paper deals with an in colleges of agriculture. equally or more important role for ethics-that of clarifying what various value theories and philosophies of science have to say about making

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article explored some of the procedures that the international community has used to respond to the dual pressures for change brought on by rapid technological development and the promulgation of the New International Economic Order.
Abstract: International law needs to respond to the dual pressures for change brought on by rapid technological development and the promulgation of the “New International Economic Order.” While a number of major international negotiations have been mounted in recent years to respond to these pressures, all of them have failed to meet expectations. The value of international law in shaping and stabilizing international behavior will certainly diminish unless the performance of these international negotiations is improved or other methods for effectuating change are found. It is the purpose of this article to explore some of the procedures that the international community has used to respond to these pressures and to suggest areas for improvement or further exploration.

Journal ArticleDOI
Samuel C. Heilman1
TL;DR: The history of Orthodoxy has been studied in a sociologically-minded manner by as discussed by the authors. But their efforts are not, strictly speaking, historical in that area, but rather, suggest a way of considering some of the history of the Orthodoxy.
Abstract: Among Jews, the Orthodox have often seemed to stand out because of their putative adherence to halakha, the strict pathways of Jewish law. Compared to their more liberal counterparts, they have seemed singlemindedly dedicated to an unchanging tradition. Yet anyone who has looked more closely at those who since the nineteenth century have claimed to be "Orthodox" has quickly discovered that what appears from the distance of unfamiliarity to be one face turns out upon closer examination to have a variety of aspects. To put it another way, those walking along the halakhic path have not always agreed on precisely where it could take them. Some remained convinced that the old ways could lead to a new age while others trusted the tradition to be able to take them to the essential core of parochial Jewish life. In what follows, I shall try to sketch these various trands or faces of Orthodoxy. My efforts are not, strictly speaking historical. Others are far more competent in that area. Rather, I want to suggest a way of sociologically considering some of the history of Orthodoxy. A sense of the centrality and abiding value of Judaism and the Jewish community was from the beginning part of the reaction to the enlightenment and emancipation by Jews who in contrast to the Reformers were labelled "Orthodox." In the face of the changes occurring in the western world surrounding them, tradition-oriented Jews tried to hold onto what they considered the meaningful, divinely-inspired order of life that was represented in the term, "Torah." Yet it was precisely this effort, to hold onto the past in an atomosphere that championed change, that resulted in fundamental transformations of Orthodox Judaism. The realities of the new world order were undeniable. Even the miost

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Sep 1982
TL;DR: The New Welfare Economics is associated with the attempt to rid social welfare judgments of interpersonal comparisons of utility as mentioned in this paper, but the term "New" is misleading by today's standard and the majority of economists still scorn the glaring interpersonal comparison of the Old Welfare Economists of the Edgeworth and Pigou vintage.
Abstract: The New Welfare Economics is associated with the attempt to rid social welfare judgments of interpersonal comparisons of utility 1. However, the term "New" is misleading by today's standard. It is true that perhaps the majority of economists still scorn the glaring interpersonal comparisons of the Old Welfare Economists of the Edgeworth and Pigou vintage as mixing "value judgments" with scientific analysis 2. But those who work in the field of social choice have increasingly realized that interpersonal comparison of cardinal utility is inevitable if some reasonable social choice is to be made, even if we go along with the questionable rejection (Little, 1952; Samuelson, 1967) of Arrow's (1951, 1963) inter-profile framework admitting alternative sets of individual preferences, and confine welfare economics to a single set of individual preferences (Kemp and Ng, 1976, Parks 1976, Hammond 1976, Roberts, 1980 a, 1980 b, 1980 c). More generally, first-class economists now freely use frameworks with interpersonal cardinal utilities in their anal

Journal ArticleDOI
Karl E. Weick1
TL;DR: The value of social science supposedly derives from what it doubts; those doubts, however, may be its downfall [Siu, 1968: 365-366] as mentioned in this paper. But this is not the case.
Abstract: The value of social science supposedly derives from what it doubts; those doubts, however, may be its downfall [Siu, 1968: 365-366].

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a decision-theoretic problem called Newcomb's problem is presented, where a decision maker (e.g., the monetary authority) must make one of several decisions in such a way that its payoff is affected by whether or not its action was anticipated by another rational agent with good predictive powers.
Abstract: Muth advanced the rational expectations hypothesis that agents predict the value of endogenous variables on the basis of the "relevant economic theory" of the phenomena in question. As long as there is a unique relevant theory, no ambiguity exists as to what is a rational expectation. But what happens when there is more than one relevant economic theory? In this case, unless we know which theory an agent believes, "the" rational expectation is not defined. This ambiguity takes on increased importance in the debate over policy-effectiveness. Sargent and Wallace [10] have argued that if the public holds rational expectations concerning the monetary authority's actions, systematic monetary policy will be unable to affect the value of any real variables in the economy. In this paper we demonstrate by presenting a recently discovered decision-theoretic problem called Newcomb's problem [2] that if a decision maker (e.g., the monetary authority) must make one of several decisions in such a way that its payoff is affected by whether or not its action was anticipated by another rational agent with good predictive powers, then one uniquely best rational course of action or monetary policy may not exist.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The essence of the humanities is a spirit or an attitude toward humanity as discussed by the authors, which is a way of expressing the individual as autonomous and at the same time bound, in the ligatures of language and history, to humankind across time and throughout the world.
Abstract: The essence of the humanities is a spirit or an attitude toward humanity. They show how the individual is autonomous and at the same time bound, in the ligatures of language and history, to humankind across time and throughout the world. The humanities are an important measure of the values and aspirations of any society. Intensity and breadth in the perception of life and power and richness in works of the imagination betoken a people alive as moral and aesthetic beings, citizens in the fullest sense. They base their education on sustaining principles of personal enrichment and civic responsibility. They are sensitive to beauty and aware of their cultural heritage. They can approach questions of value, no matter how complex, with intelligence and goodwill. They can use their scientific and technical achievements responsibly because they see the connections among science, technology, and humanity.1


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Two recent trends in medical education, the growth of interest in biomedical ethics and the examination of psychiatry's status in medicine, have important implications for psychiatry and educators are needed to bring a clinical perspective to bear on ethics instruction.
Abstract: Two recent trends in medical education, the growth of interest in biomedical ethics and the examination of psychiatry's status in medicine, have important implications for psychiatry. Educators are needed to bring a clinical perspective to bear on ethics instruction, yet psychiatrists risk missing this opportunity. Psychiatrists are uniquely suited to contribute because of their expertise in three areas: an understanding of the affective, nonrational components in ethical thought and behavior, a developmental perspective regarding personal morality, and an appreciation of the rootedness of ethics in the social ethos. Problems with contemporary ethical models of informed consent illustrate the value of psychiatry's contribution.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This remark from Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism has a rather poignant ring in the 1980s as mentioned in this paper, calling up a time, the 1950s, when criticism along with the other social sciences seemed ready to emancipate itself from ideology, ready to establish itself as an autonomous discipline free from contamination by "extrinsic" approaches, willing to abandon questions of value and taste in favor of a neutral, systematic, scientific meth-
Abstract: This remark from Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism has a rather poignant ring in the 1980s. It calls up a time, the 1950s, when criticism, along with the other social sciences, seemed ready to emancipate itself from ideology, ready to establish itself as an autonomous discipline free from contamination by "extrinsic" approaches, ready to abandon questions of value and taste in favor of a neutral, systematic, scientific meth-

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that the work ethic of hard work and perseverance declined in younger salespeople and a difference in work values between younger and older salespeople could indicate the presence of a generation gap in a national industrial firm.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of values inculcated during the process of scientific training versus the situational context in which scientists perform their occupational role was investigated. But no support is found for the argument that scientists abandon scientific norms and adopt organizational perspectives and goals once they leave the university, and the methodological grounds for the contradiction between the conclusions of this and previous studies are discussed and an interpretation of the findings is suggested.
Abstract: THIS PAPER ADDRESSES itself to the controversy concerning the effect of values inculcated during the process of scientific training versus the situational context in which scientists perform their occupational role. No support is found for the argument that scientists abandon scientific norms and adopt organizational perspectives and goals once they leave the university. Log linear methods of analysis are applied to data obtained from a sample of Soviet and American immigrant scientists in Israel. The analysis shows that a full and extended scientific socialization (i.e. holding a Ph.D. degree) is a dominant determinant of scientists' value orientations, overriding the influence of the institutional setting in which they do research. The methodological grounds for the contradiction between the conclusions of this and previous studies are discussed and an interpretation of the findings is suggested. A fundamental and long-standing controversy in sociology concerns the question of whether attitudes are shaped by a process of socialization in which shared normative motivations are internalized by individuals, or whether it is the objective conditions of life-situations which determine the nature of evaluations and interests. In the most general terms this is the well-known and still debated "values versus interests" dichotomy (for a recent discussion see Warner, 1978). On a more empirical level, this issue may be approached by examining the relative importance of acquired norms as compared with situational demands and by identifying the main factors associated with the intensity of these influences. In this paper we shall deal with one particular area pertaining to the general controversy delineated above; it concerns the effect of professional socialization as compared with the impact of organizational structure in which occupational roles are performed. More specifically, we examine the relative influence of the process of training for science and of work situations on scientists' orientations. This question has been raised and investigated mostly by British sociologists challenging the "normative approach" in the sociology of science (for example, Mulkay, 1976; Barnes, 1971; Cotgrove and Box, 1970; Sklair, 1973). The main target of their criticism is the "ethos of science" as originally defined by Robert Merton (Merton, 1942). It is claimed that scientists frequently do not behave in accordance with the prescriptions of this normative system, but rather adapt to the rules and requirements of the environment or institutional settings in which they happen to be located (Becker, 1964). For instance, many scientists do not aspire to contribute to general scientific knowledge and accept the restrictions put on publishing the results of their research; some would rather be promoted within their organization than gain recognition by the scientific community; and not all expect to have freedom to choose the subjects of their research projects. Most of these data have been drawn from studies on scientists' attitudes and performance in industry (Cotgrove and Box, 1970; Ellis, 1969; Abrahamson, 1964, Hill, 1974). In principle, the non-academic, industrial setting provides an excellent framework for testing the situational adjustment hypothesis or the "instability" of internalized norms in changing situations (Barnes, 1971). University scientists presumably do not confront this kind of problem since they perform their occupational roles in the same type of institution in which they have been trained. The question is whether scientists in industry, government or business adhere to the values and norms that have been inculcated in the course of their training in universities, or conform with those prescribed by their work organizations, which may be different from and sometimes incompatible with the proclaimed imperatives of science. It should be emphasized that the present study is limited to the normative level, that is, it explores the value-orientations of scientists, not their actual behavior.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1982-Quest
TL;DR: A number of writers have claimed that sport is somehow “unreal,” though it is not always clear what they mean by "unreal". But sport is as real as anything else as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: A number of writers have claimed that sport is somehow “unreal,” though it is not always clear what they mean by “unreal.” Thus different meanings of “real” and “unreal” are distinguished in an attempt to show that, in various senses, sport is as real as anything else. For example, some people argue that sport is unreal because it is unproductive, hence unimportant; but unproductive things may have value in and of themselves. Sport also appears to be illusory because its existence depends on the adoption of constitutive rules; but in this respect it is no different from other social institutions. Although sport is not important in the sense of being one of the necessities of life, there are several reasons for ranking it among the higher human goods.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1982
TL;DR: The neighborhood has recently been idealized in popular culture as a bygone urban Utopia, suitable for nostalgic reminiscence and panegyric, not as an arena for hardheaded political action.
Abstract: Alienation and community are central concepts of the modern political and social sciences. Each term is laden with value implications; each is open to a confusing array of applications. Although many studies and policy papers have employed the community or the neighborhood as their focal point, no single definition of either term has won universal acceptance. Many definitions that work well in a single theoretical construct have proven difficult in practice. The neighborhood has recently been idealized in popular culture as a bygone urban Utopia, suitable for nostalgic reminiscence and panegyric, not as an arena for hardheaded political action. We have a number of useful and/or attractive definitions, none of which may be reliably employed in all circumstances. How one uses the terms obviously depends on what one wishes to do with them.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1982
TL;DR: In this article, an ethical decision concerning the balance between the interests of the subject and the humane or scientific value of the research is made, and the ethical values must characterize not only applications but also the means of obtaining knowledge.
Abstract: Psychologists are committed to increasing the understanding that people have of their own and others’ behaviour in the belief that this understanding ameliorates the human condition and enhances human dignity. These ethical values must characterize not only applications of psychological knowledge but also the means of obtaining knowledge. Performing an investigation with human subjects may occasionally require an ethical decision concerning the balance between the interests of the subject and the humane or scientific value of the research.