Value (ethics)

About: Value (ethics) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 21347 publications have been published within this topic receiving 461372 citations.

There Is No Alternative

Abstract: This is a theoretical and practical interrogation of how the post-political has come to dominate governance. We are told that we live in a 'post-ideological' era - that we have moved 'beyond Left and Right' and that we are 'all in it together'. Democracy has been reduced to the consensual administration of economic necessity. How can we make sense of this form of depoliticisation? How does it manifest itself in different spheres of social life? And in what ways is it being challenged or subverted? Contributors to this volume respond to these questions through a wide-ranging critical engagement with the concept of the post-political developed by Chantal Mouffe, Jacques Ranciere, Slavoj Zizek, Alain Badiou and others. It gives an overview of the literature on the post-political for people approaching the field for the first time: its value and limits, its internal tensions and the possibility of creative syntheses with other approaches. It empirically analyses the post-political in relation to a diverse set of interconnected themes. It works within 3 key spheres of post-politicisation: urban governance, political ecology and international development. It exposes the constitutive antagonisms and sites of resistance in post-political governance. It assesses the reality and limitations of emancipatory political projects.

Mind and Madness in Ancient Greece: The Classical Roots of Modern Psychiatry

Abstract: Classical scholars, albeit with reluctance in some cases, now grant that the ancient Greeks were capable of irrational behavior. Psychiatrists and psychotherapists survey and quarry the rich deposits of Greek myth and literature for material that may throw light on the problems of the twentieth-century psyche. A recent book by a psychiatrist, Dr. Bennett Simon, takes a further step. As others have done, he studies the behavior of the ancient Greeks from Homer to Plato in the light of modern psychotherapy and psychoanalysis; but on the basis of his study of Homer and Plato, he also makes certain proposals for the theory and practice of psychotherapy and for the solution of problems, particularly those concerned with the relationship between the psychoanalytic and social psychiatric models of healing. Accordingly, Simon's book raises two kinds of questions for the reader: Does it throw light on the ancient Greeks, and are his proposals for his professional colleagues likely to be of any value to them? The answers to the questions are entirely independent: however perceptive his reading of ancient authors may be, his practical proposals for healing might be unacceptable or impracticable, and a complete misunderstanding of the ancient Greeks might yet yield theory and practice of great value to the psychotherapist and psychiatrist. In fact, with the qualifications to be expressed below, Simon as a student of the classics is an amateur only in the best, etymological sense of the word. However classical scholars may evaluate his psychoanalytic interpretations, in most cases he has an accurate and sensitive understanding of the primary, surface sense of the texts he is interpreting. He is sometimes led astray, however, by supposing a widespread Greek attitude to be a quirk of the author he is reading. Simon divides his work into five parts: "Themes in the Study of the Mind," "The Poetic Model," "The Philosophical Model," "The Medical Model," and "Models of Therapy." The arguments are detailed and complex throughout, and even a long review cannot consider all the points that are raised. I have chosen to discuss those which seem likely to be of most interest to the readers of this journal. * A review of: Bennett Simon, Mind and Madness in Ancient Greece: The Classical Roots of Modern Psychiatry (Ithaca, N.Y., and London: Cornell University Press, 1978), pp. 336, $17.50 (cloth); $9.95 (paper).

Ethical Managerial Behaviour as an Antecedent of Organizational Social Capital

Abstract: There is a need of further research to understand how social capital in the organization can be fostered. Existing literature focuses on the design of reciprocity norms, procedures and stability employment practices as the main levers of social capital in the workplace. Complementary to these mechanisms, this paper explores the impact of ethical managerial behaviour on the development of social capital. We argue that a managerial behaviour based on the true concern for the well-being of employees, as well as their motivational and ethical development, can be particularly important for the generation of social capital in the organization. It is suggested that manager’s behaviour should be based on three principles: following exemplary behaviour, helping the employees to value the consequences of their actions in other persons, and not betraying employee’s trust. When the manager conforms to those principles, he can ease the process through which employees develop associability and identification-based trust with the firm, the two main components of ‹Organizational Social Capital’. Bringing ethics into the debate of social capital creation seems to us fundamental, as social capital in the firm is likely to be influenced by the ethical and motivational development of its members.

From System to Story: An Alternative Pattern for Rationality in Ethics

Abstract: In the interest of securing a rational foundation for morality, contemporary ethical theory has ignored or rejected the significance of narrative for ethical reflection It is our contention that this has been a profound mistake, resulting in a distorted account of moral experience Furthermore, the attempt to portray practical reason as independent of narrative contexts has made it difficult to assess the value which convictions characteristic of Christians or Jews might have for moral existence As a result, we have lost sight of the ways these traditions might help us deal with the moral issues raised by modern science and medicine1