Moral bioenhancement and the utilitarian catastrophe.

Science.gov (United States)

Agar, Nicholas

2015-01-01

This article challenges recent calls for moral bioenhancement-the use of biomedical means, including pharmacological and genetic methods, to increase the moral value of our actions or characters. It responds to those who take a practical interest in moral bioenhancement. I argue that moral bioenhancement is unlikely to be a good response to the extinction threats of climate change and weapons of mass destruction. Rather than alleviating those problems, it is likely to aggravate them. We should expect biomedical means to generate piecemeal enhancements of human morality. These predictably strengthen some contributors to moral judgment while leaving others comparatively unaffected. This unbalanced enhancement differs from the manner of improvement that typically results from sustained reflection. It is likely to make its subjects worse rather than better at moral reasoning.

Morally responsible decision making in networked military operations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boshuijzen-Van Burken, C.G.; Van Bezooijen, B.

2015-01-01

Introducing responsible innovations on the battlefield requires a rethinking of social and psychological aspects of moral decision making on the battlefield, and in particular, including how these aspects are influenced by technology. In this chapter, the social aspects of moral decision making are

The micropolitics of responsibility vis-à-vis autonomy: parental accounts of childhood genetic testing and (non)disclosure.

Science.gov (United States)

Arribas-Ayllon, Michael; Sarangi, Srikant; Clarke, Angus

2008-03-01

Genetic testing and (non)disclosure of genetic information present ethical and moral dilemmas for the management of parental responsibility vis-à-vis the child's autonomy. Ethical guidelines aimed at professionals currently seek to defer childhood testing where there is no clear medical or psychosocial benefit. This version of autonomy is derived from a bioethical paradigm which brackets the individual rights and capacities of the child. In this paper we focus on situated parental accounts of responsibility/autonomy to understand the complex forms of relational work -i.e. the micropolitics of balancing rights and responsibilities - involving a range of inherited genetic disorders. Interviews (n= 20) were conducted with parents whose genetic condition may have had consequences for their children. Using rhetorical discourse analysis, we show how parents draw upon a number of rhetorical/discoursal devices to produce accounts where genetic responsibility is actually or potentially transmitted to the child. We identify three kinds of accounting practice: (1) aligned responsibility; (2) deferred responsibility; and (3) misaligned responsibility. Each of these practices demonstrates how parents position themselves responsibly by foregrounding figures and events onto which the child's autonomy is selectively mapped. Rather than simple representations, we regard these accounts as complex moral performances that seek alignment with broader bioethical discourses.

Mastering moral misery: Emotional and coping responses to intragroup morality (vs. competence) evaluations.

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van der Lee, Romy; Ellemers, Naomi; Scheepers, Daan

2016-01-01

In social groups, individuals are often confronted with evaluations of their behaviour by other group members and are motivated to adapt their own behaviour accordingly. In two studies we examine emotional responses towards, and perceived coping abilities with, morality vs. competence evaluations individuals receive from other in-group members. In Study 1, we show that evaluations of one's immoral behaviour primarily induce guilt, whereas evaluations of incompetent behaviour raise anger. In Study 2, we elaborate on the psychological process associated with these emotional responses, and demonstrate that evaluations of immorality, compared to incompetence, diminish group members' perceived coping abilities, which in turn intensifies feelings of guilt. However, when anticipating an opportunity to restore one's self-image as a moral group member, perceived coping abilities are increased and the experience of guilt is alleviated. Together these studies demonstrate how group members can overcome their moral misery when restoring their self-image.

Moral landscapes and everyday life in families with Huntington´s Disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huniche, Lotte

2011-01-01

This article is concerned with understanding moral aspects of everyday life in families with Huntington’s Disease (HD). It draws on findings from an empirical research project in Denmark in 1998e2002 involving multi-sited ethnography to argue that medical genetics provides a particular framework...... for conducting life in an HD family. A framework that implies that being informed and making use of genetic services expresses greater moral responsibility than conducting life without drawing on these resources. The moral imperative of engagement in medical genetics is challenged here by two pieces...... nor the imagined solutions of medical genetics are as unproblematic and straightforward as might be thought. To assist our understanding of the moral aspects of living with severe familial disease, the ethnographic analysis is aligned with bioethical reflections that place the concrete concerns...

Moral responsibility for (un)healthy behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Rebecca C H

2013-11-01

Combatting chronic, lifestyle-related disease has become a healthcare priority in the developed world. The role personal responsibility should play in healthcare provision has growing pertinence given the growing significance of individual lifestyle choices for health. Media reporting focussing on the 'bad behaviour' of individuals suffering lifestyle-related disease, and policies aimed at encouraging 'responsibilisation' in healthcare highlight the importance of understanding the scope of responsibility ascriptions in this context. Research into the social determinants of health and psychological mechanisms of health behaviour could undermine some commonly held and tacit assumptions about the moral responsibility of agents for the sorts of lifestyles they adopt. I use Philip Petit's conception of freedom as 'fitness to be held responsible' to consider the significance of some of this evidence for assessing the moral responsibility of agents. I propose that, in some cases, factors outside the agent's control may influence behaviour in such a way as to undermine her freedom along the three dimensions described by Pettit: freedom of action; a sense of identification with one's actions; and whether one's social position renders one vulnerable to pressure from more powerful others.

tDCS Over DLPFC Leads to Less Utilitarian Response in Moral-Personal Judgment.

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Zheng, Haoli; Lu, Xinbo; Huang, Daqiang

2018-01-01

The profound nature of moral judgment has been discussed and debated for centuries. When facing the trade-off between pursuing moral rights and seeking better consequences, most people make different moral choices between two kinds of dilemmas. Such differences were explained by the dual-process theory involving an automatic emotional response and a controlled application of utilitarian decision-rules. In neurocognitive studies, the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been demonstrated to play an important role in cognitive "rational" control processes in moral dilemmas. However, the profile of results across studies is not entirely consistent. Although one transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study revealed that disrupting the right DLPFC led to less utilitarian responses, other TMS studies indicated that inhibition of the right DLPFC led to more utilitarian choices. Moreover, the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ) is essential for its function of integrating belief and intention in moral judgment, which is related to the emotional process according to the dual-process theory. Relatively few studies have reported the causal relationship between TPJ and participants' moral responses, especially in moral dilemmas. In the present study, we aimed to demonstrate a direct link between the neural and behavioral results by application of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the bilateral DLPFC or TPJ of our participants. We observed that activating the right DLPFC as well as inhibiting the left DLPFC led to less utilitarian judgments, especially in moral-personal conditions, indicating that the right DLPFC plays an essential role, not only through its function of moral reasoning but also through its information integrating process in moral judgments. It was also revealed that altering the excitability of the bilateral TPJ using tDCS negligibly altered the moral response in non-moral, moral-impersonal and moral-personal dilemmas

tDCS Over DLPFC Leads to Less Utilitarian Response in Moral-Personal Judgment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haoli Zheng

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The profound nature of moral judgment has been discussed and debated for centuries. When facing the trade-off between pursuing moral rights and seeking better consequences, most people make different moral choices between two kinds of dilemmas. Such differences were explained by the dual-process theory involving an automatic emotional response and a controlled application of utilitarian decision-rules. In neurocognitive studies, the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC has been demonstrated to play an important role in cognitive “rational” control processes in moral dilemmas. However, the profile of results across studies is not entirely consistent. Although one transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS study revealed that disrupting the right DLPFC led to less utilitarian responses, other TMS studies indicated that inhibition of the right DLPFC led to more utilitarian choices. Moreover, the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ is essential for its function of integrating belief and intention in moral judgment, which is related to the emotional process according to the dual-process theory. Relatively few studies have reported the causal relationship between TPJ and participants' moral responses, especially in moral dilemmas. In the present study, we aimed to demonstrate a direct link between the neural and behavioral results by application of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS in the bilateral DLPFC or TPJ of our participants. We observed that activating the right DLPFC as well as inhibiting the left DLPFC led to less utilitarian judgments, especially in moral-personal conditions, indicating that the right DLPFC plays an essential role, not only through its function of moral reasoning but also through its information integrating process in moral judgments. It was also revealed that altering the excitability of the bilateral TPJ using tDCS negligibly altered the moral response in non-moral, moral-impersonal and moral

Moral Emotions and Morals

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Rocío Orsi Portalo

2006-12-01

Full Text Available My aim in this paper is to explore the ambivalent role played by the so called moral emotions in moral thinking, overall when the concept of responsibility is concerned. In the first part of this paper I show how moral emotions such as guilt and shame can appear in circumstances that are not under the agent’s control, and therefore the agent could be though of free or responsibility for them. By contrast, in the second part of this essay I put how the absence of moral emotions, or their twisted development, makes as well the flourishing of individual morality impossible.

Moral Development: Making the Connection between Choices, Responsibility and Self-Esteem.

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Walsh, Julia A.

This paper discusses strategies and techniques that early childhood educators can use to encourage self-esteem and responsibility in young children. It examines Kohlberg's theory of moral values, which states that children progress through three stages of moral development: (1) the pre-moral stage, based on rewards and punishments; (2) the moral…

Moral Reasoning in Genetics Education

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van der Zande, Paul; Brekelmans, Mieke; Vermunt, Jan D.; Waarlo, Arend Jan

2009-01-01

Recent neuropsychological research suggests that intuition and emotion play a role in our reasoning when we are confronted with moral dilemmas. Incorporating intuition and emotion into moral reflection is a rather new idea in the educational world, where rational reasoning is preferred. To develop a teaching and learning strategy to address this…

Moral landscapes and everyday life in families with Huntington's disease: aligning ethnographic description and bioethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Huniche, Lotte

2011-06-01

This article is concerned with understanding moral aspects of everyday life in families with Huntington's Disease (HD). It draws on findings from an empirical research project in Denmark in 1998-2002 involving multi-sited ethnography to argue that medical genetics provides a particular framework for conducting life in an HD family. A framework that implies that being informed and making use of genetic services expresses greater moral responsibility than conducting life without drawing on these resources. The moral imperative of engagement in medical genetics is challenged here by two pieces of ethnographic analysis. The first concerns a person who, as described by a family member, does not engage with medical genetics but who brings to the fore other culturally legitimate concerns, priorities and areas of responsibility. The second figures a genetic counselling session where neither the knowledge nor the imagined solutions of medical genetics are as unproblematic and straightforward as might be thought. To assist our understanding of the moral aspects of living with severe familial disease, the ethnographic analysis is aligned with bioethical reflections that place the concrete concerns of those personally involved centre stage in the development of theoretical stances that aim to assist reflections in practice. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Moral Responsibilities to Future Generations : A Comparative Study on Human Rights Theory and Confucianism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Teng, F.

2018-01-01

In this dissertation I have explored the moral justification for intergenerational responsibilities in the context of climate change. It looks for reasons, from different moral traditions, which may explain why we should accept the idea of moral responsibilities to future generations and what do we

Disgust and Anger Relate to Different Aggressive Responses to Moral Violations

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Molho, Catherine; Tybur, Joshua M.; Güler, Ezgi; Balliet, Daniel; Hofmann, Wilhelm

2017-01-01

In response to the same moral violation, some people report experiencing anger, and others report feeling disgust. Do differences in emotional responses to moral violations reflect idiosyncratic differences in the communication of outrage, or do they reflect differences in motivational states? Whereas equivalence accounts suggest that anger and disgust are interchangeable expressions of condemnation, sociofunctional accounts suggest that they have distinct antecedents and consequences. We tested these accounts by investigating whether anger and disgust vary depending on the costs imposed by moral violations and whether they differentially correspond with aggressive tendencies. Results across four studies favor a sociofunctional account: When the target of a moral violation shifts from the self to another person, anger decreases, but disgust increases. Whereas anger is associated with high-cost, direct aggression, disgust is associated with less costly indirect aggression. Finally, whether the target of a moral violation is the self or another person influences direct aggression partially via anger and influences indirect aggression partially via disgust. PMID:28485700

Ethics or Morals: Understanding Students' Values Related to Genetic Tests on Humans

Science.gov (United States)

Lindahl, Mats Gunnar

2009-01-01

To make meaning of scientific knowledge in such a way that concepts and values of the life-world are not threatened is difficult for students and laymen. Ethics and morals pertaining to the use of genetic tests for hereditary diseases have been investigated and discussed by educators, anthropologists, medical doctors and philosophers giving, at…

Mastering moral misery : Emotional and coping responses to intragroup morality (vs. competence) evaluations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Lee, Romy; Ellemers, Naomi; Scheepers, Daan

2016-01-01

In social groups, individuals are often confronted with evaluations of their behaviour by other group members and are motivated to adapt their own behaviour accordingly. In two studies we examine emotional responses towards, and perceived coping abilities with, morality vs. competence evaluations

The Relation Between Policies concerning Corporate Social Responsibility and Philosophical Moral Theories

OpenAIRE

Frederiksen, Claus S.

2009-01-01

This paper examines the relation between policies concerning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and philosophical moral theories. The objective is to determine which moral theories form the basis for CSR policies. Are they based on ethical egoism, libertarianism, utilitarianism or some kind of common-sense morality? To address this issue, I conducted an empirical investigation examining the relation between moral theories and CSR policies, in companies engaged in CSR. Based ...

Moral responsibility and the problem of many hands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poel, van de I.R.; Royakkers, L.M.M.; Zwart, S.D.

2015-01-01

When many people are involved in an activity, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to pinpoint who is morally responsible for what, a phenomenon known as the 'problem of many hands.' This term is increasingly used to describe problems with attributing individual responsibility in collective

Interpersonal relationship modulates the behavioral and neural responses during moral decision-making.

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Zhan, Youlong; Xiao, Xiao; Li, Jin; Liu, Lei; Chen, Jie; Fan, Wei; Zhong, Yiping

2018-04-13

Interpersonal relationship (IR) may play an important role in moral decision-making. However, it is little known about how IR influences neural and behavioral responses during moral decision-making. The present study utilized the dilemma scenario-priming paradigm to examine the time course of the different intimate IR (friend, acquaintance, or stranger) impacts on the emotional and cognitive processes during moral decision-making. Results showed that participants made less altruistic decisions with increased decision times and experienced more unpleasure for strangers versus friends and acquaintances. Moreover, at the early moral intuitional process, there was no significance difference observed at N1 under different intimate IR; however, at the emotional process, larger P260 which reflects the dilemma conflicts and negative emotional responses, was elicited when moral decision-making for strangers; at the later cognitive process, such difference was also observed at LPP (300-450 ms) which indexes the later top-down cognitive appraisal and reasoning processes. However, such differences were not observed between friends and acquaintances. Results indicate that IR modulates the emotional and cognitive processes during moral decision-making, suggesting that the closer the IR is, the weaker the dilemma conflicts and emotional responses are, and the more efficient this conflicts are solved. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Testing Moral Foundation Theory: Are Specific Moral Emotions Elicited by Specific Moral Transgressions?

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Landmann, Helen; Hess, Ursula

2018-01-01

Moral foundation theory posits that specific moral transgressions elicit specific moral emotions. To test this claim, participants (N = 195) were asked to rate their emotions in response to moral violation vignettes. We found that compassion and disgust were associated with care and purity respectively as predicted by moral foundation theory.…

Experience of dealing with moral responsibility as a mother with cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Elmberger, Eva; Bolund, Christina; Lützén, Kim

2005-05-01

This study explored how women with a diagnosis of cancer (lymphoma) deal with moral concerns related to their responsibility as parents. Ten women with cancer and who had children living at home were interviewed. The interviews were analysed according to the constant comparative method used in grounded theory. In order to provide a focus for the analysis, the ethics of care and the concept of mothering were used as sensitizing concepts. The core concept 'experience of dealing with moral responsibility of being a parent with cancer by redefining oneself as a mother was identified. The processes involved were: interrupted mothering; facing the life-threatening illness and children's reactions; striving to be a good mother; attempting to deal with moral responsibility; and coming to terms with being a mother.

Marriage, Sexuality and Moral Responsibility among the Tongu Mafi People of Ghana 1

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Godson Ahortor

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Marriage is considered a very important institution in traditional societies in Africa. It has moral and social responsibilities. Beyond the social function, this paper makes the claim that notions of marriage life, sexuality and moral responsibility have their foundations in indigenous soteriological beliefs and worldviews. A cultural and religious analysis of connubial practices of the Tongu Mafi people of Ghana reveals that marriage rites and responsibilities are not defined without reference to soteriological beliefs and worldviews of the people. The paper concludes that sanctions and corrective rituals against breaches of moral responsibility relating to marriage and sexuality usually have soteriological implications

To delegate or not to delegate : Care robots, moral agency and moral responsibility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Wynsberghe, Aimee

2014-01-01

The use of robots in healthcare is on the rise, from robots to assist with lifting, bathing and feeding, to robots used for social companionship. Given that the tradition and professionalization of medicine and nursing has been grounded on the fact that care providers can assume moral responsibility

The Debate on the Moral Responsibilities of Online Service Providers.

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Taddeo, Mariarosaria; Floridi, Luciano

2016-12-01

Online service providers (OSPs)-such as AOL, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter-significantly shape the informational environment (infosphere) and influence users' experiences and interactions within it. There is a general agreement on the centrality of OSPs in information societies, but little consensus about what principles should shape their moral responsibilities and practices. In this article, we analyse the main contributions to the debate on the moral responsibilities of OSPs. By endorsing the method of the levels of abstract (LoAs), we first analyse the moral responsibilities of OSPs in the web (LoA IN ). These concern the management of online information, which includes information filtering, Internet censorship, the circulation of harmful content, and the implementation and fostering of human rights (including privacy). We then consider the moral responsibilities ascribed to OSPs on the web (LoA ON ) and focus on the existing legal regulation of access to users' data. The overall analysis provides an overview of the current state of the debate and highlights two main results. First, topics related to OSPs' public role-especially their gatekeeping function, their corporate social responsibilities, and their role in implementing and fostering human rights-have acquired increasing relevance in the specialised literature. Second, there is a lack of an ethical framework that can (a) define OSPs' responsibilities, and (b) provide the fundamental sharable principles necessary to guide OSPs' conduct within the multicultural and international context in which they operate. This article contributes to the ethical framework necessary to deal with (a) and (b) by endorsing a LoA enabling the definition of the responsibilities of OSPs with respect to the well-being of the infosphere and of the entities inhabiting it (LoA For ).

Ethics or Morals: Understanding Students' Values Related to Genetic Tests on Humans

Science.gov (United States)

Lindahl, Mats Gunnar

2009-10-01

To make meaning of scientific knowledge in such a way that concepts and values of the life-world are not threatened is difficult for students and laymen. Ethics and morals pertaining to the use of genetic tests for hereditary diseases have been investigated and discussed by educators, anthropologists, medical doctors and philosophers giving, at least in part, diverging results. This study investigates how students explain and understand their argumentation about dilemmas concerning gene testing for the purpose to reduce hereditary diseases. Thirteen students were interviewed about their views on this issue. Qualitative analysis was done primarily by relating students’ argumentation to their movements between ethics and morals as opposing poles. Students used either objective or subjective knowledge but had difficulties to integrate them. They tried to negotiate ethic arguments using utilitarian motives and medical knowledge with sympathy or irrational and personal arguments. They discussed the embryo’s moral status to decide if it was replaceable in a social group or not. The educational implications of the students’ use of knowledge in personal arguments are discussed.

Ethical Justification of Moral Norms in Scientific Research: Scientists' External Responsibilities

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Mehmet AKÖZER

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Scientists' moral responsibilities have become a focus for the scientific community over the postwar decades. International and regional networks of leading academic bodies have responded to a widely perceived increase in scientific fraud and the ensued loss of public trust in science during the 1980s, and initiated a discussion with a view to codifying good practice in research. While scientists' “external” responsibilities towards society and the humankind have been variously addressed, codes drafted since then mainly dwell on problems of misconduct concerning scientists' “internal” responsibilities towards science and to the scientific community. They also reflect an ethical pluralism, which declines justifying moral standards in research with reference to universal ethical principles. However, the need for such justification has been first recognized decades ago, during the Doctor's Trial in Nuremberg, where the shortcomings of the established ethos of science and the inadequacy of the Hippocratic ethics in safeguarding human rights in research had become flagrant, with the resultant Nuremberg Code of 1947 introducing a human rights perspective into Hippocratic ethics. This paper argues for the necessity of an integral ethical justification of scientists' both external and inner responsibilities, as put down or assumed by internationally acclaimed codes of conduct. Such necessity is validated by the evidence that a historical current to monopolize ethical thinking in the name of science and nullify philosophical ethics lies at the root of an anti–morality that relativized human worth and virtually legitimized human rights violations in scientific practice. Kantian ethics based on humans' absolute inner worth, and Popperian epistemology rooted in respect for truth and for humans as rational beings, pledge an ethical justification of moral norms in science so as to reinforce the latter against intrusions of anti–morality. The paper

Reconstructing responsibility and moral agency in world politics

OpenAIRE

Hoover, J.

2012-01-01

Assigning responsibility is increasingly common in world politics, from theUnited Nation’s assertion that sovereignty entails a ‘responsibility to protect’to the International Criminal Court’s attempts to hold individuals responsiblefor international crimes. This development is welcome but problematic as themodel of moral agency that our contemporary practices of responsibility arebased on leads to a number of problematic consequences that impede effortsto make world politics more just. In pa...

Is There a Moral Skill?

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Gotz, Ignacio L.

1989-01-01

The nature of skill, distinguished from habit, is sketched. Moral skill is defined as the skill, born of genetically rooted talent, which masterminds subsidiary skills into moral action (action conforming to certain moral principles). Training this skill is possible, but results will be uneven because talent varies. (IAH)

Good for God? Religious motivation reduces perceived responsibility for and morality of good deeds.

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Gervais, Will M

2014-08-01

Many people view religion as a crucial source of morality. However, 6 experiments (total N = 1,078) revealed that good deeds are perceived as less moral if they are performed for religious reasons. Religiously motivated acts were seen as less moral than the exact same acts performed for other reasons (Experiments 1-2 and 6). Religious motivations also reduced attributions of intention and responsibility (Experiments 3-6), an effect that fully mediated the effect of religious motivations on perceived morality (Experiment 6). The effects were not explained by different perceptions of motivation orientation (i.e., intrinsic vs. extrinsic) across conditions (Experiment 4) and also were evident when religious upbringing led to an intuitive moral response (Experiment 5). Effects generalized across religious and nonreligious participants. When viewing a religiously motivated good deed, people infer that actually helping others is, in part, a side effect of other motivations rather than an end in itself. Thus, religiously motivated actors are seen as less responsible than secular actors for their good deeds, and their helping behavior is viewed as less moral than identical good deeds performed for either unclear or secular motivations. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Mitigating the Tyranny, a Moral Responsibility

Science.gov (United States)

2009-12-01

to their society they must be physically and emotionally equipped to handle life outside the warzone; it is, therefore, the military’s obligation...Moral Responsibilities of Victors in War, Warfare studies AY10 Coursebook , edited by Sharon McBride, (Maxwell AFB, Al: Air University Press, October... Coursebook , edited by Sharon McBride, page156-167. Maxwell AFB, AL [or Ala.]: Air University Press, October 2009. Myhr, Kjell-Ivar. ―Norsk F-16 pilot

Good tax governance: A matter of moral responsibility and transparency

OpenAIRE

Gribnau, Hans; Jallai, Ave-Geidi

2017-01-01

Multinational corporations’ tax practices are hotly debated nowadays. Multinationals are accused of not paying their fair share of taxes. Apparently, acting within the limits set by law is not sufficient to qualify as morally responsible behavior anymore. This article offers ethical reflection on the current debate.The general public typically evaluates (aggressive) tax planning in moral terms rather than legal terms. Therefore, multinationals need to reflect on their tax planning strategy ne...

Functional and clinical neuroanatomy of morality.

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Fumagalli, Manuela; Priori, Alberto

2012-07-01

Morality is among the most sophisticated features of human judgement, behaviour and, ultimately, mind. An individual who behaves immorally may violate ethical rules and civil rights, and may threaten others' individual liberty, sometimes becoming violent and aggressive. In recent years, neuroscience has shown a growing interest in human morality, and has advanced our understanding of the cognitive and emotional processes involved in moral decisions, their anatomical substrates and the neurology of abnormal moral behaviour. In this article, we review research findings that have provided a key insight into the functional and clinical neuroanatomy of the brain areas involved in normal and abnormal moral behaviour. The 'moral brain' consists of a large functional network including both cortical and subcortical anatomical structures. Because morality is a complex process, some of these brain structures share their neural circuits with those controlling other behavioural processes, such as emotions and theory of mind. Among the anatomical structures implicated in morality are the frontal, temporal and cingulate cortices. The prefrontal cortex regulates activity in subcortical emotional centres, planning and supervising moral decisions, and when its functionality is altered may lead to impulsive aggression. The temporal lobe is involved in theory of mind and its dysfunction is often implicated in violent psychopathy. The cingulate cortex mediates the conflict between the emotional and the rational components of moral reasoning. Other important structures contributing to moral behaviour include the subcortical nuclei such as the amygdala, hippocampus and basal ganglia. Brain areas participating in moral processing can be influenced also by genetic, endocrine and environmental factors. Hormones can modulate moral behaviour through their effects on the brain. Finally, genetic polymorphisms can predispose to aggressivity and violence, arguing for a genetic

Scaling ethics up and down: moral craft in clinical genetics and in global health research.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Michael

2015-01-01

This paper engages with the question of what it is to 'do good medical ethics' in two ways. It begins with an exploration of what it might mean to say that health professionals practise good medical ethics as part of practising good ethical medicine. Using the example of the Genethics Club, a well-established national ethics forum for genetics professionals in the UK, the paper develops an account of moral craftsmanship grounded in the concepts of shared moral commitments and practices, moral work, ethics and living morality. In the light of this discussion, the paper goes on to consider what it might mean for a specialist in medical ethics, a bioethicist, to do good medical ethics. Finally, a research agenda focusing on the challenges of thinking about good medical ethics in a global context and a proposal for an innovative approach to bioethics methodology is outlined. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Promoting Prosociality: Testing the Potential of Moral Elevation and Moral Outrage

OpenAIRE

Van de Vyver, Julie

2016-01-01

This thesis examines the effects of two specific moral emotions - moral elevation (experienced when witnessing a moral virtue) and moral outrage (experienced when witnessing a moral transgression) - on prosociality. While ample research has examined emotions such as sympathy and guilt, much less is known about moral elevation and moral outrage. Yet, their separate strands of research suggest that both moral elevation and moral outrage are promising emotions for promoting prosocial responses. ...

Children’s moral emotion attribution in the happy victimizer task: the role of response format

OpenAIRE

Gummerum, Michaela; López Pérez, Belén; Ambrona, Tamara; Rodríguez-Cano, Sonia; Dellaria, Giulia; Smith, Gary; Wilson, Ellie

2016-01-01

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in The Journal of Genetic Psychology on 2016 available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00221325.2015.1103694 Previous research in the happy victimizer tradition indicated that preschool and early elementary school children attribute positive emotions to the violator of a moral norm, whereas older children attribute negative (moral) emotions. Cognitive and motivational processes have been suggested t...

Stress alters personal moral decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Youssef, Farid F; Dookeeram, Karine; Basdeo, Vasant; Francis, Emmanuel; Doman, Mekaeel; Mamed, Danielle; Maloo, Stefan; Degannes, Joel; Dobo, Linda; Ditshotlo, Phatsimo; Legall, George

2012-04-01

While early studies of moral decision making highlighted the role of rational, conscious executive processes involving frontal lobe activation more recent work has suggested that emotions and gut reactions have a key part to play in moral reasoning. Given that stress can activate many of the same brain regions that are important for and connected to brain centres involved in emotional processing we sought to evaluate if stress could influence moral decision making. Sixty-five undergraduate volunteers were randomly assigned to control (n=33) and experimental groups (n=32). The latter underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and induction of stress was assessed by measurement of salivary cortisol levels. Subjects were then required to provide a response to thirty moral dilemmas via a computer interface that recorded both their decision and reaction time. Three types of dilemmas were used: non-moral, impersonal moral and personal moral. Using a binary logistic model there were no significant predicators of utilitarian response in non-moral and impersonal moral dilemmas. However the stressed group and females were found to predict utilitarian responses to personal moral dilemmas. When comparing percentage utilitarian responses there were no significant differences noted for the non-moral and impersonal moral dilemmas but the stressed group showed significantly less utilitarian responses compared to control subjects. The stress response was significantly negatively correlated with utilitarian responses. Females also showed significantly less utilitarian responses than males. We conclude that activation of the stress response predisposed participants to less utilitarian responses when faced with high conflict personal moral dilemmas and suggest that this offers further support for dual process theory of moral judgment. We also conclude that females tend to make less utilitarian personal moral decisions compared to males, providing further evidence that there are

Emotional engineers: toward morally responsible design.

Science.gov (United States)

Roeser, Sabine

2012-03-01

Engineers are normally seen as the archetype of people who make decisions in a rational and quantitative way. However, technological design is not value neutral. The way a technology is designed determines its possibilities, which can, for better or for worse, have consequences for human wellbeing. This leads various scholars to the claim that engineers should explicitly take into account ethical considerations. They are at the cradle of new technological developments and can thereby influence the possible risks and benefits more directly than anybody else. I have argued elsewhere that emotions are an indispensable source of ethical insight into ethical aspects of risk. In this paper I will argue that this means that engineers should also include emotional reflection into their work. This requires a new understanding of the competencies of engineers: they should not be unemotional calculators; quite the opposite, they should work to cultivate their moral emotions and sensitivity, in order to be engaged in morally responsible engineering. © The Author(s) 2010. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com

Moral distress and moral conflict in clinical ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Fourie, Carina

2015-02-01

Much research is currently being conducted on health care practitioners' experiences of moral distress, especially the experience of nurses. What moral distress is, however, is not always clearly delineated and there is some debate as to how it should be defined. This article aims to help to clarify moral distress. My methodology consists primarily of a conceptual analysis, with especial focus on Andrew Jameton's influential description of moral distress. I will identify and aim to resolve two sources of confusion about moral distress: (1) the compound nature of a narrow definition of distress which stipulates a particular cause, i.e. moral constraint, and (2) the distinction drawn between moral dilemma (or, more accurately, moral conflict) and moral distress, which implies that the two are mutually exclusive. In light of these concerns, I argue that the definition of moral distress should be revised so that moral constraint should not be a necessary condition of moral distress, and that moral conflict should be included as a potential cause of distress. Ultimately, I claim that moral distress should be understood as a specific psychological response to morally challenging situations such as those of moral constraint or moral conflict, or both. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Children's Moral Emotion Attribution in the Happy Victimizer Task: The Role of Response Format.

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Gummerum, Michaela; López-Pérez, Belén; Ambrona, Tamara; Rodríguez-Cano, Sonia; Dellaria, Giulia; Smith, Gary; Wilson, Ellie

2016-01-01

Previous research in the happy victimizer tradition indicated that preschool and early elementary school children attribute positive emotions to the violator of a moral norm, whereas older children attribute negative (moral) emotions. Cognitive and motivational processes have been suggested to underlie this developmental shift. The current research investigated whether making the happy victimizer task less cognitively demanding by providing children with alternative response formats would increase their attribution of moral emotions and moral motivation. In Study 1, 93 British children aged 4-7 years old responded to the happy victimizer questions either in a normal condition (where they spontaneously pointed with a finger), a wait condition (where they had to wait before giving their answers), or an arrow condition (where they had to point with a paper arrow). In Study 2, 40 Spanish children aged 4 years old responded to the happy victimizer task either in a normal or a wait condition. In both studies, participants' attribution of moral emotions and moral motivation was significantly higher in the conditions with alternative response formats (wait, arrow) than in the normal condition. The role of cognitive abilities for emotion attribution in the happy victimizer task is discussed.

Moral responsibility, technology, and experiences of the tragic: from Kierkegaard to offshore engineering.

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Coeckelbergh, Mark

2012-03-01

The standard response to engineering disasters like the Deepwater Horizon case is to ascribe full moral responsibility to individuals and to collectives treated as individuals. However, this approach is inappropriate since concrete action and experience in engineering contexts seldom meets the criteria of our traditional moral theories. Technological action is often distributed rather than individual or collective, we lack full control of the technology and its consequences, and we lack knowledge and are uncertain about these consequences. In this paper, I analyse these problems by employing Kierkegaardian notions of tragedy and moral responsibility in order to account for experiences of the tragic in technological action. I argue that ascription of responsibility in engineering contexts should be sensitive to personal experiences of lack of control, uncertainty, role conflicts, social dependence, and tragic choice. I conclude that this does not justify evading individual and corporate responsibility, but inspires practices of responsibility ascription that are less 'harsh' on those directly involved in technological action, that listen to their personal experiences, and that encourage them to gain more knowledge about what they are doing. © The Author(s) 2010. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com

Students' Sense of Responsibility in Event Planning: The Moral Aspect of Risk Management

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Powellson, Tina Samuel

2010-01-01

Many scholars have asserted that college should contribute to the moral development of students, developing them into people who can think and act morally (Chickering, 1969; Evans, Forney, & Guido-DiBrito, 1998; Mathaisen, 2005). This responsibility applies not only to the classroom, but to the co-curricular experience as well. The…

From moral agents to moral factors: the structural ethics approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brey, Philip A.E.; Kroes, P.; Verbeek, P.P.C.C.

2014-01-01

It has become a popular position in the philosophy of technology to claim that some or all technological artifacts can qualify as moral agents. This position has been developed to account for the moral role of technological artifacts in society and to help clarify the moral responsibility of

Good Tax Governance: A Matter of Moral Responsibility and Transparency

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Gribnau Hans J.L.M.

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Multinational corporations’ tax practices are hotly debated nowadays. Multinationals are accused of not paying their fair share of taxes. Apparently, acting within the limits set by law is not sufficient to qualify as morally responsible behavior anymore.

'My child will never initiate Ultimate Harm': an argument against moral enhancement.

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Tonkens, Ryan

2015-03-01

Recently, there has been a lot of philosophical work published on the morality of moral enhancement. One thing that tends to get overlooked in this literature is that there are many different potential methods of morally enhancing humans, and a blanket moral assessment of them may not be warranted. Here I focus on one mode of moral enhancement, namely, prenatal genetic moral enhancement, and offer a normative assessment of it. I argue that there is good reason to adopt a parent-centred perspective (as opposed to a social or state-centred perspective) towards the ethics of prenatal genetic moral enhancement, and, once we do so, that there is good reason to argue that prenatal genetic attempts at moral enhancement are morally problematic and ought not to be pursued. The main reasons for this have to do with the nature of moral enhancement research, and the idea that prospective parents are justified in not assuming that their children will be morally depraved. I leave it open as to whether other modes of morally enhancing humans fare better, morally speaking. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Dissolving the engineering moral dilemmas within the Islamic ethico-legal praxes.

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Solihu, Abdul Kabir Hussain; Ambali, Abdul Rauf

2011-03-01

The goal of responsible engineers is the creation of useful and safe technological products and commitment to public health, while respecting the autonomy of the clients and the public. Because engineers often face moral dilemma to resolve such issues, different engineers have chosen different course of actions depending on their respective moral value orientations. Islam provides a value-based mechanism rooted in the Maqasid al-Shari'ah (the objectives of Islamic law). This mechanism prioritizes some values over others and could help resolve the moral dilemmas faced in engineering. This paper introduces the Islamic interpretive-evaluative maxims to two core issues in engineering ethics: genetically modified foods and whistleblowing. The study aims primarily to provide problem-solving maxims within the Maqasid al-Shari'ah matrix through which such moral dilemmas in science and engineering could be studied and resolved.

Gender differences in responses to moral dilemmas: a process dissociation analysis.

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Friesdorf, Rebecca; Conway, Paul; Gawronski, Bertram

2015-05-01

The principle of deontology states that the morality of an action depends on its consistency with moral norms; the principle of utilitarianism implies that the morality of an action depends on its consequences. Previous research suggests that deontological judgments are shaped by affective processes, whereas utilitarian judgments are guided by cognitive processes. The current research used process dissociation (PD) to independently assess deontological and utilitarian inclinations in women and men. A meta-analytic re-analysis of 40 studies with 6,100 participants indicated that men showed a stronger preference for utilitarian over deontological judgments than women when the two principles implied conflicting decisions (d = 0.52). PD further revealed that women exhibited stronger deontological inclinations than men (d = 0.57), while men exhibited only slightly stronger utilitarian inclinations than women (d = 0.10). The findings suggest that gender differences in moral dilemma judgments are due to differences in affective responses to harm rather than cognitive evaluations of outcomes. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Good tax governance : A matter of moral responsibility and transparency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gribnau, Hans; Jallai, Ave-Geidi

2017-01-01

Multinational corporations’ tax practices are hotly debated nowadays. Multinationals are accused of not paying their fair share of taxes. Apparently, acting within the limits set by law is not sufficient to qualify as morally responsible behavior anymore. This article offers ethical reflection on

Romanian president calls for responsible, moral use of internet

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

"Romania's President Ion Iliescu, present on Tuesday (9 December) in Geneva, Switzerland, at a conference at the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) on the role of science in the IT society, said that the IT society must be based on morality in science and responsibility as citizen with regard to democracy and of peace" (2 paragraphs).

When psychopathy impairs moral judgments: neural responses during judgments about causing fear.

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Marsh, Abigail A; Cardinale, Elise M

2014-01-01

Psychopathy is a disorder characterized by reduced empathy, shallow affect and behaviors that cause victims distress, like threats, bullying and violence. Neuroimaging research in both institutionalized and community samples implicates amygdala dysfunction in the etiology of psychopathic traits. Reduced amygdala responsiveness may disrupt processing of fear-relevant stimuli like fearful facial expressions. The present study links amygdala dysfunction in response to fear-relevant stimuli to the willingness of individuals with psychopathic traits to cause fear in other people. Thirty-three healthy adult participants varying in psychopathic traits underwent whole-brain fMRI scanning while they viewed statements that selectively evoke anger, disgust, fear, happiness or sadness. During scanning, participants judged whether it is morally acceptable to make each statement to another person. Psychopathy was associated with reduced activity in right amygdala during judgments of fear-evoking statements and with more lenient moral judgments about causing fear. No group differences in amygdala function or moral judgments emerged for other emotion categories. Psychopathy was also associated with increased activity in middle frontal gyrus (BA 10) during the task. These results implicate amygdala dysfunction in impaired judgments about causing distress in psychopathy and suggest that atypical amygdala responses to fear in psychopathy extend across multiple classes of stimuli.

Moral Communities and Moral Leadership.

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Chambers, David W

2015-01-01

The American College of Dentists is embarking on a multiyear project to improve ethics in dentistry. Early indications are that the focus will be on actual moral behavior rather than theory, that we will include organizations as ethical units, and that we will focus on building moral leadership. There is little evidence that the "telling individuals how to behave" approach to ethics is having the hoped-for effect. As a profession, dentistry is based on shared trust. The public level of trust in practitioners is acceptable, but could be improved, and will need to be strengthened to reduce the risk of increasing regulation. While feedback from the way dentists and patients view ethics is generally reassuring, dentists are often at odds with patients and their colleagues over how the profesion manages itself. Individuals are an inconsistent mix of good and bad behavior, and it may be more helpful to make small improvements in the habits of all dentists than to try to take a few certifiably dishonest ones off the street. A computer simulation model of dentistry as a moral community suggests that the profession will always have the proportion of bad actors it will tolerate, that moral leadership is a difficult posture to maintain, that massive interventions to correct imbalances through education or other means will be wasted unless the system as a whole is modified, and that most dentists see no compelling benefit in changing the ethical climate of the profession because they are doing just fine. Considering organiza-tions as loci of moral behavior reveals questionable practices that otherwise remain undetected, including moral distress, fragmentation, fictitious dentists, moral fading, decoupling, responsibility shifting, and moral priming. What is most needed is not phillosophy or principles, but moral leadership.

The efficacy of teachers' responses to incidents of bullying and victimization: The mediational role of moral disengagement for bullying.

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Campaert, Kristel; Nocentini, Annalaura; Menesini, Ersilia

2017-09-01

Teachers respond differently to bullying and victimization. Socio-cognitive and moral domain theory suggest that students process teachers' behavior cognitively and that teachers' responses to incidents of bullying and victimization could affect students' level of moral disengagement. We examined the mediating effect of students' moral disengagement between types of teachers' responses to situations of bullying and victimization and individual bullying using multilevel mediation modelling. Participants were 609 students (50% boys, age M = 11.47, SD = 1.14) of central Italy, nested in 34 classes. Students rated the frequency of self-reported bullying and of teachers' responses to incidents of bullying and victimization on a 5-point Likert scale. Teachers' responses to bullying included non-intervention, mediation, group discussion, and sanctions. Teachers' responses to victimization included non-intervention, mediation, group discussion, and victim support. Results indicated that in the teachers' responses to incidents of bullying model, a significant indirect effect of non-intervention (β = .03; 95%CI [.01, .05]) and of sanctions (β = -.02; 95%CI [-.04, -.01]) on bullying through moral disengagement was found at the individual level. Similarly, in the model on teachers' responses toward victims there was a significant indirect effect through moral disengagement of non-intervention (β = .03; 95%CI [.02, .04]) and victim support (β = -.01; 95%CI [-.02, -.001]). At the class level there were no significant indirect effects. In sum, results indicated that moral disengagement is an important mediator at the individual level and suggest including teachers in anti-bullying interventions with a specific focus on their role for moral development. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Moral Judgment Reloaded: A Moral Dilemma validation study

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Julia F. Christensen

2014-07-01

Full Text Available We propose a revised set of moral dilemmas for studies on moral judgment. We selected a total of 46 moral dilemmas available in the literature and fine-tuned them in terms of four conceptual factors (Personal Force, Benefit Recipient, Evitability and Intention and methodological aspects of the dilemma formulation (word count, expression style, question formats that have been shown to influence moral judgment. Second, we obtained normative codings of arousal and valence for each dilemma showing that emotional arousal in response to moral dilemmas depends crucially on the factors Personal Force, Benefit Recipient, and Intentionality. Third, we validated the dilemma set confirming that people's moral judgment is sensitive to all four conceptual factors, and to their interactions. Results are discussed in the context of this field of research, outlining also the relevance of our RT effects for the Dual Process account of moral judgment. Finally, we suggest tentative theoretical avenues for future testing, particularly stressing the importance of the factor Intentionality in moral judgment. Additionally, due to the importance of cross-cultural studies in the quest for universals in human moral cognition, we provide the new set dilemmas in six languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Catalan and Danish. The norming values provided here refer to the Spanish dilemma set.

Moral judgment reloaded: a moral dilemma validation study

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, Julia F.; Flexas, Albert; Calabrese, Margareta; Gut, Nadine K.; Gomila, Antoni

2014-01-01

We propose a revised set of moral dilemmas for studies on moral judgment. We selected a total of 46 moral dilemmas available in the literature and fine-tuned them in terms of four conceptual factors (Personal Force, Benefit Recipient, Evitability, and Intention) and methodological aspects of the dilemma formulation (word count, expression style, question formats) that have been shown to influence moral judgment. Second, we obtained normative codings of arousal and valence for each dilemma showing that emotional arousal in response to moral dilemmas depends crucially on the factors Personal Force, Benefit Recipient, and Intentionality. Third, we validated the dilemma set confirming that people's moral judgment is sensitive to all four conceptual factors, and to their interactions. Results are discussed in the context of this field of research, outlining also the relevance of our RT effects for the Dual Process account of moral judgment. Finally, we suggest tentative theoretical avenues for future testing, particularly stressing the importance of the factor Intentionality in moral judgment. Additionally, due to the importance of cross-cultural studies in the quest for universals in human moral cognition, we provide the new set dilemmas in six languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Catalan, and Danish). The norming values provided here refer to the Spanish dilemma set. PMID:25071621

Spiritual and Moral Education: Where Does Responsibility Lie?

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Brown, Alan

1993-01-01

Contends that teachers have an essential part to play in the moral and spiritual education of students. Discusses a white paper on moral education issued by the British government. Concludes that there is no conflict between spiritual and moral education and teaching the knowledge and skills necessary for employment. (CFR)

Variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is associated with differences in moral judgment.

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Bernhard, Regan M; Chaponis, Jonathan; Siburian, Richie; Gallagher, Patience; Ransohoff, Katherine; Wikler, Daniel; Perlis, Roy H; Greene, Joshua D

2016-12-01

Moral judgments are produced through the coordinated interaction of multiple neural systems, each of which relies on a characteristic set of neurotransmitters. Genes that produce or regulate these neurotransmitters may have distinctive influences on moral judgment. Two studies examined potential genetic influences on moral judgment using dilemmas that reliably elicit competing automatic and controlled responses, generated by dissociable neural systems. Study 1 (N = 228) examined 49 common variants (SNPs) within 10 candidate genes and identified a nominal association between a polymorphism (rs237889) of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) and variation in deontological vs utilitarian moral judgment (that is, judgments favoring individual rights vs the greater good). An association was likewise observed for rs1042615 of the arginine vasopressin receptor gene (AVPR1A). Study 2 (N = 322) aimed to replicate these findings using the aforementioned dilemmas as well as a new set of structurally similar medical dilemmas. Study 2 failed to replicate the association with AVPR1A, but replicated the OXTR finding using both the original and new dilemmas. Together, these findings suggest that moral judgment is influenced by variation in the oxytocin receptor gene and, more generally, that single genetic polymorphisms can have a detectable effect on complex decision processes. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press.

Moral Understanding in the Psychopath*

Science.gov (United States)

Malatesti, Luca

2010-01-01

A pressing and difficult practical problem concerns the general issue of the right social response to offenders classified as having antisocial personality disorder. This paper approaches this general problem by focusing, from a philosophical perspective, on the still relevant but more approachable question whether psychopathic offenders are morally responsible. In particular, I investigate whether psychopaths possess moral understanding. A plausible way to approach the last question requires a satisfactory philosophical interpretation of the empirical evidence that appears to show that psychopaths fail to draw the distinction between conventional and moral norms. Specifically, I will consider a recent philosophical debate polarized between supporters of rationalist and sentimentalist accounts of moral understanding. These opponents have discussed whether the case of psychopathy offers empirical support for their account and undermine the rival view. I will argue that the available empirical data leave the outcome of this discussion indeterminate. However, this implies that both these principal theories of moral understanding, if independently motivated, would imply that psychopaths have certain deficits that might affect their moral understanding and, consequently, their moral responsibility. PMID:21151766

Effect of opponent type on moral emotions and responses to video game play.

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Lin, Shu-Fang

2011-11-01

This study suggests that fighting against different types of opponents in video games (e.g., human opponents vs. monster opponents) may lead to different emotional responses and moral judgments toward game characters. Based on Bandura's moral disengagement theory, this study proposes that shooting at monster opponents makes game players feel less guilty and judge the player-controlled character as more morally justified. An experiment was conducted in which participants played shooting games with either human opponents or monster opponents. The results show that when playing against monster opponents, participants felt both less ashamed and less guilty, reported enjoying the game more, and judged their character as more justified than participants who played against human opponents.

Moral Responsibility, Technology and Experiences of the Tragic: From Kierkegaard to Offshore Engineering.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Coeckelbergh, Mark

2010-01-01

The standard response to engineering disasters like the Deepwater Horizon case is to ascribe full moral responsibility to individuals and to collectives treated as individuals. However, this approach is inappropriate since concrete action and experience in engineering contexts seldom meets the

Moral Violations Reduce Oral Consumption

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Chan, Cindy; Van Boven, Leaf; Andrade, Eduardo B.; Ariely, Dan

2014-01-01

Consumers frequently encounter moral violations in everyday life. They watch movies and television shows about crime and deception, hear news reports of corporate fraud and tax evasion, and hear gossip about cheaters and thieves. How does exposure to moral violations influence consumption? Because moral violations arouse disgust and because disgust is an evolutionarily important signal of contamination that should provoke a multi-modal response, we hypothesize that moral violations affect a key behavioral response to disgust: reduced oral consumption. In three experiments, compared with those in control conditions, people drank less water and chocolate milk while (a) watching a film portraying the moral violations of incest, (b) writing about moral violations of cheating or theft, and (c) listening to a report about fraud and manipulation. These findings imply that “moral disgust” influences consumption in ways similar to core disgust, and thus provide evidence for the associations between moral violations, emotions, and consumer behavior. PMID:25125931

Moral Violations Reduce Oral Consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Cindy; Van Boven, Leaf; Andrade, Eduardo B; Ariely, Dan

2014-07-01

Consumers frequently encounter moral violations in everyday life. They watch movies and television shows about crime and deception, hear news reports of corporate fraud and tax evasion, and hear gossip about cheaters and thieves. How does exposure to moral violations influence consumption? Because moral violations arouse disgust and because disgust is an evolutionarily important signal of contamination that should provoke a multi-modal response, we hypothesize that moral violations affect a key behavioral response to disgust: reduced oral consumption. In three experiments, compared with those in control conditions, people drank less water and chocolate milk while (a) watching a film portraying the moral violations of incest, (b) writing about moral violations of cheating or theft, and (c) listening to a report about fraud and manipulation. These findings imply that "moral disgust" influences consumption in ways similar to core disgust, and thus provide evidence for the associations between moral violations, emotions, and consumer behavior.

Corporate Moral Duties: Consequentialism, Collective Moral Agency and the “Ought” Implies “Can” Maxim

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Leandro Martins Zanitelli

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The claim according to which corporations are morally responsible is a controversial one. At the same time, it is nowadays common to assign moral duties to companies, especially in work confronting the business and human rights issue. Can companies bear moral duties without being morally responsible? This article presents three different accounts of the duty to follow the course of action with the best consequences (consequentialist duty. The ascription of that duty to business is compatible with the claim that, by not being volitional agents, companies are not morally responsible for anything they do. The paper also addresses two possible objections against the claim that companies bear the duty of taking the course of action with the best consequences. These objections state that corporations are incapable of acting, be it in a general way (i.e. corporations do not possess the moral status of agents, be it regarding particular acts (the objection grounded on the “ought” implies “can” maxim.

Moral enhancement requires multiple virtues.

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Hughes, James J

2015-01-01

Some of the debates around the concept of moral enhancement have focused on whether the improvement of a single trait, such as empathy or intelligence, would be a good in general, or in all circumstances. All virtue theories, however, both secular and religious, have articulated multiple virtues that temper and inform one another in the development of a mature moral character. The project of moral enhancement requires a reengagement with virtue ethics and contemporary moral psychology to develop an empirically grounded model of the virtues and a fuller model of character development. Each of these virtues may be manipulable with electronic, psychopharmaceutical, and genetic interventions. A set of interdependent virtues is proposed, along with some of the research pointing to ways such virtues could be enhanced.

Is moral bioenhancement dangerous?

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Drake, Nicholas

2016-01-01

In a recent response to Persson and Savulescu's Unfit for the Future, Nicholas Agar argues that moral bioenhancement is dangerous. His grounds for this are that normal moral judgement should be privileged because it involves a balance of moral subcapacities; moral bioenhancement, Agar argues, involves the enhancement of only particular moral subcapacities, and thus upsets the balance inherent in normal moral judgement. Mistaken moral judgements, he says, are likely to result. I argue that Agar's argument fails for two reasons. First, having strength in a particular moral subcapacity does not necessarily entail a worsening of moral judgement; it can involve strength in a particular aspect of morality. Second, normal moral judgement is not sufficiently likely to be correct to be the standard by which moral judgements are measured. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

The Mismeasure of Morals: Antisocial Personality Traits Predict Utilitarian Responses to Moral Dilemmas

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Bartels, Daniel M.; Pizarro, David A.

2011-01-01

Researchers have recently argued that utilitarianism is the appropriate framework by which to evaluate moral judgment, and that individuals who endorse non-utilitarian solutions to moral dilemmas (involving active vs. passive harm) are committing an error. We report a study in which participants responded to a battery of personality assessments…

Moral identity and emotion in athletes.

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Kavussanu, Maria; Willoughby, Adrian; Ring, Christopher

2012-12-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of moral identity on physiological responses to affective pictures, namely, the startle blink reflex and pain-related evoked potential. Male (n = 48) and female (n = 46) athletes participating in contact team sports were randomly assigned to either a moral identity group or a non-moral identity group and viewed a series of unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant sport-specific pictures. During picture viewing, a noxious electrocutaneous stimulus was delivered as the startle probe and the startle blink and pain-related evoked potential were measured. Upon completion of physiological measures, participants reviewed the pictures and rated them for valence and arousal. ANOVAs revealed that participants in the moral identity group displayed larger startle blinks and smaller pain-related potentials than did those in the non-moral identity group across all picture valence categories. However, the difference in the magnitude of startle blinks between the moral and non-moral identity groups was larger in response to unpleasant than pleasant and neutral pictures. Our findings suggest that moral identity affects physiological responses to sport-specific affective pictures, thereby providing objective evidence for the link between moral identity and emotion in athletes.

Consequences, norms, and generalized inaction in moral dilemmas: The CNI model of moral decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Gawronski, Bertram; Armstrong, Joel; Conway, Paul; Friesdorf, Rebecca; Hütter, Mandy

2017-09-01

Research on moral dilemma judgments has been fundamentally shaped by the distinction between utilitarianism and deontology. According to the principle of utilitarianism, the moral status of behavioral options depends on their consequences; the principle of deontology states that the moral status of behavioral options depends on their consistency with moral norms. To identify the processes underlying utilitarian and deontological judgments, researchers have investigated responses to moral dilemmas that pit one principle against the other (e.g., trolley problem). However, the conceptual meaning of responses in this paradigm is ambiguous, because the central aspects of utilitarianism and deontology-consequences and norms-are not manipulated. We illustrate how this shortcoming undermines theoretical interpretations of empirical findings and describe an alternative approach that resolves the ambiguities of the traditional paradigm. Expanding on this approach, we present a multinomial model that allows researchers to quantify sensitivity to consequences (C), sensitivity to moral norms (N), and general preference for inaction versus action irrespective of consequences and norms (I) in responses to moral dilemmas. We present 8 studies that used this model to investigate the effects of gender, cognitive load, question framing, and psychopathy on moral dilemma judgments. The findings obtained with the proposed CNI model offer more nuanced insights into the determinants of moral dilemma judgments, calling for a reassessment of dominant theoretical assumptions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Emotional Reactions and Moral Judgment: the Effects of Morally Challenging Interactions in Military Operations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Graaff, Miriam; Schut, M; Verweij, D.E.M.; Vermetten, H.G.J.M.; Giebels, Ellen

2016-01-01

This study explores the association between different types of morally challenging interactions during military deployment and response strategies (e.g., moral justification), as well as the mediating role of moral emotions. Interviews with Dutch servicemen who participated in military operations

The UN’s moral responsibility in the ‘spill-over’ of genocide from Rwanda to the Democratic Republic of the Congo

OpenAIRE

Kovras, I.

2011-01-01

In recent years there has been growing interest in how societies and states should address past wrongdoing. Despite attention to issues of responsibility and moral reparation, however, institutional (moral) responsibility remains relatively unstudied. To this end, the article critically evaluates the UN’s moral responsibility in the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II, namely the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It argues that the UN Security Council should be hel...

Learning from moral inconsistency.

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Campbell, Richmond

2017-10-01

Moral inconsistency is an understudied phenomenon in cognitive moral psychology and deserves in depth empirical study. Moral inconsistency, as understood here, is not formal inconsistency but inconsistency in moral emotion and belief in response to particular cases. It occurs when persons treat cases as morally different that are really morally the same, even from their moral perspective. Learning to recognize and avoid such moral inconsistency in non-trivial but is a form of moral learning that complements and enhances other psychological and social mechanisms through which persons learn how to apply shared moral norms when their applications are uncertain and threaten to lapse into moral inconsistency. The same psychological process also can function to revise current moral norms when their straightforward applications are morally inconsistent with more basic moral commitments. Through this moral learning and related kinds, people can learn how to identify issues of moral priority when moral norms conflict and, when necessary, how to revise their moral norms. The recent revolution in dominant moral norms around gay sex and gay marriage in Europe and North America provides a possible illustration. When coupled with other modes of moral learning in the context of ambiguous but deeply rooted moral norms, such as those of sanctity and authority, reflection on moral inconsistency can help to justify this large-scale moral change, even among those who find gay sex, by its nature, morally repugnant. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The moral problem of worse actors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Scott Wisor

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Individuals and institutions sometimes have morally stringent reasons to not do a given action. For example, an oil company might have morally stringent reasons to refrain from providing revenue to a genocidal regime, or an engineer might have morally stringent reasons to refrain from providing her expertise in the development of weapons of mass destruction. But in some cases, if the agent does not do the action, another actor will do it with much worse consequences. For example, the oil company might know their assets will be bought by a company with worse environmental and labor practices. Or the engineer might know her position will be filled by a more ambitious and amoral engineer. I call this the moral problem of worse actors (MPWA. MPWA gives reason, at least some of the time, to consider otherwise morally impermissible actions permissible or even obligatory. On my account, doing the action in the circumstances of MPWA remains morally objectionable even if permissible or obligatory, and this brings additional moral responsibilities and obligations to the actor. Similarly, not doing the action in the circumstances of MPWA may also bring additional (but different moral responsibilities and obligations. Acknowledging MPWA creates considerable challenges, as many bad actors may appeal to it to justify morally objectionable action. In this paper, I develop a set of strategies for individuals and institutions to handle MPWA. This includes appeals to integrity and the proper attribution of expressive responsibility, regulatory responsibility, and compensatory responsibility. I also address a set of related concerns, including worries about incentivizing would-be bad actors, concerns about epistemic uncertainty, and the problem of mala in se exceptions.

The Relation Between Policies Concerning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Philosophical Moral Theories - An Empirical Investigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frederiksen, Claus Strue

2010-01-01

philosophical moral theories and the ethical content of business activities have mainly concentrated on the ethical decision-making of managers. Some of the most prominent investigations in that regard propose that managers mainly act in accordance with utilitarian moral theory (Fritzsche, D. J. and H. Becker......: 1984, Academy of Management Journal27(1), 166–175; Premeaux, S. and W. Mony: 1993, Journal of Business Ethics12, 349–357; Premeaux, S.: 2004, Journal of Business Ethics52, 269–278). I conclude that CSR policies are not based on utilitarian thinking, but instead, on some kind of common-sense morality......This article examines the relation between policies concerning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and philosophical moral theories. The objective is to determine which moral theories form the basis for CSR policies. Are they based on ethical egoism, libertarianism, utilitarianism or some kind...

'Please, sir, can I have some more?' Food, lifestyle, diets: respect and moral responsibility.

Science.gov (United States)

de Beaufort, Inez

2014-04-01

This article is about respect for food, responsibility for lifestyle and diet and responsibility for those who suffer from lack of food. After some general reflections on food, feasts, flatulence, taboos and waste, I argue that we have a responsibility to live a healthy lifestyle, but that there are also morally good reasons for taking risks with our health as we cherish other goals and values. Then I discuss situations, using the example of obesity, in which people are not free to choose their lifestyle. Governments and doctors have responsibilities in enabling people to chose healthy eating habits, e.g. by facilitating access to healthy foods and by criticizing scientifically unfounded weight loss diets. I continue to defend that we need to respect food and those who prepare it, and that we have a moral responsibility to contribute to the solution of the food gap in the world. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Moral intuitions, moral expertise, and moral reasoning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Musschenga, A.W.

2009-01-01

In this article I examine the consequences of the dominance of intuitive thinking in moral judging and deciding for the role of moral reasoning in moral education. I argue that evidence for the reliability of moral intuitions is lacking. We cannot determine when we can trust our intuitive moral

Toward a science of morality: response to Christian Miller's critique.

Science.gov (United States)

Shermer, Michael

2016-11-01

In developing a science of morality, many examples are provided not only to document the moral progress that has been made over the centuries, but also the reasons why and how this progress has been made. Instead of moralizing about human action and social problems that we find deplorable or undesirable, ever since the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment we started seeing them as problems to be solved. A science of morality begins with the discovery of rights and other moral values and emotions, starting with the recognition of the individual as an autonomous moral agent with an evolved natural desire to survive and flourish. © 2016 New York Academy of Sciences.

Atypical moral judgment following traumatic brain injury

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Angelica Muresan

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Previous research has shown an association between emotions, particularly social emotions, and moral judgments. Some studies suggested an association between blunted emotion and the utilitarian moral judgments observed in patients with prefrontal lesions. In order to investigate how prefrontal brain damage affects moral judgment, we asked a sample of 29 TBI patients (12 females and 17 males and 41 healthy participants (16 females and 25 males to judge 22 hypothetical dilemmas split into three different categories (non-moral, impersonal and personal moral. The TBI group presented a higher proportion of affirmative (utilitarian responses for personal moral dilemmas when compared to controls, suggesting an atypical pattern of utilitarian judgements. We also found a negative association between the performance on recognition of social emotions and the proportion of affirmative responses on personal moral dilemmas. These results suggested that the preference for utilitarian responses in this type of dilemmas is accompanied by difficulties in social emotion recognition. Overall, our findings suggest that deontological moral judgments are associated with normal social emotion processing and that frontal lobe plays an important role in both emotion and moral judgment.

Sociological concept of morale

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Marjanović Miloš

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The author first discusses the overall unity of the total normative regulation, from which it is separated in the late Roman empire the right, but only in the new century and the morale. There are analyzed the relationship between the moral and ethical reflection and Weber's distinction between pure ethics will (Gesinnungsethik and ethics of responsibility (Verantwortungsethik. The morale is determined by the good as the highest value, as a specific form of social norms but also as a kind of human behavior. These three definitions can be combined in an integrative approach. There are examined the dimensions of moral statements, subjective and objective side of morality, as well as the difference between morale and morality. A general notion of morale can not be defined in substantive but only in formal way . The formal definition is a constituent of general as well as of sociological concept of morale and it is related to morality as a social phenomenon. Its essence is to define the morale by specific norms, the characteristics of the internal and external mandatory (with the pricks of conscience as the most distinctive moral sanction and control exercised by the formal not institutionalized or diffuse society , and in consideration of morality as a social process (actions of people associated moral norms . The basic types of social moral process - being, education, functioning and changing of morale are described. There are briefly analyzed the influence of society to the morale and social function of morale, with special emphasis on the relationship between law and morale.

The Role of Gratitude and Moral Elevation in Moral Identity Development

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Pohling, Rico; Diessner, Rhett; Strobel, Anja

2018-01-01

Experiencing the moral emotions of gratitude and moral elevation are responses to witnessing virtuous deeds of others. Both emotions have been found to share similar features and behavioral consequences, including the stimulation of personal development. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions indicates that gratitude and elevation…

Childhood disability and parental moral responsibility in northern Vietnam

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gammeltoft, Tine

2008-01-01

a phenomenologically inspired 'intercorporeal' perspective as a conceptual alternative to 'medical' and 'social' models of disability. Through this approach I show how, in northern Vietnam, disability in children brings into question the moral integrity of their parents and how this compels parents to define...... their children's subjectivities in ways that diminish their personhood. The analysis identifies Buddhist notions of karma, everyday ethics of reciprocity, and party-state discourses of productivity as particularly important forces structuring such social responses to human impairment....

Moral Stress, Moral Practice, and Ethical Climate in Community-Based Drug-Use Research: Views From the Front Line.

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Fisher, Celia B; True, Gala; Alexander, Leslie; Fried, Adam L

2013-01-01

The role of front-line researchers, those whose responsibilities include face-to-face contact with participants, is critical to ensuring the responsible conduct of community-based drug use research. To date, there has been little empirical examination of how front-line researchers perceive the effectiveness of ethical procedures in their real-world application and the moral stress they may experience when adherence to scientific procedures appears to conflict with participant protections. This study represents a first step in applying psychological science to examine the work-related attitudes, ethics climate, and moral dilemmas experienced by a national sample of 275 front-line staff members whose responsibilities include face-to-face interaction with participants in community-based drug-use research. Using an anonymous Web-based survey we psychometrically evaluated and examined relationships among six new scales tapping moral stress (frustration in response to perceived barriers to conducting research in a morally appropriate manner); organizational ethics climate; staff support; moral practice dilemmas (perceived conflicts between scientific integrity and participant welfare); research commitment; and research mistrust. As predicted, front-line researchers who evidence a strong commitment to their role in the research process and who perceive their organizations as committed to research ethics and staff support experienced lower levels of moral stress. Front-line researchers who were distrustful of the research enterprise and frequently grappled with moral practice dilemmas reported higher levels of moral stress. Applying psychometrically reliable scales to empirically examine research ethics challenges can illuminate specific threats to scientific integrity and human subjects protections encountered by front-line staff and suggest organizational strategies for reducing moral stress and enhancing the responsible conduct of research.

Response to Marie Paz Morales' ``Influence of culture and language sensitive physics on science attitude achievement''

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Cole, Mikel Walker

2015-12-01

This response to Marie Paz Morales' "Influence of culture and language sensitive physics on science attitude achievement" explores the ideas of culturally responsive pedagogy and critical literacy to examine some implications for culturally responsive science instruction implicit in the original manuscript.

Criminals or Patients? Towards a Tragic Conception of Moral and Legal Responsibility.

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Coeckelbergh, Mark

2010-01-01

There is a gap between, on the one hand, the tragic character of human action and, on the other hand, our moral and legal conceptions of responsibility that focus on individual agency and absolute guilt. Drawing on Kierkegaard’s understanding of tragic action and engaging with contemporary discourse

Neural correlates of experienced moral emotion: an fMRI investigation of emotion in response to prejudice feedback.

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Fourie, Melike M; Thomas, Kevin G F; Amodio, David M; Warton, Christopher M R; Meintjes, Ernesta M

2014-01-01

Guilt, shame, and embarrassment are quintessential moral emotions with important regulatory functions for the individual and society. Moral emotions are, however, difficult to study with neuroimaging methods because their elicitation is more intricate than that of basic emotions. Here, using functional MRI (fMRI), we employed a novel social prejudice paradigm to examine specific brain regions associated with real-time moral emotion, focusing on guilt and related moral-negative emotions. The paradigm induced intense moral-negative emotion (primarily guilt) in 22 low-prejudice individuals through preprogrammed feedback indicating implicit prejudice against Black and disabled people. fMRI data indicated that this experience of moral-negative emotion was associated with increased activity in anterior paralimbic structures, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and anterior insula, in addition to areas associated with mentalizing, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and precuneus. Of significance was prominent conflict-related activity in the supragenual ACC, which is consistent with theories proposing an association between acute guilt and behavioral inhibition. Finally, a significant negative association between self-reported guilt and neural activity in the pregenual ACC suggested a role of self-regulatory processes in response to moral-negative affect. These findings are consistent with the multifaceted self-regulatory functions of moral-negative emotions in social behavior.

Implicit moral evaluations: A multinomial modeling approach.

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Cameron, C Daryl; Payne, B Keith; Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter; Scheffer, Julian A; Inzlicht, Michael

2017-01-01

Implicit moral evaluations-i.e., immediate, unintentional assessments of the wrongness of actions or persons-play a central role in supporting moral behavior in everyday life. Yet little research has employed methods that rigorously measure individual differences in implicit moral evaluations. In five experiments, we develop a new sequential priming measure-the Moral Categorization Task-and a multinomial model that decomposes judgment on this task into multiple component processes. These include implicit moral evaluations of moral transgression primes (Unintentional Judgment), accurate moral judgments about target actions (Intentional Judgment), and a directional tendency to judge actions as morally wrong (Response Bias). Speeded response deadlines reduced Intentional Judgment but not Unintentional Judgment (Experiment 1). Unintentional Judgment was stronger toward moral transgression primes than non-moral negative primes (Experiments 2-4). Intentional Judgment was associated with increased error-related negativity, a neurophysiological indicator of behavioral control (Experiment 4). Finally, people who voted for an anti-gay marriage amendment had stronger Unintentional Judgment toward gay marriage primes (Experiment 5). Across Experiments 1-4, implicit moral evaluations converged with moral personality: Unintentional Judgment about wrong primes, but not negative primes, was negatively associated with psychopathic tendencies and positively associated with moral identity and guilt proneness. Theoretical and practical applications of formal modeling for moral psychology are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Moral dilemmas and moral principles: when emotion and cognition unite.

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Manfrinati, Andrea; Lotto, Lorella; Sarlo, Michela; Palomba, Daniela; Rumiati, Rino

2013-01-01

Traditional studies on moral judgement used resolutions of moral dilemmas that were framed in terms of acceptability of the consequentialist action promoting a greater good, thus overlooking the deontological implications (choices cannot be justified by their consequences). Recently, some authors have suggested a parallelism between automatic, unreflective emotional responses and deontological moral judgements. In this study, we developed a novel experimental paradigm in which participants were required to choose between two resolutions of a moral dilemma (consequentialist and deontological). To assess whether emotions are engaged in each of the two resolutions, we asked participants to evaluate their emotional experience through the ratings of valence and arousal. Results showed that emotion is involved not only in deontological but also in consequentialist resolutions. Moreover, response times pointed out a different interplay between emotion and cognition in determining a conflict in the dilemma's resolution. In particular, when people were faced with trolley-like dilemmas we found that decisions leading to deontological resolutions were slower than decisions leading to consequentialist resolutions. We propose that this finding reflects the special (but not accepted) permission provided by the doctrine of the double effect for incidentally causing death for the sake of a good end.

Mirrored morality: an exploration of moral choice in video games.

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Weaver, Andrew J; Lewis, Nicky

2012-11-01

This exploratory study was designed to examine how players make moral choices in video games and what effects these choices have on emotional responses to the games. Participants (n=75) filled out a moral foundations questionnaire (MFQ) and then played through the first full act of the video game Fallout 3. Game play was recorded and content analyzed for the moral decisions made. Players also reported their enjoyment of and emotional reactions to the game and reflected on the decisions they made. The majority of players made moral decisions and behaved toward the nonplayer game characters they encountered as if these were actual interpersonal interactions. Individual differences in decision making were predicted by the MFQ. Behaving in antisocial ways did increase guilt, but had no impact on enjoyment.

Response to Marie Paz Morales' "Influence of Culture and Language Sensitive Physics on Science Attitude Achievement"

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Mikel Walker

2015-01-01

This response to Marie Paz Morales' "Influence of culture and language sensitive physics on science attitude achievement" explores the ideas of culturally responsive pedagogy and critical literacy to examine some implications for culturally responsive science instruction implicit in the original manuscript. [For "Influence of…

How does morality work in the brain? A functional and structural perspective of moral behavior

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Pascual, Leo; Rodrigues, Paulo; Gallardo-Pujol, David

2013-01-01

Neural underpinnings of morality are not yet well understood. Researchers in moral neuroscience have tried to find specific structures and processes that shed light on how morality works. Here, we review the main brain areas that have been associated with morality at both structural and functional levels and speculate about how it can be studied. Orbital and ventromedial prefrontal cortices are implicated in emotionally-driven moral decisions, while dorsolateral prefrontal cortex appears to moderate its response. These competing processes may be mediated by the anterior cingulate cortex. Parietal and temporal structures play important roles in the attribution of others' beliefs and intentions. The insular cortex is engaged during empathic processes. Other regions seem to play a more complementary role in morality. Morality is supported not by a single brain circuitry or structure, but by several circuits overlapping with other complex processes. The identification of the core features of morality and moral-related processes is needed. Neuroscience can provide meaningful insights in order to delineate the boundaries of morality in conjunction with moral psychology. PMID:24062650

The dual moral self: moral centrality and internal moral motivation.

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Krettenauer, Tobias

2011-01-01

In this study, the relationship between two aspects of the moral self, moral centrality and internal moral motivation, was analyzed. It is argued that these 2 aspects are conceptually distinct but nonetheless empirically related. Based on a cross-sectional study of 205 adolescents (M age = 14.83 years, SD = 2.21 years) it was found that moral centrality and internal moral motivation, even though substantially correlated, interacted in predicting moral emotion expectancies. Even though moral centrality was unrelated to adolescents' age it predicted a longitudinal increase in internal moral motivation over a 1-year interval. Overall, the findings call for a differentiation of moral centrality and internal moral motivation as 2 distinct but interrelated aspects of moral self-development that follow different developmental trajectories and are differentially related to age. At the same time, the study points out that adolescence may be less important for the development of the moral self than commonly assumed.

Moral education: School as a just community

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Miočinović Ljiljana Đ.

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses Kohlberg’s view of moral education, how it was developing and changing over time. Starting from a theoretical postulate that thinking constitutes the essence of morality and from empirical findings of the stage development of moral judgment, in his early works Kohlberg defines moral education as "encouraging the natural course of moral judgment development". As a principal method of work, Kohlberg recommends the encouragement of a cognitive conflict by means of discussing hypothetic moral dilemmas. Criticisms that he is over-intellectualizing moral education, getting acquainted with a collective upbringing in kibbutz's, active participation in work in schools and prisons and finding that moral judgment and acting in everyday life is a response to the prevailing moral atmosphere of a group are leading to the changes in moral education goals and development of a new approach known as "just community". Now a group is in the focus of moral education, not an individual any longer, the major area of studies being group norms and expectations. The "just community" approach does not remain only at the classroom level discussing hypothetical moral dilemmas but directly influences the structure of school justice i.e. its rules and discipline, processes they are passed as well as the rights and duties of both teachers and students. Its goal is no longer to develop moral judgment of an individual student but to develop a group as moral community founded upon the norms of trust, participation and collective responsibility.

Response to moral choices as a function of self-esteem.

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Dai, Yong; Nolan, Rebecca F; White, Barzanna

2002-06-01

This study investigated the relationship between self-reported self-esteem and academic moral choice by 162 middle school students enrolled in Grades 6, 7, and 8 of public institutions. They were presented nine moral situations (five are school-related) and the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory (School Form). Analysis indicated that four of the five school-related moral situations were statistically significantly related to scores of self-esteem. Students reporting higher self-esteem were more likely to make a moral choice in a given academic situation. It is recommended that support of academic honesty can be encouraged by increasing youth self-esteem.

Moral Fantasy in Genetic Engineering.

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Boone, C. Keith

1984-01-01

Discusses the main ethical issues generated by the new genetics and suggests ways to think about them. Concerns include "playing God," violation of the natural order of the universe, and abuse of genetic technology. Critical distinctions for making difficult decisions about genetic engineering issues are noted. (DH)

Moral knowledge and moral factuality

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Ron Wilburn

2010-12-01

Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1677-2954.2008v7n1p69For naturalistic and non-intuitionistic moral realists, moral knowledge is more problematic than ordinary and scientific factual knowledge. For without special faculties of moral discernment, how could we ever detect moral facts and properties? Physical facts and properties may be accessible to perceptual recognition. But how could moral facts and properties ever be similarly accessible? To address this challenge, we need a meta-ethical account that does two things. First, it must explain how the discernment of moral facts and properties ultimately consists only of the detection of appropriate physical items. Second, it must explain why, despite this fact, moral perception seems so very puzzling. In this paper I endeavor to provide such an account. It is largely because of the relational nature of moral properties, and the corresponding externalistically determined normative content of moral property terms, I argue, that our epistemic access to moral knowledge appears mysterious. The metaphysics of moral factuality does a lot to explain the seeming elusiveness of moral knowledge, and in ways that are surprisingly mundane.

Normativity, moral realism, and unmasking explanations

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Josep CORBÍ

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, I argue that moral projectivism cannot be coherently fix the content of our moral responses. To this purpose, I develop a number of arguments against moral dispositionalism and, in this context, I challenge both David Lewis' dispositionalist account of colour and Chistine Korsgaard's procedural realism.

The Alignment of Morality and Profitability in Corporate Social Responsibility

OpenAIRE

Semeniuk, Joanna

2012-01-01

textabstractNowadays most of the big companies pride themselves on their social responsibility. When visiting the websites of IBM, Cisco, ING, Philips, BP, etc., one will easily find a tab called ‘corporate social responsibility’, or ‘sustainability’.1 Here, companies describe how they contribute to the community and balance their impact on the environment. Why do they do that? There is a long tradition of moral considerations for commerce. In the early days of capitalism, the goal of the bus...

Moral realism in nursing.

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Edwards, Steven D

2014-04-01

For more than 15 years Professor Per Nortvedt has been arguing the case for moral realism in nursing and the health-care context more generally. His arguments focus on the clinical contexts of nursing and medicine and are supplemented by a series of persuasive examples. Following a description of moral realism, and the kinds of considerations that support it, criticisms of it are developed that seem persuasive. It is argued that our moral responses are explained by our beliefs as opposed to moral realities. In particular, two key arguments presented by Nortvedt are challenged: the so-called argument from convergence and the argument from clinical sensitivity. Both of these key planks in the case for moral realism are rejected, and an alternative 'social conditioning' account briefly sketched, which, it is claimed, has the same explanatory power as Nortvedt's thesis but does not rest on an appeal to independently existing moral properties. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Counterfactual thinking in moral judgement: an experimental study

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Simone eMigliore

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Counterfactual thinking is thinking about a past that did not happen. This is often the case in 'if only...' situations, where we wish something had or had not happened. To make a choice in a moral decision-making situation is particularly hard and, therefore, may be often associated with the imagination of a different outcome. The main aim of the present study is to investigate counterfactual thinking in the context of moral reasoning. We used a modified version of Greene’s moral dilemmas test, studying both the time needed to provide a counterfactual in the first and third person and the type of given response (in context-out of context in a sample of 90 healthy subjects.We found a longer response time for personal vs. impersonal moral dilemmas. This effect was enhanced in the first person perspective, while in the elderly there was an overall slowing of response time. Out of context/omissive responses were more frequent in the case of personal moral dilemmas presented in the first person version, with females showing a marked increase in this kind of response.These findings suggest that gender and perspective have a critical role in counterfactual thinking in the context of moral reasoning, and may have implications for the understanding of gender-related inclinations as well as differences in moral judgement.

A Multi-Level Model of Moral Functioning Revisited

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Reed, Don Collins

2009-01-01

The model of moral functioning scaffolded in the 2008 "JME" Special Issue is here revisited in response to three papers criticising that volume. As guest editor of that Special Issue I have formulated the main body of this response, concerning the dynamic systems approach to moral development, the problem of moral relativism and the role of…

From Folk Morality to Moral Philosophy

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J Peikani

2014-02-01

Full Text Available According to our terminology, the mechanism people follow in moral judgments, which is far from the sayings and rules of moral philosophers, is folk morality. Above all, people in moral judgments regard human moral capacity and do not expect full morality of any one. People suppose that perfect moral life is an ideal which is beyond human abilities. This hidden presupposition forms the foundation of human moral behavior. On the other hand, it seems that the moral systems originating from moral philosophy have been constructed a priori and, assuming a perfect man, they expect people to become such a person. It seems that it is necessary for moral philosophers to change their way and begin speculation with respect to people’s moral capacities. In this paper, we argue that minimal ethical speculation increases the level of morality in society. The basis of this turn is new progresses and findings in the field of psychology and the connection between psychology and moral philosophy a connection which will be more and more important for moral philosophers parallel to scientific progresses. Of course, this is an immature idea and therefore confronts with some critiques.

Neural correlates of moral and non-moral emotion in female psychopathy

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Carla L Harenski

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This study presents the first neuroimaging investigation of female psychopathy in an incarcerated population. Prior studies have found that male psychopathy is associated with reduced limbic and paralimbic activation when processing emotional stimuli and making moral judgments. The goal of this study was to investigate whether these findings extend to female psychopathy. During fMRI scanning, 157 incarcerated and 46 non-incarcerated female participants viewed unpleasant pictures, half which depicted moral transgressions, and neutral pictures. Participants rated each picture on moral transgression severity. Psychopathy was assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R in all incarcerated participants. Non-incarcerated participants were included as a control group to derive brain regions of interest associated with viewing unpleasant versus neutral pictures (emotion contrast, and unpleasant pictures depicting moral transgressions versus unpleasant pictures without moral transgressions (moral contrast. Regression analyses in the incarcerated group examined the association between PCL-R scores and brain activation in the emotion and moral contrasts. Results of the emotion contrast revealed a negative correlation between PCL-R scores and activation in the right amygdala and rostral anterior cingulate. Results of the moral contrast revealed a negative correlation between PCL-R scores and activation in the right temporo-parietal junction. These results indicate that female psychopathy, like male psychopathy, is characterized by reduced limbic activation during emotion processing. In contrast, reduced temporo-parietal activation to moral transgressions has been less observed in male psychopathy. These results extend prior findings in male psychopathy to female psychopathy, and reveal aberrant neural responses to morally-salient stimuli that may be unique to female psychopathy.

Common morality and moral reform.

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Wallace, K A

2009-01-01

The idea of moral reform requires that morality be more than a description of what people do value, for there has to be some measure against which to assess progress. Otherwise, any change is not reform, but simply difference. Therefore, I discuss moral reform in relation to two prescriptive approaches to common morality, which I distinguish as the foundational and the pragmatic. A foundational approach to common morality (e.g., Bernard Gert's) suggests that there is no reform of morality, but of beliefs, values, customs, and practices so as to conform with an unchanging, foundational morality. If, however, there were revision in its foundation (e.g., in rationality), then reform in morality itself would be possible. On a pragmatic view, on the other hand, common morality is relative to human flourishing, and its justification consists in its effectiveness in promoting flourishing. Morality is dependent on what in fact does promote human flourishing and therefore, could be reformed. However, a pragmatic approach, which appears more open to the possibility of moral reform, would need a more robust account of norms by which reform is measured.

Teaching Morally and Teaching Morality

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Fenstermacher, Gary D.; Osguthorpe, Richard D.; Sanger, Matthew N.

2009-01-01

In this article, the authors introduce what they believe is an important distinction between teaching morality and teaching morally. In P-12 schools, the moral education debate often focuses on character education programs or other moral curricula. Such programs and curricula are championed as a means of teaching morality and transmitting moral…

It's a two-way street: Automatic and controlled processes in children's emotional responses to moral transgressions.

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Dys, Sebastian P; Malti, Tina

2016-12-01

This study examined children's automatic, spontaneous emotional reactions to everyday moral transgressions and their relations with self-reported emotions, which are more complex and infused with controlled cognition. We presented children ​(N=242 4-, 8-, and 12-year-olds) with six everyday moral transgression scenarios in an experimental setting, and both their spontaneous facial emotional reactions and self-reported emotions in the role of the transgressor were recorded. We found that across age self-reported guilt was positively associated with spontaneous fear, and self-reported anger was positively related to spontaneous sadness. In addition, we found a developmental increase in spontaneous sadness and decrease in spontaneous happiness. These results support the importance of automatic and controlled processes in evoking children's emotional responses to everyday moral transgressions. We conclude by providing potential explanations for how automatic and controlled processes function in children's everyday moral experiences and how these processes may change with age. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On situated and embodied knowledge regarding moral issues

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broeders, R.

2010-01-01

When analyzing people’s moral compass it can be noticed that moral responses often are malleable. People find it difficult to respond to moral issues, because in many moral situations the right course of action is not quite clear. Furthermore, people have to choose between alternative actions with

Moral emotions and moral behavior.

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Tangney, June Price; Stuewig, Jeff; Mashek, Debra J

2007-01-01

Moral emotions represent a key element of our human moral apparatus, influencing the link between moral standards and moral behavior. This chapter reviews current theory and research on moral emotions. We first focus on a triad of negatively valenced "self-conscious" emotions-shame, guilt, and embarrassment. As in previous decades, much research remains focused on shame and guilt. We review current thinking on the distinction between shame and guilt, and the relative advantages and disadvantages of these two moral emotions. Several new areas of research are highlighted: research on the domain-specific phenomenon of body shame, styles of coping with shame, psychobiological aspects of shame, the link between childhood abuse and later proneness to shame, and the phenomena of vicarious or "collective" experiences of shame and guilt. In recent years, the concept of moral emotions has been expanded to include several positive emotions-elevation, gratitude, and the sometimes morally relevant experience of pride. Finally, we discuss briefly a morally relevant emotional process-other-oriented empathy.

Putting Emotion into the Self: A Response to the 2008 "Journal of Moral Education" Special Issue on Moral Functioning

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Kristjansson, Kristjan

2009-01-01

This paper takes as its starting point the Journal of Moral Education Special Issue (September, 2008, 37[3]) "Towards an integrated model of moral reasoning". Although explicitly post-Kohlbergian, the authors in this Special Issue do not, I argue, depart far enough from Kohlberg's impoverished notion of the role of the affective in moral life--or…

Mind Perception Is the Essence of Morality.

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Gray, Kurt; Young, Liane; Waytz, Adam

2012-04-01

Mind perception entails ascribing mental capacities to other entities, whereas moral judgment entails labeling entities as good or bad or actions as right or wrong. We suggest that mind perception is the essence of moral judgment. In particular, we suggest that moral judgment is rooted in a cognitive template of two perceived minds-a moral dyad of an intentional agent and a suffering moral patient. Diverse lines of research support dyadic morality. First, perceptions of mind are linked to moral judgments: dimensions of mind perception (agency and experience) map onto moral types (agents and patients), and deficits of mind perception correspond to difficulties with moral judgment. Second, not only are moral judgments sensitive to perceived agency and experience, but all moral transgressions are fundamentally understood as agency plus experienced suffering-that is, interpersonal harm-even ostensibly harmless acts such as purity violations. Third, dyadic morality uniquely accounts for the phenomena of dyadic completion (seeing agents in response to patients, and vice versa), and moral typecasting (characterizing others as either moral agents or moral patients). Discussion also explores how mind perception can unify morality across explanatory levels, how a dyadic template of morality may be developmentally acquired, and future directions.

Moral sensitivity, moral distress, and moral courage among baccalaureate Filipino nursing students.

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Escolar-Chua, Rowena L

2018-06-01

Moral distress, moral sensitivity, and moral courage among healthcare professionals have been explored considerably in recent years. However, there is a paucity of studies exploring these topics among baccalaureate nursing students. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between and among moral distress, moral sensitivity, and moral courage of undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students. The research employed a descriptive-correlational design to explore the relationships between and among moral distress, moral sensitivity, and moral courage of undergraduate nursing students. Participants and research context: A total of 293 baccalaureate Filipino nursing students who have been exposed to various clinical areas participated in the study. Ethical considerations: Institutional review board approval was sought prior to the conduct of the study. Self-determination was assured and anonymity and confidentiality were guaranteed to all participants. Results indicate that a majority of the nursing students in the clinical areas encounter morally distressing situations that compromise quality patient care. However, despite the fact that they want to do what is in the best interest of their patients, their perception of being the inexperienced among the healthcare team drives the majority of them to ignore morally distressing situations to avoid conflict and confrontation. Another interesting finding is that 79.20% of the respondents hardly consider quitting the nursing profession even if they frequently encounter morally distressing situations. Analysis also shows associations between moral distress intensity and frequency ( r = 0.13, p < 0.05) and moral distress intensity and moral sensitivity ( r = 0.25, p < 0.05). The dimensions of moral courage are also related to both moral distress and moral sensitivity. Results of the study imply that moral distress is a reality among all healthcare professionals including nursing students and requires more

The Trouble with Moral Citizens: A Response to "Moral-Character Development for Teacher Education" by Daniel Lapsley and Ryan Woodbury

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Westheimer, Joel

2016-01-01

In "Moral-Character Development for Teacher Education," Daniel Lapsley and Ryan Woodbury argue that teacher education licensure and accreditation standards largely ignore matters of values, character, and morality. "The moral-character formation of children," they note, "is the instructional objective that dare not speak…

How Large Is the Role of Emotion in Judgments of Moral Dilemmas?

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Horne, Zachary; Powell, Derek

2016-01-01

Moral dilemmas often pose dramatic and gut-wrenching emotional choices. It is now widely accepted that emotions are not simply experienced alongside people's judgments about moral dilemmas, but that our affective processes play a central role in determining those judgments. However, much of the evidence purporting to demonstrate the connection between people's emotional responses and their judgments about moral dilemmas has recently been called into question. In the present studies, we reexamined the role of emotion in people's judgments about moral dilemmas using a validated self-report measure of emotion. We measured participants' specific emotional responses to moral dilemmas and, although we found that moral dilemmas evoked strong emotional responses, we found that these responses were only weakly correlated with participants' moral judgments. We argue that the purportedly strong connection between emotion and judgments of moral dilemmas may have been overestimated.

Developing Moral Responsibleness through Professional Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Strom, Sharon M.; Tennyson, W. Wesley

1989-01-01

Argues that more attention must be given in counselor preparation and practice to developing critical reflectiveness about valued ends when making professional judgments. Describes and evaluates an instructional model designed to further students' capacities and motivations for making rational moral judgments in counseling. (Author/TE)

Fostering Nurses' Moral Agency and Moral Identity: The Importance of Moral Community.

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Liaschenko, Joan; Peter, Elizabeth

2016-09-01

It may be the case that the most challenging moral problem of the twenty-first century will be the relationship between the individual moral agent and the practices and institutions in which the moral agent is embedded. In this paper, we continue the efforts that one of us, Joan Liaschenko, first called for in 1993, that of using feminist ethics as a lens for viewing the relationship between individual nurses as moral agents and the highly complex institutions in which they do the work of nursing. Feminist ethics, with its emphasis on the inextricable relationship between ethics and politics, provides a useful lens to understand the work of nurses in context. Using Margaret Urban Walker's and Hilde Lindemann's concepts of identity, relationships, values, and moral agency, we argue that health care institutions can be moral communities and profoundly affect the work and identity and, therefore, the moral agency of all who work within those structures, including nurses. Nurses are not only shaped by these organizations but also have the power to shape them. Because moral agency is intimately connected to one's identity, moral identity work is essential for nurses to exercise their moral agency and to foster moral community in health care organizations. We first provide a brief history of nursing's morally problematic relationship with institutions and examine the impact institutional master narratives and corporatism exert today on nurses' moral identities and agency. We close by emphasizing the significance of ongoing dialogue in creating and sustaining moral communities, repairing moral identities, and strengthening moral agency. © 2016 The Hastings Center.

Individual moral development and moral progress

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schinkel, Anders; de Ruyter, Doret J.

At first glance, one of the most obvious places to look for moral progress is in individuals, in particular in moral development from childhood to adulthood. In fact, that moral progress is possible is a foundational assumption of moral education. Beyond the general agreement that moral progress is

Individual Moral Development and Moral Progress

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schinkel, Anders; de Ruyter, Doret J.

2017-01-01

At first glance, one of the most obvious places to look for moral progress is in individuals, in particular in moral development from childhood to adulthood. In fact, that moral progress is possible is a foundational assumption of moral education. Beyond the general agreement that moral progress is

Cassandra in the Classroom: Teaching and Moral Madness

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Santoro, Doris A.

2017-01-01

Moral madness is a symptom of the moral violence experienced by teachers who are expected to exercise responsibility for their students and their work, but whose moral voice is misrecognized as self-interest and whose moral agency is suppressed. I conduct a feminist ethical analysis of the figure of Cassandra to examine the ways in which teachers…

How Large Is the Role of Emotion in Judgments of Moral Dilemmas?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zachary Horne

Full Text Available Moral dilemmas often pose dramatic and gut-wrenching emotional choices. It is now widely accepted that emotions are not simply experienced alongside people's judgments about moral dilemmas, but that our affective processes play a central role in determining those judgments. However, much of the evidence purporting to demonstrate the connection between people's emotional responses and their judgments about moral dilemmas has recently been called into question. In the present studies, we reexamined the role of emotion in people's judgments about moral dilemmas using a validated self-report measure of emotion. We measured participants' specific emotional responses to moral dilemmas and, although we found that moral dilemmas evoked strong emotional responses, we found that these responses were only weakly correlated with participants' moral judgments. We argue that the purportedly strong connection between emotion and judgments of moral dilemmas may have been overestimated.

The Ideal of Moral Autonomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Marquisio Aguirre

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Some elements of the ideal of moral autonomy are discussed in this paper. Such ideal is a key assumption in social practices focused on normative imputation, particularly morality and law. First, a constructivist conception of normativity is introduced, taking reasons as an essential and non-reducible element, and focused on the conceptual features of moral reasons within the normative domain. Then, an idea of moral autonomy based on the self-constitution is developed including three key features: the possibility of responding to reasons based on shared social expectations; the responsibility for certain scope of actions, according to a set of reasons available to the individual and to their maximum extent of expansion; and the need to preserve autonomy as a purpose unifying the set of autonomous actions of moral agents.

The Morality of Socioscientific Issues: Construal and Resolution of Genetic Engineering Dilemmas

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Sadler, Troy D.; Zeidler, Dana L.

2004-01-01

The ability to negotiate and resolve socioscientific issues has been posited as integral components of scientific literacy. Although philosophers and science educators have argued that socioscientific issues inherently involve moral and ethical considerations, the ultimate arbiters of morality are individual decision-makers. This study explored…

Seeking perfection: a Kantian look at human genetic engineering.

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Gunderson, Martin

2007-01-01

It is tempting to argue that Kantian moral philosophy justifies prohibiting both human germ-line genetic engineering and non-therapeutic genetic engineering because they fail to respect human dignity. There are, however, good reasons for resisting this temptation. In fact, Kant's moral philosophy provides reasons that support genetic engineering-even germ-line and non-therapeutic. This is true of Kant's imperfect duties to seek one's own perfection and the happiness of others. It is also true of the categorical imperative. Kant's moral philosophy does, however, provide limits to justifiable genetic engineering.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Outcomes: A Moderated Mediation Model of Organizational Identification and Moral Identity.

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Wang, Wei; Fu, Ying; Qiu, Huiqing; Moore, James H; Wang, Zhongming

2017-01-01

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) research is not new, but its importance to today's socially conscious market environment is even more evident in recent years. This study moves beyond CSR as simply the socially responsible actions and policies of organizations and focuses on the complex psychology of CSR as it relates to individuals within the organization. Given CSR can positively affect both the individuals within the organization and the organization itself, better understanding and leveraging the mechanisms and conditions of CSR that facilitate desired employee outcomes is crucial for organizational performance. However, scholars lack consensus in determining a theoretical framework for understanding how and under what conditions CSR will make an impact on employees and ultimately organizational performance. This study adds clarity by exploring the effect of perceived CSR on a more comprehensive set of employees' attitudinal and behavioral reactions (i.e., turnover intention, in-role job performance, and helping behavior) via the mediating mechanism of organizational identification and the moderating condition of moral identity. Hypotheses were derived using social identity theory. Results were based on data obtained from 340 Chinese manufacturing employee-supervisor dyads. This study found that employees' perceived CSR had an indirect relationship via organizational identification with each of the variables: (1) turnover intention, (2) in-role job performance, and (3) helping behavior. Specifically, the negative relationship between perceived CSR and turnover intention was stronger when employees had higher moral identity and the positive relationship between perceived CSR and in-role job performance and helping behavior was amplified by moral identity. Our findings show how the mediating mechanism of organizational identity and the moderating condition of moral identity work together to improve organizational effectiveness. The findings reveal several

Mind Perception Is the Essence of Morality

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Gray, Kurt; Young, Liane; Waytz, Adam

2012-01-01

Mind perception entails ascribing mental capacities to other entities, whereas moral judgment entails labeling entities as good or bad or actions as right or wrong. We suggest that mind perception is the essence of moral judgment. In particular, we suggest that moral judgment is rooted in a cognitive template of two perceived minds—a moral dyad of an intentional agent and a suffering moral patient. Diverse lines of research support dyadic morality. First, perceptions of mind are linked to moral judgments: dimensions of mind perception (agency and experience) map onto moral types (agents and patients), and deficits of mind perception correspond to difficulties with moral judgment. Second, not only are moral judgments sensitive to perceived agency and experience, but all moral transgressions are fundamentally understood as agency plus experienced suffering—that is, interpersonal harm—even ostensibly harmless acts such as purity violations. Third, dyadic morality uniquely accounts for the phenomena of dyadic completion (seeing agents in response to patients, and vice versa), and moral typecasting (characterizing others as either moral agents or moral patients). Discussion also explores how mind perception can unify morality across explanatory levels, how a dyadic template of morality may be developmentally acquired, and future directions. PMID:22754268

In defense of prenatal genetic interventions.

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Murphy, Timothy F

2014-09-01

Jürgen Habermas has argued against prenatal genetic interventions used to influence traits on the grounds that only biogenetic contingency in the conception of children preserves the conditions that make the presumption of moral equality possible. This argument fails for a number of reasons. The contingency that Habermas points to as the condition of moral equality is an artifact of evolutionary contingency and not inviolable in itself. Moreover, as a precedent for genetic interventions, parents and society already affect children's traits, which is to say there is moral precedent for influencing the traits of descendants. A veil-of-ignorance methodology can also be used to justify prenatal interventions through its method of advance consent and its preservation of the contingency of human identities in a moral sense. In any case, the selection of children's traits does not undermine the prospects of authoring a life since their future remains just as contingent morally as if no trait had been selected. Ironically, the prospect of preserving human beings as they are--to counteract genetic drift--might even require interventions to preserve the ability to author a life in a moral sense. In light of these analyses, Habermas' concerns about prenatal genetic interventions cannot succeed as objections to their practice as a matter of principle; the merits of these interventions must be evaluated individually. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Moral development and reproductive health decisions.

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McFadden, E A

1996-01-01

This article reviews the concepts of biomedical ethics, the justice perspective, and the care perspective of moral development and moral decision making; integrates key aspects of each to women's reproductive health nursing practice; and gives examples of application of these models to use as a framework for the assessment of moral development in guiding women in making reproductive health decisions. Emphasis is placed on the need for an integrated approach to assessment of the recognition of and response to what an individual identifies as a moral dilemma. Discussion of two different perspectives, justice and caring, is presented with application to women's health concerns. Nurses are encouraged to assess their moral development and appraisal of issues that constitute moral dilemmas and their ensuing decision making processes and those of clients. Techniques for obtaining information about moral reasoning are suggested. Rather than a traditional framework for the assessment of moral development, the uniqueness of individual women's experiences as they pertain to the case context is recommended to assess the client's appraisal of the circumstances of a perceived moral situation from the client's vantage point.

Analysis of the moral habitability of the nursing work environment.

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Peter, Elizabeth H; Macfarlane, Amy V; O'Brien-Pallas, Linda L

2004-08-01

Following health reform, nurses have experienced the tremendous stress of heavy workloads, long hours and difficult professional responsibilities. In recognition of these problems, a study was conducted that examined the impact of the working environment on the health of nurses. After conducting focus groups across Canada with nurses and others well acquainted with nursing issues, it became clear that the difficult work environments described had significant ethical implications. The aim of this paper is to report the findings of research that examined the moral habitability of the nursing working environment. A secondary analysis was conducted using the theoretical work of Margaret Urban Walker. Moral practices and responsibilities from Walker's perspective cannot be extricated from other social roles, practices and divisions of labour. Moral-social orders, such as work environments in this research, must be made transparent to examine their moral habitability. Morally habitable environments are those in which differently situated people experience their responsibilities as intelligible and coherent. They also foster recognition, cooperation and shared benefits. Four overarching categories were developed through the analysis of the data: (1) oppressive work environments; (2) incoherent moral understandings; (3) moral suffering and (4) moral influence and resistance. The findings clearly indicate that participants perceived the work environment to be morally uninhabitable. The social and spatial positioning of nurses left them vulnerable to being overburdened by and unsure of their responsibilities. Nevertheless, nurses found meaningful ways to resist and to influence the moral environment. We recommend that nurses develop strong moral identities, make visible the inseparability of their proximity to patients and moral accountability, and further identify what forms of collective action are most effective in improving the moral habitability of their work

Human altruism, evolution and moral philosophy

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2017-01-01

This paper has two central aims. The first is to explore philosophical complications that arise when we move from (i) explaining the evolutionary origins of genetically influenced traits associated with human cooperation and altruism, to (ii) explaining present manifestations of human thought, feeling and behaviour involving cooperation and altruism. While the former need only appeal to causal factors accessible to scientific inquiry, the latter must engage also with a distinctive form of explanation, i.e. reason-giving explanation, which in turn raises important philosophical questions, the answers to which will affect the nature of the ultimate explanations of our moral beliefs and related actions. On one possibility I will explore, this explanatory project cannot avoid engaging with first-order ethical theory. The second aim is to apply lessons from these explanatory complications to the critique of ‘evolutionary debunking arguments’, which seek to debunk morality, or at least objective construals of it (i.e. moral realism), by appeal to allegedly scientific debunking explanations of our moral beliefs that would defeat our justification for them. The explanatory complications brought out in the first half raise difficulties for such debunking arguments. If we avoid begging central philosophical questions then such debunking arguments pose little threat of saddling us with moral scepticism or subjectivism, though they do pose an important challenge for those developing a moral realist view. PMID:28878990

Individual moral development and moral progress

OpenAIRE

Schinkel, Anders; de Ruyter, Doret J.

2017-01-01

At first glance, one of the most obvious places to look for moral progress is in individuals, in particular in moral development from childhood to adulthood. In fact, that moral progress is possible is a foundational assumption of moral education. Beyond the general agreement that moral progress is not only possible but even a common feature of human development things become blurry, however. For what do we mean by ‘progress’? And what constitutes moral progress? Does the idea of individual m...

Moral disengagement in the corporate world.

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White, Jenny; Bandura, Albert; Bero, Lisa A

2009-01-01

We analyze mechanisms of moral disengagement used to eliminate moral consequences by industries whose products or production practices are harmful to human health. Moral disengagement removes the restraint of self-censure from harmful practices. Moral self-sanctions can be selectively disengaged from harmful activities by investing them with socially worthy purposes, sanitizing and exonerating them, displacing and diffusing responsibility, minimizing or disputing harmful consequences, making advantageous comparisons, and disparaging and blaming critics and victims. Internal industry documents and public statements related to the research activities of these industries were coded for modes of moral disengagement by the tobacco, lead, vinyl chloride (VC), and silicosis-producing industries. All but one of the modes of moral disengagement were used by each of these industries. We present possible safeguards designed to protect the integrity of research.

Considering Moral Intelligence as Part of a Holistic Education

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Clarken, Rodney H.

2010-01-01

Morality and moral intelligence are important in our society and schools. Moral intelligence is discussed in the context of Gardener's theory of multiple intelligences. Moral intelligence helps apply ethical principles to personal goals, values and actions. It consists of four competencies related to integrity, three to responsibility, two to…

Moral psychology (ethics).

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Andreou, Chrisoula

2010-07-01

This article examines a selection of currently lively debates in the quickly evolving, interdisciplinary field of moral psychology. Topics discussed include the possibility of amoralism, the nature of rationality, the (ir)rationality of emotions and intuitions, the psychology of cooperation and of (rational) commitment, weakness of will, free will, and the assignment of moral responsibility. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Disrupting the right prefrontal cortex alters moral judgement.

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Tassy, Sébastien; Oullier, Olivier; Duclos, Yann; Coulon, Olivier; Mancini, Julien; Deruelle, Christine; Attarian, Sharam; Felician, Olivier; Wicker, Bruno

2012-03-01

Humans daily face social situations involving conflicts between competing moral decision. Despite a substantial amount of studies published over the past 10 years, the respective role of emotions and reason, their possible interaction, and their behavioural expression during moral evaluation remains an unresolved issue. A dualistic approach to moral evaluation proposes that the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFc) controls emotional impulses. However, recent findings raise the possibility that the right DLPFc processes emotional information during moral decision making. We used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to transiently disrupt rDLPFc activity before measuring decision making in the context of moral dilemmas. Results reveal an increase of the probability of utilitarian responses during objective evaluation of moral dilemmas in the rTMS group (compared to a SHAM one). This suggests that the right DLPFc function not only participates to a rational cognitive control process, but also integrates emotions generated by contextual information appraisal, which are decisive for response selection in moral judgements. © The Author (2011). Published by Oxford University Press.

What makes moral dilemma judgments "utilitarian" or "deontological"?

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Gawronski, Bertram; Beer, Jennifer S

2017-12-01

The distinction between utilitarianism and deontology has become a prevailing framework for conceptualizing moral judgment. According to the principle of utilitarianism, the morality of an action depends on its outcomes. In contrast, the principle of deontology states that the morality of an action depends on its consistency with moral norms. To identify the processes underlying utilitarian and deontological judgments, research in psychology and neuroscience has investigated responses to moral dilemmas that pit one principle against the other (e.g., trolley dilemma). However, the interpretation of responses in this paradigm is ambiguous, because the defining aspects of utilitarianism and deontology, outcomes and norms, are not manipulated. We illustrate how this shortcoming distorts interpretations of empirical findings and describe an alternative approach that overcomes the limitations of the traditional paradigm.

Moralization Through Moral Shock: Exploring Emotional Antecedents to Moral Conviction.

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Wisneski, Daniel C; Skitka, Linda J

2017-02-01

The current research tested whether exposure to disgusting images increases moral conviction and whether this happens in the presence of incidental disgust cues versus disgust cues relevant to the target of moralization. Across two studies, we exposed participants to one of the four sets of disgusting versus control images to test the moralization of abortion attitudes: pictures of aborted fetuses, animal abuse, non-harm related disgusting images, harm related disgusting images, or neutral pictures, at either sub- or supraliminal levels of awareness. Moral conviction about abortion increased (compared with control) only for participants exposed to abortion-related images at speeds slow enough to allow conscious awareness. Study 2 replicated this finding, and found that the relationship between attitudinally relevant disgust and moral conviction was mediated by disgust, and not anger or harm appraisals. Findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for intuitionist theories of morality and moral theories that emphasize harm.

State responses to biotechnology.

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Harris, Rebecca C

2015-01-01

This article reviews biotechnology legislation in the 50 states for 11 policy areas spanning 1990-2010, an era of immense growth in biotechnology, genetic knowledge, and significant policy development. Policies regarding health insurance, life insurance, long-term care insurance, DNA data bank collection, biotech research protection, biotech promotion and support, employment discrimination, genetic counselor licensing, human cloning, and genetic privacy each represent major policy responses arising from biotechnology and coinciding with key areas of state regulation (insurance, criminal justice, economic development, labor law, health and safety, privacy, and property rights). This analysis seeks to answer three questions regarding biotechnology legislation at the state level: who is acting (policy adoption), when is policy adopted (policy timing), and what is policy doing (policy content). Theoretical concerns examine state ideology (conservative or liberal), policy type (economic or moral), and the role of external events (federal law, news events, etc.) on state policy adoption. Findings suggest ideological patterns in adoption, timing, and content of biotech policy. Findings also suggest economic policies tend to be more uniform in content than moral policies, and findings also document a clear link between federal policy development, external events, and state policy response.

Moral concerns increase attention and response monitoring during IAT performance: ERP evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Ellemers, Naomi; Derks, Belle; Nieuwenhuis, Sander

2014-01-01

Previous research has revealed that people value morality as a more important person characteristic than competence. In this study, we tested whether people adjust their less explicit behavior more to moral than competence values. Participants performed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) that was either framed as a test of their morality or as a test of their competence. The behavioral results revealed a smaller IAT effect (i.e. a weaker negative implicit bias toward Muslims) in the morality condition than in the competence condition. Moreover, event-related potentials indicated increased social categorization of faces (as indexed by the N1 and P150) and enhanced conflict- and error monitoring (N450 and error-related negativity) in the morality condition compared to the competence condition. These findings indicate that an emphasis on morality can increase attentional and motivational processes that help to improve people’s task performance. PMID:23175679

Refining moral agency: Insights from moral psychology and moral philosophy.

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Milliken, Aimee

2018-01-01

Research in moral psychology has recently raised questions about the impact of context and the environment on the way the human mind works. In a 2012 call to action, Paley wrote: "If some of the conclusions arrived at by moral psychologists are true, they are directly relevant to the way nurses think about moral problems, and present serious challenges to favoured concepts in nursing ethics, such as the ethics of care, virtue, and the unity of the person" (p. 80). He urges nurse ethicists and scholars to evaluate the impact these findings may have for moral theory. In this paper, I review some of Paley's (Nursing Philosophy, 13, 2012, 80) critique, focusing on the argument that theories of nursing ethics have failed to account for the role of context; both in terms of its impact on the way nurses make moral judgements and in terms of the environment's influence on the way the mind works. I then examine nursing literature on moral agency, and focus on the role of the environment and context play within existing theory. I argue that theories of moral agency have often accounted for the role of context on the way nurses make decisions; however, less attention has been paid to its impact on the mind. With this background, I use insights from the fields of moral philosophy and moral psychology to refine the conceptualization of nurse moral agency in a way that is reflective of current cognitive, philosophical and nursing practice-based science. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Moral Sensitivity and Its Contribution to the Resolution of Socio-Scientific Issues

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Sadler, Troy

2004-01-01

This study explores models of how people perceive moral aspects of socio-scientific issues. Thirty college students participated in interviews during which they discussed their reactions to and resolutions of two genetic engineering issues. The interview data were analyzed qualitatively to produce an emergent taxonomy of moral concerns recognized…

[Moral responsibility of hospital management].

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt-Wilcke, Heinrich Alyosius

2009-03-15

The self-concept of hospitals today includes the role of service providers, and so they act accordingly. This attitude is chiefly held by hospital administrators. It means that at management level there is a shift of values toward business ethics. However, hospital management is responsible not only for the business aspects of the hospital but also for the provision of adequate medical care to patients. Therefore, hospitals as service providers must be governed by the principles of medical as well as of business ethics. These principles, although from different areas, can be made to largely coincide, but can also lead to divergent positions within a hospital. The result is what within the scope of medical ethics, too, is experienced as a conflict of principles, e.g., the principle of beneficence versus the principle of autonomy. A reconciliation of such divergent moral positions can often be effected by analyzing the actual conflict situation and thus reaching consensus. The conflict between the principles of medical ethics and business ethics takes place chiefly within the sphere of activity of those providing medical and nursing care. As a consequence, a necessary business decision taken by the management to improve the productivity of medical and nursing activities can lead to serious deficits on the staff side. In terms of business ethics, this is a lack of beneficence toward individual staff members that are perhaps overtaxed, and at the same time, in terms of medical ethics, a potential lack of beneficence toward hospital patients is implicitly accepted. In general, management has the responsibility for bringing about, in the day-to-day operation of a hospital, a plausible reconciliation of the ethical principles of two spheres of activity that are only apparently independent of each other.

The moral economy of ready-made food.

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Wheeler, Kathryn

2017-11-22

The aim of this paper is to develop and apply a framework to explore how moralities of consumption are constituted in and through markets. Using the case of ready-made foods, this paper argues moral economies are comprised through interactions between micro-, meso- and macro-level processes in the form of instituted systems of provision, state regulation, collective food customs promoted though media, NGOs and lifestyle practitioners, and the everyday reflections of consumers. Building on a theoretical framework developed to understand the moral economy of work and employment (Bolton and Laaser 2013), this paper explores how markets for ready-made food are incessantly negotiated in the context of moral ideas about cooking, femininity and individual responsibility. It focuses on 'new' market innovations of fresh ready-to-cook meal solutions and explores how these products are both a response to moralizing discourses about cooking 'properly', as well as an intervention into the market that offers opportunities for new moral identities to be performed. Using data gathered from interviews with food manufacturers and consumers, I advocate for a multi-layered perspective that captures the dynamic interplay between consumers, markets and moralities of consumption. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2017.

Unifying Kohlberg with Information Integration: The Moral Algebra of Recompense and of Kohlbergian Moral Informers

Science.gov (United States)

Hommers, Wilfried; Lee, Wha-Yong

2010-01-01

In order to unify two major theories of moral judgment, a novel task is employed which combines elements of Kohlberg's stage theory and of the theory of information integration. In contrast to the format of Kohlberg's moral judgment interview, a nonverbal and quantitative response which makes low demands on verbal facility was used. Moral…

Felt Moral Obligation and the Moral Judgement-Moral Action Gap: Toward a Phenomenology of Moral Life

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Richard N.; Gantt, Edwin E.

2012-01-01

The step-off point for this article is the problem of the "moral judgement-moral action gap" as found in contemporary literature of moral education and moral development. We argue that this gap, and the conceptual problems encountered by attempts to bridge it, reflects the effect of a different, deeper and more problematic conceptual gap: the…

On the role of attention and emotion in morality: attentional control modulates unrelated disgust in moral judgments.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Dillen, Lotte F; van der Wal, Reine C; van den Bos, Kees

2012-09-01

The emotion of disgust can influence people's moral judgments, even if this emotion objectively is unrelated to the moral judgment in question. The present work demonstrates that attentional control regulates this effect. In three studies, disgust was induced. In an unrelated part of the studies, participants then judged a moral transgression. Disgust resulted in more severe moral judgments when attentional control (either measured by means of individual predisposition or manipulated with experimental control) was weak as opposed to strong (Studies 1-3). Findings further showed that attentional control mediated the positive relation between the intensity of participants' disgust responses and the severity of their moral judgments (Study 2). Moreover, attentional control has its effects through the regulation of affective processing (Study 3). Taken together, the findings suggest that unrelated influences of disgust on moral judgments are contingent on the attention system.

Gender a morálka (Gender and Morality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petra Lajčiaková

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This study focuses on the importance of gender dimensions for moral development. The paper brings some discussions about two distinct moral orientations (of justice and care and two types of moral reasoning elaborated by Carol Gilligan. The study introduces the main features of Gilligan’s conception as the critical response to the conception of Lawrence Kohlberg. It also points out the limits of Gilligan's theory of moral orientations.

Moral fictions and medical ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Franklin G; Truog, Robert D; Brock, Dan W

2010-11-01

Conventional medical ethics and the law draw a bright line distinguishing the permitted practice of withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from the forbidden practice of active euthanasia by means of a lethal injection. When clinicians justifiably withdraw life-sustaining treatment, they allow patients to die but do not cause, intend, or have moral responsibility for, the patient's death. In contrast, physicians unjustifiably kill patients whenever they intentionally administer a lethal dose of medication. We argue that the differential moral assessment of these two practices is based on a series of moral fictions - motivated false beliefs that erroneously characterize withdrawing life-sustaining treatment in order to bring accepted end-of-life practices in line with the prevailing moral norm that doctors must never kill patients. When these moral fictions are exposed, it becomes apparent that conventional medical ethics relating to end-of-life decisions is radically mistaken. © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Moral distress reexamined: a feminist interpretation of nurses' identities, relationships, and responsibilites.

Science.gov (United States)

Peter, Elizabeth; Liaschenko, Joan

2013-10-01

Moral distress has been written about extensively in nursing and other fields. Often, however, it has not been used with much theoretical depth. This paper focuses on theorizing moral distress using feminist ethics, particularly the work of Margaret Urban Walker and Hilde Lindemann. Incorporating empirical findings, we argue that moral distress is the response to constraints experienced by nurses to their moral identities, responsibilities, and relationships. We recommend that health professionals get assistance in accounting for and communicating their values and responsibilities in situations of moral distress. We also discuss the importance of nurses creating "counterstories" of their work as knowledgeable and trustworthy professionals to repair their damaged moral identities, and, finally, we recommend that efforts toward shifting the goal of health care away from the prolongation of life at all costs to the relief of suffering to diminish the moral distress that is a common response to aggressive care at end-of-life.

On Teaching Morality to Law Students.

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Modjeska, Lee

1991-01-01

Within the limits of law and process, the lawyer's concern must be the client's cause, not his own agenda. Effective legal representation requires objectivity. The lawyer's role is to counsel legality, not morality, and the law school's responsibility is to teach law, not moral obligation. (MSE)

Aims and harvest of moral case deliberation.

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Weidema, Froukje C; Molewijk, Bert A C; Kamsteeg, Frans; Widdershoven, Guy A M

2013-09-01

Deliberative ways of dealing with ethical issues in health care are expanding. Moral case deliberation is an example, providing group-wise, structured reflection on dilemmas from practice. Although moral case deliberation is well described in literature, aims and results of moral case deliberation sessions are unknown. This research shows (a) why managers introduce moral case deliberation and (b) what moral case deliberation participants experience as moral case deliberation results. A responsive evaluation was conducted, explicating moral case deliberation experiences by analysing aims (N = 78) and harvest (N = 255). A naturalistic data collection included interviews with managers and evaluation questionnaires of moral case deliberation participants (nurses). From the analysis, moral case deliberation appeals for cooperation, team bonding, critical attitude towards routines and nurses' empowerment. Differences are that managers aim to foster identity of the nursing profession, whereas nurses emphasize learning processes and understanding perspectives. We conclude that moral case deliberation influences team cooperation that cannot be controlled with traditional management tools, but requires time and dialogue. Exchanging aims and harvest between manager and team could result in co-creating (moral) practice in which improvements for daily cooperation result from bringing together perspectives of managers and team members.

Moral Education between Hope and Hopelessness: The Legacy of Janusz Korczak

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Efron, Sara Efrat

2008-01-01

The responsibility for addressing morality and moral education in the current moral climate is a daunting task for conscientious educators. What educational response can extricate us from the debilitating feelings of hopelessness and helplessness as we are confronted by horrific terrorist actions, controversial use of military might, displays of…

Moral status, justice, and the common morality: challenges for the principlist account of moral change.

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Hodges, Kevin E; Sulmasy, Daniel P

2013-09-01

The theory of principlism elaborated by Beauchamp and Childress in Principles of Biomedical Ethics has become extremely influential in bioethics. The theory employs the idea of the common morality as a foundation for the principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. According to this account, the content of the common morality is universal and constant, while variability in morals is due to the fact that the issue of who is included within the scope of moral status evolves over time. This suggests that issues of moral status are not part of the common morality at all, and this presents a conundrum: questions of moral status seem central to any substantive account of justice, and any conception of the common morality that excludes moral status therefore seems inadequate for supporting a robust principle of justice. We argue that proponents of common morality theory are left with four options: (1) making moral status a part of the objective common morality and ignoring evidence that views about moral status do seem to vary over time and place; (2) excluding justice from the substantive content of the common morality; (3) taking common morality to be an imperfect approximation of an independently justified and universal foundationalist ethic against which the common morality is judged; or (4) weakening claims about the universality of common morality, thereby allowing the common morality to support a variety of principles of justice applicable only within particular communities that have specified the scope of moral status. We suspect that proponents of common morality theory will not view any of these options favorably, which raises questions about the ultimate contribution of that account.

Moral repugnance, moral distress, and organ sales.

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Taylor, James Stacey

2015-06-01

Many still oppose legalizing markets in human organs on the grounds that they are morally repugnant. I will argue in this paper that the repugnance felt by some persons towards sales of human organs is insufficient to justify their prohibition. Yet this rejection of the view that markets in human organs should be prohibited because some persons find them to be morally repugnant does not imply that persons' feelings of distress at the possibility of organ sales are irrational. Eduardo Rivera-Lopez argues that such instinctive distress is an appropriate response to the (rationally defensible) perception that certain kinds of arguments that are offered in favor of legalizing organ sales are "in an important sense, illegitimate." Having argued that repugnance should not ground the prohibition of markets in human organs, I will also argue that the moral distress that some feel towards certain arguments that favor such markets is not rationally defensible, either. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A cybernetic theory of morality and moral autonomy.

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Chambers, J

2001-04-01

Human morality may be thought of as a negative feedback control system in which moral rules are reference values, and moral disapproval, blame, and punishment are forms of negative feedback given for violations of the moral rules. In such a system, if moral agents held each other accountable, moral norms would be enforced effectively. However, even a properly functioning social negative feedback system could not explain acts in which individual agents uphold moral rules in the face of contrary social pressure. Dr. Frances Kelsey, who withheld FDA approval for thalidomide against intense social pressure, is an example of the degree of individual moral autonomy possible in a hostile environment. Such extreme moral autonomy is possible only if there is internal, psychological negative feedback, in addition to external, social feedback. Such a cybernetic model of morality and moral autonomy is consistent with certain aspects of classical ethical theories.

Neural basis of moral verdict and moral deliberation

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Borg, Jana Schaich; Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter; Calhoun, Vince D.; Kiehl, Kent A.

2011-01-01

How people judge something to be morally right or wrong is a fundamental question of both the sciences and the humanities. Here we aim to identify the neural processes that underlie the specific conclusion that something is morally wrong. To do this, we introduce a novel distinction between “moral deliberation,” or the weighing of moral considerations, and the formation of a “moral verdict,” or the commitment to one moral conclusion. We predict and identify hemodynamic activity in the bilateral anterior insula and basal ganglia that correlates with committing to the moral verdict “this is morally wrong” as opposed to “this is morally not wrong,” a finding that is consistent with research from economic decision-making. Using comparisons of deliberation-locked vs. verdict-locked analyses, we also demonstrate that hemodynamic activity in high-level cortical regions previously implicated in morality—including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate, and temporoparietal junction—correlates primarily with moral deliberation as opposed to moral verdicts. These findings provide new insights into what types of processes comprise the enterprise of moral judgment, and in doing so point to a framework for resolving why some clinical patients, including psychopaths, may have intact moral judgment but impaired moral behavior. PMID:21590588

A business to change the world – moral responsibility in textbooks for International Economics

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Pernilla Andersson

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This article presents an empirical analysis of textbooks for International Economics in upper secondary schools with a focus on moral responsibility for environment and society. The purpose is to analyse the meanings offered to students regarding the scope of taking moral responsibility in relation to the role of a business person. Four different meanings are formulated as a result of the study: one states that a business only can take responsibility inorder to obey laws and respond to consumer demands, a second and third meaning imply that, a business can make demands, to different extents, on subcontractors. A fourth meaning includes that a business (apart from making profit also can be a tool for change. The different meanings are discussed in relation to different functions of education (Biesta 2008, Säfström 2005 and Education for Sustainable Development. The main argument is that a tool forchange-meaning, contributing to a subjectification function of education, ought to have an increased space in education, if we want students who are engaged in sustainability issues regarding the environment and the society also to see a future working within the business world. This is equally important if we want business students to see a future working for sustainable development.

Moral reasoning and emotion attributions of adolescent bullies, victims, and bully-victims.

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Perren, Sonja; Gutzwiller-Helfenfinger, Eveline; Malti, Tina; Hymel, Shelley

2012-11-01

This study investigated different facets of moral development in bullies, victims, and bully-victims among Swiss adolescents. Extending previous research, we focused on both bullying and victimization in relation to adolescents' morally disengaged and morally responsible reasoning as well as moral emotion attributions. A total of 516 adolescents aged 12-18 (57% females) reported the frequency of involvement in bullying and victimization. Participants were categorized as bullies (14.3%), bully-victims (3.9%), and victims (9.7%). Moral judgment, moral justifications, and emotion attributions to a hypothetical perpetrator of a moral transgression (relational aggression) were assessed. Bullies showed more morally disengaged reasoning than non-involved students. Bully-victims more frequently indicated that violating moral rules is right. Victims produced more victim-oriented justifications (i.e., more empathy) but fewer moral rules. Among victims, the frequency of morally responsible justifications decreased and the frequency of deviant rules increased with age. The findings are discussed from an integrative moral developmental perspective. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

On genies and bottles: scientists' moral responsibility and dangerous technology R&D.

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Koepsell, David

2010-03-01

The age-old maxim of scientists whose work has resulted in deadly or dangerous technologies is: scientists are not to blame, but rather technologists and politicians must be morally culpable for the uses of science. As new technologies threaten not just populations but species and biospheres, scientists should reassess their moral culpability when researching fields whose impact may be catastrophic. Looking at real-world examples such as smallpox research and the Australian "mousepox trick", and considering fictional or future technologies like Kurt Vonnegut's "ice-nine" from Cat's Cradle, and the "grey goo" scenario in nanotechnology, this paper suggests how ethical principles developed in biomedicine can be adjusted for science in general. An "extended moral horizon" may require looking not just to the effects of research on individual human subjects, but also to effects on humanity as a whole. Moreover, a crude utilitarian calculus can help scientists make moral decisions about which technologies to pursue and disseminate when catastrophes may result. Finally, institutions should be devised to teach these moral principles to scientists, and require moral education for future funding.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Outcomes: A Moderated Mediation Model of Organizational Identification and Moral Identity

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Wei Wang

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Corporate social responsibility (CSR research is not new, but its importance to today’s socially conscious market environment is even more evident in recent years. This study moves beyond CSR as simply the socially responsible actions and policies of organizations and focuses on the complex psychology of CSR as it relates to individuals within the organization. Given CSR can positively affect both the individuals within the organization and the organization itself, better understanding and leveraging the mechanisms and conditions of CSR that facilitate desired employee outcomes is crucial for organizational performance. However, scholars lack consensus in determining a theoretical framework for understanding how and under what conditions CSR will make an impact on employees and ultimately organizational performance. This study adds clarity by exploring the effect of perceived CSR on a more comprehensive set of employees’ attitudinal and behavioral reactions (i.e., turnover intention, in-role job performance, and helping behavior via the mediating mechanism of organizational identification and the moderating condition of moral identity. Hypotheses were derived using social identity theory. Results were based on data obtained from 340 Chinese manufacturing employee-supervisor dyads. This study found that employees’ perceived CSR had an indirect relationship via organizational identification with each of the variables: (1 turnover intention, (2 in-role job performance, and (3 helping behavior. Specifically, the negative relationship between perceived CSR and turnover intention was stronger when employees had higher moral identity and the positive relationship between perceived CSR and in-role job performance and helping behavior was amplified by moral identity. Our findings show how the mediating mechanism of organizational identity and the moderating condition of moral identity work together to improve organizational effectiveness. The

Unifying Kohlberg with Information Integration: The Moral Algebra of Recompense and of Kohlbergian Moral Informers

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Wilfried Hommers

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In order to unify two major theories of moral judgment, a novel task is employed which combines elements of Kohlberg's stage theory and of the theory of information integration. In contrast to the format of Kohlberg's moral judgment interview, a nonverbal and quantitative response which makes low demands on verbal facility was used . Moral informers differing in value, i.e. high and low, are presented. The differences in effect of those two pieces of information should be substantial for a person at that specific moral stage, but small for a person at a different stage. Hence, these differences may diagnose the person's moral stage in the simplest possible way as the two levels of each of the thoughts were about typical content of the four Kohlbergian preconventional and conventional stages. The novel task allowed additionally to measure the influence of another moral concept which was about the non-Kohlbergian moral concept of recompense. After a training phase, pairs of those thoughts were presented to allow for the study of integration and individual differences. German and Korean children, 8, 10, and 12 years in age, judged deserved punishment. The patterns of means, correlations and factor loadings showed that elements of both theories can be unified, but produced unexpected results also. Additive integration of each of the two pairs of moral informers appeared, either with two Kohlbergian moral informers or with another Kohlbergian moral informer in combination with information about recompense. Also cultural independence as well as dependence, developmental changes between 8 and 10 years, and an outstanding moral impact of recompense in size and distinctiveness were observed.

Reflection and Reasoning in Moral Judgment

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Paxton, Joseph M.; Ungar, Leo; Greene, Joshua D.

2012-01-01

While there is much evidence for the influence of automatic emotional responses on moral judgment, the roles of reflection and reasoning remain uncertain. In Experiment 1, we induced subjects to be more reflective by completing the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) prior to responding to moral dilemmas. This manipulation increased utilitarian…

Victims, vectors and villains: are those who opt out of vaccination morally responsible for the deaths of others?

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Jamrozik, Euzebiusz; Handfield, Toby; Selgelid, Michael J

2016-12-01

Mass vaccination has been a successful public health strategy for many contagious diseases. The immunity of the vaccinated also protects others who cannot be safely or effectively vaccinated-including infants and the immunosuppressed. When vaccination rates fall, diseases like measles can rapidly resurge in a population. Those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons are at the highest risk of severe disease and death. They thus may bear the burden of others' freedom to opt out of vaccination. It is often asked whether it is legitimate for states to adopt and enforce mandatory universal vaccination. Yet this neglects a related question: are those who opt out, where it is permitted, morally responsible when others are harmed or die as a result of their decision? In this article, we argue that individuals who opt out of vaccination are morally responsible for resultant harms to others. Using measles as our main example, we demonstrate the ways in which opting out of vaccination can result in a significant risk of harm and death to others, especially infants and the immunosuppressed. We argue that imposing these risks without good justification is blameworthy and examine ways of reaching a coherent understanding of individual moral responsibility for harms in the context of the collective action required for disease transmission. Finally, we consider several objections to this view, provide counterarguments and suggest morally permissible alternatives to mandatory universal vaccination including controlled infection, self-imposed social isolation and financial penalties for refusal to vaccinate. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Educating Moral Emotions or Moral Selves: A False Dichotomy?

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Kristjansson, Kristjan

2010-01-01

In the post-Kohlbergian era of moral education, a "moral gap" has been identified between moral cognition and moral action. Contemporary moral psychologists lock horns over how this gap might be bridged. The two main contenders for such bridge-building are moral emotions and moral selves. I explore these two options from an Aristotelian…

The Contrabassist and the CEO: Moral Judgment and Collective Identity

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Alessandro Pinzani

2003-01-01

Full Text Available How much is a moral judgment on a single act influenced by circumstances which have little to do with the nature of the act itself? How much have certain moral judgments to do with the common history and shared experience of a certain group of individuals? Using two cases taken from life (a German musician and a German CEO behaving both in a morally wrong way but with very different consequences from the point of view of moral judgement and with very different reactions from the German public, the article tries to give an answer to these questions, touching issues like: guilt, moral responsibility, collective responsibility, and collective identity.

Proscriptive versus prescriptive morality: two faces of moral regulation.

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Janoff-Bulman, Ronnie; Sheikh, Sana; Hepp, Sebastian

2009-03-01

A distinction is made between two forms of morality on the basis of approach-avoidance differences in self-regulation. Prescriptive morality is sensitive to positive outcomes, activation-based, and focused on what we should do. Proscriptive morality is sensitive to negative outcomes, inhibition-based, and focused on what we should not do. Seven studies profile these two faces of morality, support their distinct motivational underpinnings, and provide evidence of moral asymmetry. Both are well-represented in individuals' moral repertoire and equivalent in terms of moral weight, but proscriptive morality is condemnatory and strict, whereas prescriptive morality is commendatory and not strict. More specifically, in these studies proscriptive morality was perceived as concrete, mandatory, and duty-based, whereas prescriptive morality was perceived as more abstract, discretionary, and based in duty or desire; proscriptive immorality resulted in greater blame, whereas prescriptive morality resulted in greater moral credit. Implications for broader social regulation, including cross-cultural differences and political orientation, are discussed.

Moral Literacy in Technological Care Work

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Krøjer, Jo; Dupret, Katia

2014-01-01

Many different professionals play a key role in maintaining welfare in a welfare society. These professionals engage in moral judgements when using (new) technologies. In doing so, they achieve that radical responsibility towards the other that Levinas describes as being at the very core of ethics....... Also, professionals try to assess the possible consequences of the involvement of specific technologies and adjust their actions in order to ensure ethical responsibility. Thus, ethics is necessary in order to obtain and sustain one's professionalism. This presents care institutions with the challenge...... to design work processes and technology work in ways that include a sense of ‘the Other’ and make moral judgement an indispensable part of professional competence in technology. This article provides new understandings of the way ethics are involved in care institutions. Nurses’ moral judgements...

A subjective utilitarian theory of moral judgment.

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Cohen, Dale J; Ahn, Minwoo

2016-10-01

Current theories hypothesize that moral judgments are difficult because rational and emotional decision processes compete. We present a fundamentally different theory of moral judgment: the Subjective Utilitarian Theory of moral judgment. The Subjective Utilitarian Theory posits that people try to identify and save the competing item with the greatest "personal value." Moral judgments become difficult only when the competing items have similar personal values. In Experiment 1, we estimate the personal values of 104 items. In Experiments 2-5, we show that the distributional overlaps of the estimated personal values account for over 90% of the variance in reaction times (RTs) and response choices in a moral judgment task. Our model fundamentally restructures our understanding of moral judgments from a competition between decision processes to a competition between similarly valued items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The Moral Philosopher Looks at Values Education.

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Banner, William Augustus

1980-01-01

William James, Kierkegaard, Kant, and Arnold, among others, warrant attention as the responsibilities of colleges for the moral education of students are reassessed. It is suggested that the issue of culture as a moral enterprise is at the heart of the argument. (Author/MSE)

Ethics before Equality: Moral Education after Levinas.

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Standish, Paul

2001-01-01

Discusses nihilism as a characteristic of contemporary discourse regarding morality and moral education. Examines this discourse in light of Emmanuel Levinas' account of the primacy of ethics: absolute responsibility in the face of the other, of the asymmetry of relations to each other. (CAJ)

Disgust, but not anger provocation, enhances levator labii superioris activity during exposure to moral transgressions.

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Whitton, Alexis E; Henry, Julie D; Rendell, Peter G; Grisham, Jessica R

2014-02-01

Physical disgust is elicited by, and amplifies responses to, moral transgressions, suggesting that moral disgust may be a biologically expanded form of physical disgust. However, there is limited research comparing the effects of physical disgust to that of other emotions like anger, making it difficult to determine if the link between disgust and morality is unique. The current research evaluated the specificity of the relationship between disgust and morality by comparing links with anger, using state, physiological and trait measures of emotionality. Participants (N=90) were randomly allocated to have disgust, anger or no emotion induced. Responses to images depicting moral, negative non-moral, and neutral themes were then recorded using facial electromyography. Inducing disgust, but not anger, increased psychophysiological responses to moral themes. Trait disgust, but not trait anger, correlated with levator labii responses to moral themes. These findings provide strong evidence of a unique link between physical disgust and morality. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The ethical desirability of moral bioenhancement: a review of reasons

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background The debate on the ethical aspects of moral bioenhancement focuses on the desirability of using biomedical as opposed to traditional means to achieve moral betterment. The aim of this paper is to systematically review the ethical reasons presented in the literature for and against moral bioenhancement. Discussion A review was performed and resulted in the inclusion of 85 articles. We classified the arguments used in those articles in the following six clusters: (1) why we (don’t) need moral bioenhancement, (2) it will (not) be possible to reach consensus on what moral bioenhancement should involve, (3) the feasibility of moral bioenhancement and the status of current scientific research, (4) means and processes of arriving at moral improvement matter ethically, (5) arguments related to the freedom, identity and autonomy of the individual, and (6) arguments related to social/group effects and dynamics. We discuss each argument separately, and assess the debate as a whole. First, there is little discussion on what distinguishes moral bioenhancement from treatment of pathological deficiencies in morality. Furthermore, remarkably little attention has been paid so far to the safety, risks and side-effects of moral enhancement, including the risk of identity changes. Finally, many authors overestimate the scientific as well as the practical feasibility of the interventions they discuss, rendering the debate too speculative. Summary Based on our discussion of the arguments used in the debate on moral enhancement, and our assessment of this debate, we advocate a shift in focus. Instead of speculating about non-realistic hypothetical scenarios such as the genetic engineering of morality, or morally enhancing ‘the whole of humanity’, we call for a more focused debate on realistic options of biomedical treatment of moral pathologies and the concrete moral questions these treatments raise. PMID:25227512

Genetic modification and genetic determinism

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Resnik, David B; Vorhaus, Daniel B

2006-01-01

In this article we examine four objections to the genetic modification of human beings: the freedom argument, the giftedness argument, the authenticity argument, and the uniqueness argument. We then demonstrate that each of these arguments against genetic modification assumes a strong version of genetic determinism. Since these strong deterministic assumptions are false, the arguments against genetic modification, which assume and depend upon these assumptions, are therefore unsound. Serious discussion of the morality of genetic modification, and the development of sound science policy, should be driven by arguments that address the actual consequences of genetic modification for individuals and society, not by ones propped up by false or misleading biological assumptions. PMID:16800884

Genetic modification and genetic determinism

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Vorhaus Daniel B

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract In this article we examine four objections to the genetic modification of human beings: the freedom argument, the giftedness argument, the authenticity argument, and the uniqueness argument. We then demonstrate that each of these arguments against genetic modification assumes a strong version of genetic determinism. Since these strong deterministic assumptions are false, the arguments against genetic modification, which assume and depend upon these assumptions, are therefore unsound. Serious discussion of the morality of genetic modification, and the development of sound science policy, should be driven by arguments that address the actual consequences of genetic modification for individuals and society, not by ones propped up by false or misleading biological assumptions.

Nietos Morales

OpenAIRE

Arriaga

2015-01-01

1 Toma en 2 revelados O.I. V. DE GARCIA- Carlota R. 80 años MORALES- Pedro J. 12 años MORALES- Francisco de S. 10 años 6mes. MORALES- Beatriz 09 años Morales- Antonio 07 años MORALES- Manuel 04 años 6mes. MORALES- José 01 año

Relative Contribution of Odour Intensity and Valence to Moral Decisions.

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Cecchetto, Cinzia; Rumiati, Raffaella Ida; Parma, Valentina

2017-01-01

Meta-analytic evidence showed that the chemical senses affect moral decisions. However, how odours impact on morality is currently unclear. Through a set of three studies, we assess whether and how odour intensity biases moral choices (Study 1a), its psychophysiological responses (Study 1b), as well as the behavioural and psychophysiological effects of odour valence on moral choices (Study 2). Study 1a suggests that the presence of an odour plays a role in shaping moral choice. Study 1b reveals that of two iso-pleasant versions of the same neutral odour, only the one presented sub-threshold (vs. supra-threshold) favours deontological moral choices, those based on the principle of not harming others even when such harm provides benefits. As expected, this odour intensity effect is tracked by skin conductance responses, whereas no difference in cardiac activity - proxy for the valence dimension - is revealed. Study 2 suggests that the same neutral odour presented sub-threshold increases deontological choices even when compared to iso-intense ambiguous odour, perceived as pleasant or unpleasant by half of the participants, respectively. Skin conductance responses, as expected, track odour pleasantness, but cardiac activity fails to do so. Results are discussed in the context of mechanisms alternative to disgust induction underlying moral choices.

Altered moral decision-making in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

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Rosen, Jan B; Rott, Elisa; Ebersbach, Georg; Kalbe, Elke

2015-10-01

Moral decision-making essentially contributes to social conduct. Although patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) show deficits in (non-moral) decision making and related neuropsychological functions, i.e. executive functions, theory of mind (ToM), and empathy, moral decision-making has rarely been examined in PD patients. We examined possible alterations of moral decision-making and associated functions in PD. Twenty non-demented PD patients and 23 age- and education-matched healthy control participants were examined with tests that assess reasoning, executive functions (set-shifting and planning), ToM and empathy, decision-making under risk, and moral intuitions. Moral decision-making was assessed with a close-to-everyday moral dilemma paradigm that opposes socially oriented "altruistic" choices to self-beneficial "egoistic" choices in 20 moral dilemma short stories (10 high and 10 low emotional). Concurrently, electrodermal activity was recorded. PD patients made more egoistic moral decisions than healthy controls. Remarkably, while reasoning, planning and empathy correlated with moral decision-making in the control group, in the PD group neuropsychological functions and dopaminergic medication did not correlate with moral decisions. No evidence for reduced skin conductance responses in PD patients and no relationships between skin conductance responses and moral decisions were observed. This study provides evidence for moral decision-making dysfunctions in PD patients who made more egoistic moral decisions. As a possible underlying mechanism, reduced exercise of attentional control due to a dysfunctional interplay between the prefrontal cortex and the basal ganglia is discussed. Future research will have to determine the impact of PD patients' moral decision-making dysfunctions on everyday life and further determine correlates of the deficits. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On Moral Luck and Nonideal Moral Education

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Chinnery, Ann

2015-01-01

In contrast to the Kantian principle that we are morally accountable only for those actions over which we have control, Bernard Williams, Thomas Nagel, and others have argued that luck plays a significant role in the moral life. Put briefly, moral luck is at play when we are appropriately praised or blamed for our moral actions despite the fact…

DILEMAS MORALES

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Sandra Realpe Quintero

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Antes del siglo XX la tradición filosófica moral ha reconocido la existencia de los conflictos morales pero ha rechazado la posibilidad de los auténticos dilemas morales. Para poder entender por qué hoy el tema de los dilemas morales ha reclamado para sí tanta atención, es importante ponernos de acuerdo en la definición de algunos conceptos. Un conflicto moral es una situación en la que un(a agente se ve confrontado(a con dos obligaciones morales que le instan a actuar. Un dilema moral es una situación extrema de conflicto moral en la que nuestro(a agente no puede seguir un curso de acción que sea conforme con sus dos obligaciones en conflicto. Para que un conflicto moral tenga el carácter de ser un auténtico dilema moral (genuine moral dilemma y no simplemente un aparente dilema moral (apparent moral di- DILEMAS MORALES SANDRA REALPE Licenciada en Filosofía, Univalle, Maestría en Filosofía, Univalle, Diplomado en Psicología Aplicada, Universidad de Londres, Diplomado en Etica de los Negocios Universidad de Colorado, profesora Universidad Icesi, Facultad de Derecho y Humanidades. E-mail: sandrarealpe@hotmail.com lemma, ninguna de las obligaciones en conflicto es en efecto más fuerte o logra invalidar a la otra obligación. A raíz de un artículo escrito en 1962 por E. J. Lemmon, titulado precisamente “Dilemas morales” (Moral Dilemmas, se abrió un debate entre los filósofos anglosajones contemporáneos acerca de la existencia o no de los auténticos dilemas morales. Informar sobre este debate reciente, esclarecer los argumentos de sus principales protagonistas, y hacer presente en nuestro medio un novedoso debate que es importante para reflexionar sobre un buen número de problemas morales, son nuestros principales propósitos en el presente ensayo. ...

A meta-analysis of response-time tests of the sequential two-systems model of moral judgment.

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Baron, Jonathan; Gürçay, Burcu

2017-05-01

The (generalized) sequential two-system ("default interventionist") model of utilitarian moral judgment predicts that utilitarian responses often arise from a system-two correction of system-one deontological intuitions. Response-time (RT) results that seem to support this model are usually explained by the fact that low-probability responses have longer RTs. Following earlier results, we predicted response probability from each subject's tendency to make utilitarian responses (A, "Ability") and each dilemma's tendency to elicit deontological responses (D, "Difficulty"), estimated from a Rasch model. At the point where A = D, the two responses are equally likely, so probability effects cannot account for any RT differences between them. The sequential two-system model still predicts that many of the utilitarian responses made at this point will result from system-two corrections of system-one intuitions, hence should take longer. However, when A = D, RT for the two responses was the same, contradicting the sequential model. Here we report a meta-analysis of 26 data sets, which replicated the earlier results of no RT difference overall at the point where A = D. The data sets used three different kinds of moral judgment items, and the RT equality at the point where A = D held for all three. In addition, we found that RT increased with A-D. This result holds for subjects (characterized by Ability) but not for items (characterized by Difficulty). We explain the main features of this unanticipated effect, and of the main results, with a drift-diffusion model.

Situational variation in moral judgment: In a stage or on a stage?

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Carpendale, J I; Krebs, D L

1992-04-01

Two issues were examined in this study-the consistency of moral judgment across different types of dilemma and different social contexts, and the relationship between the structure (stage) of moral judgment and the content of moral decisions. Forty subjects were given two hypothetical dilemmas about business decisions and two standard Kohlberg dilemmas. Half the subjects directed their responses to a business audience, half to a philosophical audience. Responses to the moral dilemmas were scored in accordance with the Colby and Kohlberg (1987) scoring manual. Stage of moral reasoning was found to be significantly higher on the Kohlberg dilemmas than on the business dilemmas. A significant interaction between type of dilemma and audience was attributed to the tendency of subjects directing their responses to a business audience to interpret one of the business dilemmas in terms of the moral order of business, but for subjects directing their responses to a philosophy audience to treat it as a philosophical dilemma. The other business dilemma evoked uniformly low-level moral judgments. The amount of selfishness intrinsic in subjects' moral choices on the business dilemmas was significantly negatively correlated with moral maturity on the business dilemmas, but not with their moral maturity on Kohlberg's test. These results are interpreted as more consistent with models of moral development such as those advanced by C. G. Levine ([1979] "Stage Acquisition and Stage Use: An Appraisal of Stage Displacement Explanations of Variation in Moral Reasoning, " Human Development, Vol. 22, pp. 145-164), J. Rest ([1983] "Morality," in: P. H. Mussen [ed.], J. H. Flavell and E. Markman [Vol. eds.], Handbook of Child Psychology [Vol. 3, 4th ed.], John Wiley & Sons, New York), and R. Harré ([1984]) Personal Being: A Theory for Individual Psychology, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts), which posit a relatively wide range of within-person stage use and emphasize the

Neural correlates of moral judgment in pedophilia.

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Massau, Claudia; Kärgel, Christian; Weiß, Simone; Walter, Martin; Ponseti, Jorge; Hc Krueger, Tillmann; Walter, Henrik; Schiffer, Boris

2017-09-01

Pedophilia is a sexual preference that is often associated with child sex offending (CSO). Sexual urges towards prepubescent children and specifically acting upon those urges are universally regarded as immoral. However, up until now, it is completely unknown whether moral processing of sexual offenses is altered in pedophiles. A total of 31 pedophilic men and 19 healthy controls were assessed by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in combination with a moral judgment paradigm consisting of 36 scenarios describing different types of offenses.Scenarios depicting sexual offenses against children compared to those depicting adults were associated with higher pattern of activation in the left temporo-parietal-junction (TPJ) and left posterior insular cortex, the posterior cingulate gyrus as well as the precuneus in controls relative to pedophiles, and vice versa. Moreover, brain activation in these areas were positively associated with ratings of moral reprehensibility and negatively associated with decision durations, but only in controls. Brain activation, found in key areas related to the broad network of moral judgment, theory of mind and (socio-)moral disgust - point to different moral processing of sexual offenses in pedophilia in general. The lack of associations between brain activation and behavioral responses in pedophiles further suggest a biased response pattern or dissected implicit valuation processes. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

Resolving Ethical Dilemmas: Exploring the Role of Moral Principles

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Blais, Ann-Renee; Thompsom, Megan

2008-01-01

We sought to answer two questions via this exploratory study. First, we investigated whether or not individual differences in moral principle selection/preference existed in response to six moral dilemmas...

Moral Luck from Bernard Williams’ Point of View

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Zahra Khazai ; Fatemeh Tamaddon

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Moral luck is an important issue in meta- ethics. Its conflict to principle of control make challenges to moral moral assessment, moral judgment and moral responsibility. Bernard Williams is the first philosopher who uses the expression "moral luck" and tries to show that the contradiction between “moral” and “luck” is not so serious. Against Kantian’s idea and also our intuitions Williams doesn’t believe that morality is immune of luck and that unlike other values, is accessible to all people. If moral value is accessible to all, according to his idea, it should be not only immune of luck but also supreme. Giving some examples, Williams by concepts like justification, regret and retrospective, shows that morality hasn’t these characteristics. Dividing moral luck into four types: resultant, circumstantial, constitutive and causal, Thomas Nagel puts Williams' moral luck under the first type and criticizes it. This study seeks to explain Bernard Williams’ viewpoint on moral luck. At first it clears types of moral luck, principle of control and its contradiction with moral luck, then after explaining Williams’ account of moral luck criticizes it. Nagel’s criticisms and others show that although they accept the existence of moral luck and also their account is compatible to williams’ but they deny williams’ success in defending of this phenomenon. Finally, despite of all critiques, it seems that Williams’ failure in defense of moral luck didn’t decrease the importance of this matter, but made some stronger ideas were appeared by Thomas Nagel in this regard.

Once Dishonest, Always Dishonest? The Impact of Perceived Pervasiveness of Moral Evaluations of the Self on Motivation to Restore a Moral Reputation

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Stefano ePagliaro

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Four studies specify how moral evaluations of the self regulate behavior aimed at restoring a moral reputation. We propose that people care about evaluations of themselves as moral or immoral because these are perceived as more consequential than other types of information. Therefore people are more inclined to restore their image after being negatively evaluated in terms of morality rather than competence. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that moral information was perceived as having a more enduring impact on one’s reputation, and was more strongly related to anticipated intra-group respect and self-views, than competence and sociability information. This perceived pervasiveness of moral (versus competence evaluations mediated intentions to justify and explain one’s behavior (Study 3. Study 4 finally showed that being seen as lacking in morality elicited threat and coping responses, which induced subsequent tendencies to repair one’s moral reputation.

Evaluating moral reasoning in nursing education.

Science.gov (United States)

McLeod-Sordjan, Renee

2014-06-01

Evidence-based practice suggests the best approach to improving professionalism in practice is ethics curricula. However, recent research has demonstrated that millennium graduates do not advocate for patients or assert themselves during moral conflicts. The aim of this article is the exploration of evaluation techniques to evaluate one measurable outcome of ethics curricula: moral reasoning. A review of literature, published between 1995 and 2013, demonstrated that the moral orientations of care and justice as conceptualized by Gilligan and Kohlberg are utilized by nursing students to solve ethical dilemmas. Data obtained by means of reflective journaling, Ethics of Care Interview (ECI) and Defining Issues Test (DIT), would objectively measure the interrelated pathways of care-based and justice-based moral reasoning. In conclusion, educators have an ethical responsibility to foster students' ability to exercise sound clinical judgment, and support their professional development. It is recommended that educators design authentic assessments to demonstrate student's improvement of moral reasoning. © The Author(s) 2013.

Educação moral: adestramento ou reflexão comunicativa? Moral education: training or communicative reflection?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Goergen

2001-10-01

Full Text Available O texto busca elucidar alguns dos mais relevantes aspectos da educação moral no contexto do mundo plural contemporâneo. Parte-se do suposto de que a educação moral é possível e necessária, mesmo no cenário atual de desestabilização dos valores fixos e universais da tradição. Esta educação moral, portanto, já não pode ser concebida como transmissão de valores e comportamentos morais, mas como a introdução dos educandos no mundo conflitante das concepções morais, objetivando consensos mínimos que sirvam de base para o seu agir moral. Por meio de uma relação pedagógica reflexivo/comunicativa espera-se sensibilizar os alunos para a problemática da moralidade, bem como promover a estruturação de uma subjetividade a partir da qual cada um possa tomar suas decisões morais com responsabilidade.This text seeks to elucidate some of the most relevant aspects of moral education in the context of our contemporaneous, plural world. It assumes that moral education is possible and necessary, even in the current setting where the fixed, universal values of tradition are destabilized. Such moral education, which can no longer be considered as the transmission of moral values and behaviors, consists of the introduction of learners into the conflicting world of moral conceptions, aiming at minimum consensuses that lay the bases for their moral actions. Through a reflexive-communicative pedagogical relationship one hopes to heighten the students awareness of the morality problems, as well as structure a subjectivity that allows anyone to responsibly make their own moral decisions.

Weighing in on Genetic Engineering and Morality: Students Reveal Their Ideas, Expectations, and Reservations.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadler, Troy D.; Zeidler, Dana L.

The ability to negotiate and resolve socioscientific issues has been posited as integral components of scientific literacy. Although philosophers and science educators have argued that socioscientific issues inherently involve moral and ethical considerations, the ultimate arbiters of morality are individual decision-makers. This study explored…

Online Moral Disengagement, Cyberbullying, and Cyber-Aggression.

Science.gov (United States)

Runions, Kevin C; Bak, Michal

2015-07-01

The study of moral disengagement has greatly informed research on aggression and bullying. There has been some debate on whether cyberbullies and other cyber-aggressors show more or less of a tendency for moral disengagement than traditional aggressors and bullies. However, according to the triadic model of reciprocal determinism, an individual's behavior influences and is influenced by both personal factors and his/her social environment. This article reviews the literature to propose a new conceptual framework addressing how features of the online context may enable specific mechanisms that facilitate moral disengagement. Specific affordances for moral disengagement proposed here include the paucity of social-emotional cues, the ease of disseminating communication via social networks, and the media attention on cyberbullying, which may elicit moral justification, euphemistic labeling, palliative comparison, diffusion and displacement of responsibility, minimizing and disregarding the consequences for others, dehumanization, and attribution of blame. These ideas suggest that by providing affordances for these mechanisms of moral disengagement, online settings may facilitate cyber-aggression and cyberbullying.

Values Education: A Response to Moral Relativism.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Joseph H.

There is a growing agreement that the moral relativism or value neutral education of the 1970s has been a failure, and many groups and individuals are calling for values education to become part of school curriculum. This paper focuses on the administration of values education and discusses the public policy debate surrounding it. Several…

[Ethical challenges of genetic manipulation and research with animals].

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez Yunta, Eduardo

2012-01-01

Research with animals presents ethical questions both for being used as models of human diseases and for being a prerequisite for trials in humans, as in the introduction of genetic modifications. Some of these questions refer to the fact that, as models, they do not fully represent the human condition; that conducting toxicity tests causes great harm to animals; that their nature is altered by genetic modifications and that introducing genetically modified organisms is a risk. The use of animals in research for the benefit of humans imposes the moral responsibility to respect them, not making them suffer unnecessarily, since they are living beings capable of feeling.

Navigating moral distress using the moral distress map.

Science.gov (United States)

Dudzinski, Denise Marie

2016-05-01

The plethora of literature on moral distress has substantiated and refined the concept, provided data about clinicians' (especially nurses') experiences, and offered advice for coping. Fewer scholars have explored what makes moral distress moral If we acknowledge that patient care can be distressing in the best of ethical circumstances, then differentiating distress and moral distress may refine the array of actions that are likely to ameliorate it. This article builds upon scholarship exploring the normative and conceptual dimensions of moral distress and introduces a new tool to map moral distress from emotional source to corrective actions. The Moral Distress Map has proven useful in clinical teaching and ethics-related debriefings. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

European Portuguese adaptation and validation of dilemmas used to assess moral decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Carina; Gonçalves, Ana Ribeiro; Pasion, Rita; Ferreira-Santos, Fernando; Paiva, Tiago Oliveira; Melo E Castro, Joana; Barbosa, Fernando; Martins, Isabel Pavão; Marques-Teixeira, João

2018-03-01

Objective To adapt and validate a widely used set of moral dilemmas to European Portuguese, which can be applied to assess decision-making. Moreover, the classical formulation of the dilemmas was compared with a more focused moral probe. Finally, a shorter version of the moral scenarios was tested. Methods The Portuguese version of the set of moral dilemmas was tested in 53 individuals from several regions of Portugal. In a second study, an alternative way of questioning on moral dilemmas was tested in 41 participants. Finally, the shorter version of the moral dilemmas was tested in 137 individuals. Results Results evidenced no significant differences between English and Portuguese versions. Also, asking whether actions are "morally acceptable" elicited less utilitarian responses than the original question, although without reaching statistical significance. Finally, all tested versions of moral dilemmas exhibited the same pattern of responses, suggesting that the fundamental elements to the moral decision-making were preserved. Conclusions We found evidence of cross-cultural validity for moral dilemmas. However, the moral focus might affect utilitarian/deontological judgments.

European Portuguese adaptation and validation of dilemmas used to assess moral decision-making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carina Fernandes

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objective To adapt and validate a widely used set of moral dilemmas to European Portuguese, which can be applied to assess decision-making. Moreover, the classical formulation of the dilemmas was compared with a more focused moral probe. Finally, a shorter version of the moral scenarios was tested. Methods The Portuguese version of the set of moral dilemmas was tested in 53 individuals from several regions of Portugal. In a second study, an alternative way of questioning on moral dilemmas was tested in 41 participants. Finally, the shorter version of the moral dilemmas was tested in 137 individuals. Results Results evidenced no significant differences between English and Portuguese versions. Also, asking whether actions are “morally acceptable” elicited less utilitarian responses than the original question, although without reaching statistical significance. Finally, all tested versions of moral dilemmas exhibited the same pattern of responses, suggesting that the fundamental elements to the moral decision-making were preserved. Conclusions We found evidence of cross-cultural validity for moral dilemmas. However, the moral focus might affect utilitarian/deontological judgments.

Moral Philosophy, Moral Expertise, and the Argument from Disagreement.

Science.gov (United States)

Cross, Ben

2016-03-01

Several recent articles have weighed in on the question of whether moral philosophers can be counted as moral experts. One argument denying this has been rejected by both sides of the debate. According to this argument, the extent of disagreement in modern moral philosophy prevents moral philosophers from being classified as moral experts. Call this the Argument From Disagreement (AD). In this article, I defend a version of AD. Insofar as practical issues in moral philosophy are characterized by disagreement between moral philosophers who are more or less equally well credentialed on the issue, non-philosophers have no good reasons to defer to their views. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Moral Psychology and the Problem of Moral Criteria

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Welch, Patrick

2011-01-01

This article is intended as an initial investigation into the foundations of moral psychology. I primarily examine a recent work in moral education, Daniel Lapsley's and Darcia Narvaez"s "Character education", whose authors seem to assume at points that criteria for discerning moral actions and moral traits can be derived apart from ethics or…

Emotional reactions in moral decision-making are influenced by empathy and alexithymia.

Science.gov (United States)

Cecchetto, Cinzia; Korb, Sebastian; Rumiati, Raffaella Ida; Aiello, Marilena

2018-04-01

The role of emotional processes in driving moral choices remains debated. In particular, diminished emotional processing and reduced empathy have been associated with unusual high rates of utilitarian responses in moral judgments while, to date, the effects of diminished emotional processing and empathy on moral decision-making have been only partially considered. In this study, we investigated the influence of empathy and alexithymia on behavior and emotional responses while participants performed a moral decision task. Self-report (valence and arousal ratings) and physiological (skin conductance and heart rate) measures were collected during the task. Results showed that empathy and alexithymia shaped emotional reactions to moral decisions but did not bias moral choices. The more empathic the participants, the more dilemmas were perceived as unpleasant and arousing, and the greater the increase in skin conductance. Conversely, alexithymia was characterized by a reduced physiological activation during moral decisions, but normal self-report ratings. Heart rate was not modulated by empathy or alexithymia. These results add new evidence to the field of moral decision showing that empathy and alexithymia modulate emotional reactions to moral decision.

Moral Reasoning and Emotion Attributions of Adolescent Bullies, Victims, and Bully-Victims

Science.gov (United States)

Perren, Sonja; Gutzwiller-Helfenfinger, Eveline; Malti, Tina; Hymel, Shelley

2012-01-01

This study investigated different facets of moral development in bullies, victims, and bully-victims among Swiss adolescents. Extending previous research, we focused on both bullying and victimization in relation to adolescents' morally disengaged and morally responsible reasoning as well as moral emotion attributions. A total of 516 adolescents…

Property and Human Genetic Information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Morten Ebbe Juul; Kongsholm, Nana Cecilie Halmsted; Schovsbo, Jens Hemmingsen

2018-01-01

Do donors (of samples from which genetic information is derived) have some sort of pre-legal (moral) or legal property right tothat information? In this paper, we address this question from both a moral philosophical and a legal point of view. We argue thatphilosophical theories about property do...

Unawareness of Self-interest Bias in Moral Judgments of Others’ Behavior

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Bocian Konrad

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Previous studies (Bocian & Wojciszke, 2014 showed that self-interest biases moral perception of others’ unethical actions. Moreover, affective changes in attitudinal responses towards the perpetrator of an immoral act drives the bias. In the present studies, we attempted to answer the question whether people are aware of the self-interest bias in their judgments of others’ behavior. We conducted two experiments showing that moral judgments of verbally described and imagined actions were dominated by norms rather than self-interest (Study 1 and that people were not aware that self-interest distorted their moral judgment (Study 2. The unawareness of the self-interest bias among the participants was attributable to omission of their own emotional responses when forecasting their moral judgments. We discuss the importance of emotions presence in studies on moral judgments as well as contribution of the present research to the intuitionist approach to moral judgment.

Moral courage in nursing: A concept analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Numminen, Olivia; Repo, Hanna; Leino-Kilpi, Helena

2017-12-01

Nursing as an ethical practice requires courage to be moral, taking tough stands for what is right, and living by one's moral values. Nurses need moral courage in all areas and at all levels of nursing. Along with new interest in virtue ethics in healthcare, interest in moral courage as a virtue and a valued element of human morality has increased. Nevertheless, what the concept of moral courage means in nursing contexts remains ambiguous. This article is an analysis of the concept of moral courage in nursing. Rodgers' evolutionary method of concept analysis provided the framework to conduct the analysis. The literature search was carried out in September 2015 in six databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and The Philosopher's Index. The following key words were used: "moral" OR "ethical" AND "courage" OR "strength" AND "nurs*" with no time limit. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 31 studies were included in the final analysis. Ethical considerations: This study was conducted according to good scientific guidelines. Seven core attributes of moral courage were identified: true presence, moral integrity, responsibility, honesty, advocacy, commitment and perseverance, and personal risk. Antecedents were ethical sensitivity, conscience, and experience. Consequences included personal and professional development and empowerment. This preliminary clarification warrants further exploring through theoretical and philosophical literature, expert opinions, and empirical research to gain validity and reliability for its application in nursing practice.

Judgments about moral responsibility and determinism in patients with behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia: still compatibilists.

Science.gov (United States)

Cova, Florian; Bertoux, Maxime; Bourgeois-Gironde, Sacha; Dubois, Bruno

2012-06-01

Do laypeople think that moral responsibility is compatible with determinism? Recently, philosophers and psychologists trying to answer this question have found contradictory results: while some experiments reveal people to have compatibilist intuitions, others suggest that people could in fact be incompatibilist. To account for this contradictory answers, Nichols and Knobe (2007) have advanced a 'performance error model' according to which people are genuine incompatibilist that are sometimes biased to give compatibilist answers by emotional reactions. To test for this hypothesis, we investigated intuitions about determinism and moral responsibility in patients suffering from behavioural frontotemporal dementia. Patients suffering from bvFTD have impoverished emotional reaction. Thus, the 'performance error model' should predict that bvFTD patients will give less compatibilist answers. However, we found that bvFTD patients give answers quite similar to subjects in control group and were mostly compatibilist. Thus, we conclude that the 'performance error model' should be abandoned in favour of other available model that best fit our data. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Why moral philosophers are not and should not be moral experts.

Science.gov (United States)

Archard, David

2011-03-01

Professional philosophers are members of bioethical committees and regulatory bodies in areas of interest to bioethicists. This suggests they possess moral expertise even if they do not exercise it directly and without constraint. Moral expertise is defined, and four arguments given in support of scepticism about their possession of such expertise are considered and rejected: the existence of extreme disagreement between moral philosophers about moral matters; the lack of a means clearly to identify moral experts; that expertise cannot be claimed in that which lacks objectivity; and that ordinary people do not follow the advice of moral experts. I offer a better reason for scepticism grounded in the relation between moral philosophy and common-sense morality: namely that modern moral philosophy views even a developed moral theory as ultimately anchored in common-sense morality, that set of basic moral precepts which ordinary individuals have command of and use to regulate their own lives. Even if moral philosophers do nevertheless have a limited moral expertise, in that they alone can fully develop a set of moral judgments, I sketch reasons - grounded in the values of autonomy and of democracy - why moral philosophers should not wish non-philosophers to defer to their putative expertise. © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Ordering within Moral Orders to Manage Classroom Trouble

Science.gov (United States)

Doherty, Catherine; McGregor, Rowena; Shield, Paul

2016-01-01

This paper demonstrates how classroom trouble warranting teacher intervention can stem from transgressions in different layers of the complex moral order regulating classroom interactions. The paper builds from Durkheim's treatment of schooling as the institution responsible for the inculcation of a shared moral order, Bernstein's distinction…

Protection as care: moral reasoning and moral orientation among ethnically and socioeconomically diverse older women.

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Dakin, Emily

2014-01-01

This study examined moral reasoning among ethnically and socioeconomically diverse older women based on the care and justice moral orientations reflecting theoretical frameworks developed by Carol Gilligan and Lawrence Kohlberg, respectively. A major gap in this area of research and theory development has been the lack of examination of moral reasoning in later life. This study addressed this gap by assessing socioeconomically and ethnically diverse older women's reasoning in response to ethical dilemmas showing conflict between autonomy, representative of Kohlberg's justice orientation, and protection, representative of Gilligan's care orientation. The dilemmas used in this study came from adult protective services (APS), the U.S. system that investigates and intervenes in cases of elder abuse and neglect. Subjects were 88 African American, Latina, and Caucasian women age 60 or over from varying socioeconomic status backgrounds who participated in eight focus groups. Overall, participants favored protection over autonomy in responding to the case scenarios. Their reasoning in responding to these dilemmas reflected an ethic of care and responsibility and a recognition of the limitations of autonomy. This reasoning is highly consistent with the care orientation. Variations in the overall ethic of care and responsibility based on ethnicity and SES also are discussed. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Moral Geography and Exploration of the Moral Possibility Space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bongrae Seok

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This article reviews Owen Flanagan’s latest book “The Geography of Morals, Varieties of Moral Possibilities” (2017. By exploring the space of moral possibility (i.e., diverse options and viewpoints of morality from different philosophical and religious traditions throughout the world, Flanagan argues that ethics is not simply a study of a priori conditions of normative rules and ideal values but a process of developing a careful understanding of varying conditions of human ecology and building practical views on living good life. The goal of this geographical exploration of the moral possibility space is surveying different traditions of morality and finding tractable ways of human flourishing. This article, by following the chapters of his book, explains his views on moral diversity and his interdisciplinary and naturalistic approach to ethics. It also discusses interactive and dynamic ways to expand the moral possibility space.

MacIntyre's Moral Theory and Moral Relativism

OpenAIRE

Ali Abedi Renani

2017-01-01

In this paper, I seek to explain the similarity and disparity between MacIntyre’s moral theory and moral relativism. I will argue that MacIntyre’s moral theory can escape the charge of moral relativism because both his earlier social and his later metaphysical approaches appeal to some criteria, the human telos or universal human qualities respectively. The notion of telos is wider than the notion of function which is defined in social contexts. If there is a context-transcending notion of te...

Individual Differences in Moral Development: Does Intelligence Really Affect Children's Moral Reasoning and Moral Emotions?

Science.gov (United States)

Beißert, Hanna M; Hasselhorn, Marcus

2016-01-01

This study investigates the relationship between intelligence and individual differences in children's moral development across a range of different moral transgressions. Taking up prior research that showed morality and intelligence to be related in adolescents and adults, the current study wants to test if these findings can be extended to younger children. The study was designed to address some of the shortcomings in prior research by examining young children aged between 6 years; 4 months and 8 years; 10 months, using a broad concept of moral development including emotional aspects and applying an approach that is closely connected to children's daily lives. Participants ( N = 129) completed a standardized intelligence test and were presented four moral transgression stories to assess moral development. Results demonstrated that findings from prior research with adolescents or adults cannot simply be extended to younger participants. No significant correlations of moral development and intelligence were found for any of the presented stories. This provides first evidence that - at least in middle childhood - moral developmental status seems to be independent from children's general intelligence assessed by figural inductive reasoning tests.

ACCOUNTING BETWEEN LAW, ETHICS AND MORALITY

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Anca-Simona N. HROMEI

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with the fact that nowadays, society and business, show high expectations regarding the accounting discipline, and therefore professionals in this area should expand their horizons to meet all requirements. First of all, accounting assumed a certain responsibility to the public interest, by its fundamental purpose, namely to provide financial-accounting information, information that will form the basis of decision making. Second of all, for the successful fulfilment of the public responsibilities, accountants must rely on elements of doctrine, ethics, or ethics and morality. The study wants to show the importance of the accounting discipline, which has begun to increasingly focus on the creation of a moral or ethical basis, putting these issues on the same level with respecting the law. The boundary between what is legal but not ethical or moral is very small, and there were many business cases where unethical behaviour led to business failure.

Moral sensitivity and moral distress in Iranian critical care nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Borhani, Fariba; Abbaszadeh, Abbas; Mohamadi, Elham; Ghasemi, Erfan; Hoseinabad-Farahani, Mohammad Javad

2017-06-01

Moral sensitivity is the foremost prerequisite to ethical performance; a review of literature shows that nurses are sometimes not sensitive enough for a variety of reasons. Moral distress is a frequent phenomenon in nursing, which may result in paradoxes in care, dealing with patients and rendering high-quality care. This may, in turn, hinder the meeting of care objectives, thus affecting social healthcare standards. The present research was conducted to determine the relationship between moral sensitivity and moral distress of nurses in intensive care units. This study is a descriptive-correlation research. Lutzen's moral sensitivity questionnaire and Corley Moral Distress Questionnaire were used to gather data. Participants and research context: A total of 153 qualified nurses working in the hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences were selected for this study. Subjects were selected by census method. Ethical considerations: After explaining the objectives of the study, all the participants completed and signed the written consent form. To conduct the study, permission was obtained from the selected hospitals. Nurses' average moral sensitivity grade was 68.6 ± 7.8, which shows a moderate level of moral sensitivity. On the other hand, nurses also experienced a moderate level of moral distress (44.8 ± 16.6). Moreover, there was no meaningful statistical relationship between moral sensitivity and moral distress (p = 0.26). Although the nurses' moral sensitivity and moral distress were expected to be high in the intensive care units, it was moderate. This finding is consistent with the results of some studies and contradicts with others. As moral sensitivity is a crucial factor in care, it is suggested that necessary training be provided to develop moral sensitivity in nurses in education and practical environments. Furthermore, removing factors that contribute to moral distress may help decrease it in nurses.

'But where are our moral heroes?' An analysis of South African press ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The analysis reveals layers of moral messaging present in the reporting, the ... parents and 'families' for failing in their moral responsibilities towards their children, ... individuals, who, it is implied, have gone beyond their moral duty to respond.

Moral Motivation, Moral Judgment, and Antisocial Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Jeff; Bock, Tonia; Narvaez, Darcia

2013-01-01

The link between judgment and action is weak throughout psychology, including moral psychology. That is, people often do not act in accordance with their reasoning. Might moral judgment development be better viewed as a capacity that inhibits "immoral" behavior? One model that helps account for the moral judgment-action gap is Rest's…

Corporate Social Responsibility, Reputation, and Moral Communication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schultz, Friederike

2013-01-01

and critically discusses insights from instrumental perspectives and from political-normative perspectives (legitimacy, business ethics). It alternatively develops a constructivist communication view on CSR, building on the “communication constitutes organizations” perspective and a non-dualist turn. It argues...... that CSR is a symbolically mediated, communicative event, which, based on the underlying dynamics of moral communication, does not simply produce reputation, but also result in dysfunctional effects....

The importance of moral construal: moral versus non-moral construal elicits faster, more extreme, universal evaluations of the same actions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jay J Van Bavel

Full Text Available Over the past decade, intuitionist models of morality have challenged the view that moral reasoning is the sole or even primary means by which moral judgments are made. Rather, intuitionist models posit that certain situations automatically elicit moral intuitions, which guide moral judgments. We present three experiments showing that evaluations are also susceptible to the influence of moral versus non-moral construal. We had participants make moral evaluations (rating whether actions were morally good or bad or non-moral evaluations (rating whether actions were pragmatically or hedonically good or bad of a wide variety of actions. As predicted, moral evaluations were faster, more extreme, and more strongly associated with universal prescriptions-the belief that absolutely nobody or everybody should engage in an action-than non-moral (pragmatic or hedonic evaluations of the same actions. Further, we show that people are capable of flexibly shifting from moral to non-moral evaluations on a trial-by-trial basis. Taken together, these experiments provide evidence that moral versus non-moral construal has an important influence on evaluation and suggests that effects of construal are highly flexible. We discuss the implications of these experiments for models of moral judgment and decision-making.

Moral Action as Social Capital, Moral Thought as Cultural Capital

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Kang, Min Ju; Glassman, Michael

2010-01-01

This paper explores the idea that moral thought/reasoning and moral actions are actually two separate phenomena that have little relationship to each other. The idea that moral thinking does or can control moral action creates a difficult dualism between our knowledge about morality and our everyday actions. These differences run parallel to the…

Principals' Moral Agency and Ethical Decision-Making: Toward a Transformational Ethics

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Cherkowski, Sabre; Walker, Keith D.; Kutsyuruba, Benjamin

2015-01-01

This descriptive study provides a rich portrait of moral agency and ethical decision-making processes among a sample of Canadian school principals. Using an ethical responsibility framework linking moral agency and transformational leadership, the researchers found that (1) modeling moral agency is important for encouraging others to engage their…

A Comparative Study of Moral Development of Korean and British Children.

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Baek, Hye-Jeong

2002-01-01

Explores Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development in relation to Korean and British children. Illustrates cultural differences in moral orientations. Notes it was not possible to match responses from Korean children to Kohlberg's manual. Suggests that interpretation of children's moral reasoning should be based on consideration of cultural…

Moral satisficing: rethinking moral behavior as bounded rationality.

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Gigerenzer, Gerd

2010-07-01

What is the nature of moral behavior? According to the study of bounded rationality, it results not from character traits or rational deliberation alone, but from the interplay between mind and environment. In this view, moral behavior is based on pragmatic social heuristics rather than moral rules or maximization principles. These social heuristics are not good or bad per se, but solely in relation to the environments in which they are used. This has methodological implications for the study of morality: Behavior needs to be studied in social groups as well as in isolation, in natural environments as well as in labs. It also has implications for moral policy: Only by accepting the fact that behavior is a function of both mind and environmental structures can realistic prescriptive means of achieving moral goals be developed. Copyright © 2010 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Theological ethics, moral philosophy, and public moral discourse.

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Jonsen, Albert R

1994-03-01

The advent and growth of bioethics in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s precipitated an era of public moral discourse, that is, the deliberate attempt to analyze and formulate moral argument for use in public policy. The language for rational discussion of moral matters evolved from the parent disciplines of moral philosophy and theological ethics, as well as from the idioms of a secular, pluralistic world that was searching for policy answers to difficult bioethical questions. This article explores the basis and content of the unique contributions of both theological and philosophical ethics to the development of public moral discourse.

Effect of professional expertise and exposure to everyday life decision-making on moral choices.

Science.gov (United States)

Boccia, Maddalena; Verde, Paola; Angelino, Gregorio; Carrozzo, Paolo; Vecchi, Diego; Piccardi, Laura; Colangeli, Stefano; Cordellieri, Pierluigi; Ferlazzo, Fabio; Giannini, Anna Maria

2017-07-27

Moral sense is defined as a feeling of fairness or unfairness of an action that knowingly causes harm to people other than the subject. It is crucial in determining human behavior and becomes pivotal in operational environments. Here we assessed whether professional daily life experience in an operational environment affects moral judgment by asking 41 military pilots of the Italian Air Force (P) and 69 controls (C) to solve 40 moral dilemmas. We found that P gave more morally acceptable utilitarian responses to moral dilemmas. Interestingly, men and women in P equally accepted utilitarian resolutions of moral dilemmas, whereas in C women were less prone than men to accept utilitarian responses. We conclude that professional daily life experience of P, in an operational environment, affects moral judgment and mitigates gender predisposition towards moral dilemmas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dimensi moral dalam kekuasaan politik

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muchson AR

2004-12-01

Full Text Available The oldest legitimation of authority is religious legitimation, a doctrine of the Middle Ages. The King is believed as the figure manifested of God authority. like the religious concept, the Javanese mystical concepts believe that the King authority comes from the supernatural power, not from people support. Although that opinion is considered as religious legitimation, but Islam is not like it. The Holy Qur'an more emphasizes for justice and morality in political system. In the Javanese mystical perception, King is looked as a microcosm who can reserves the power of a macrocosm and then emanates it. The King's character should indicate natural power, such as power of the sun, moon, star, etc. The other side of harmony with whole world, the King must be able to create a social harmony.  Political ethics in democracy political system based on Pancasila also emphasizes that the legitimation of authority comes from people mandate, as a principle of democracy. Even though, the authority's moral and moral responsibility of authority must be appreciated and respected. The opinion that authority is not a moral legitimation and the authority is not personification of moral goodness should be rejected

The Role of Values, Moral Norms, and Descriptive Norms in Building Occupant Responses to an Energy-Efficiency Pilot Program and to Framing of Related Messages

Science.gov (United States)

Arpan, Laura M.; Barooah, Prabir; Subramany, Rahul

2015-01-01

This study examined building occupants' responses associated with an occupant-based energy-efficiency pilot in a university building. The influence of occupants' values and norms as well as effects of two educational message frames (descriptive vs. moral norms cues) on program support were tested. Occupants' personal moral norm to conserve energy…

Defining Legal Moralism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thaysen, Jens Damgaard

2015-01-01

This paper discusses how legal moralism should be defined. It is argued that legal moralism should be defined as the position that “For any X, it is always a pro tanto reason for justifiably imposing legal regulation on X that X is morally wrong (where “morally wrong” is not conceptually equivalent...... to “harmful”)”. Furthermore, a distinction between six types of legal moralism is made. The six types are grouped according to whether they are concerned with the enforcement of positive or critical morality, and whether they are concerned with criminalising, legally restricting, or refraining from legally...... protecting morally wrong behaviour. This is interesting because not all types of legal moralism are equally vulnerable to the different critiques of legal moralism that have been put forth. Indeed, I show that some interesting types of legal moralism have not been criticised at all....

Latent Fairness in Adults' Relationship-Based Moral Judgments.

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Jian; Liu, Yanchun; Li, Jiafeng

2015-01-01

Can adults make fair moral judgments when individuals with whom they have different relationships are involved? The present study explored the fairness of adults' relationship-based moral judgments in two respects by performing three experiments involving 999 participants. In Experiment 1, 65 adults were asked to decide whether to harm a specific person to save five strangers in the footbridge and trolley dilemmas in a within-subject design. The lone potential victim was a relative, a best friend, a person they disliked, a criminal or a stranger. Adults' genetic relatedness to, familiarity with and affective relatedness to the lone potential victims varied. The results indicated that adults made different moral judgments involving the lone potential victims with whom they had different relationships. In Experiment 2, 306 adults responded to the footbridge and trolley dilemmas involving five types of lone potential victims in a within-subject design, and the extent to which they were familiar with and affectively related to the lone potential victim was measured. The results generally replicated those of Experiment 1. In addition, for close individuals, adults' moral judgments were less deontological relative to their familiarity with or positive affect toward these individuals. For individuals they were not close to, adults made deontological choices to a larger extent relative to their unfamiliarity with or negative affect toward these individuals. Moreover, for familiar individuals, the extent to which adults made deontological moral judgments more closely approximated the extent to which they were familiar with the individual. The adults' deontological moral judgments involving unfamiliar individuals more closely approximated their affective relatedness to the individuals. In Experiment 3, 628 adults were asked to make moral judgments with the type of lone potential victim as the between-subject variable. The results generally replicated those of the previous

Latent Fairness in Adults’ Relationship-Based Moral Judgments

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Jian; Liu, Yanchun; Li, Jiafeng

2015-01-01

Can adults make fair moral judgments when individuals with whom they have different relationships are involved? The present study explored the fairness of adults’ relationship-based moral judgments in two respects by performing three experiments involving 999 participants. In Experiment 1, 65 adults were asked to decide whether to harm a specific person to save five strangers in the footbridge and trolley dilemmas in a within-subject design. The lone potential victim was a relative, a best friend, a person they disliked, a criminal or a stranger. Adults’ genetic relatedness to, familiarity with and affective relatedness to the lone potential victims varied. The results indicated that adults made different moral judgments involving the lone potential victims with whom they had different relationships. In Experiment 2, 306 adults responded to the footbridge and trolley dilemmas involving five types of lone potential victims in a within-subject design, and the extent to which they were familiar with and affectively related to the lone potential victim was measured. The results generally replicated those of Experiment 1. In addition, for close individuals, adults’ moral judgments were less deontological relative to their familiarity with or positive affect toward these individuals. For individuals they were not close to, adults made deontological choices to a larger extent relative to their unfamiliarity with or negative affect toward these individuals. Moreover, for familiar individuals, the extent to which adults made deontological moral judgments more closely approximated the extent to which they were familiar with the individual. The adults’ deontological moral judgments involving unfamiliar individuals more closely approximated their affective relatedness to the individuals. In Experiment 3, 628 adults were asked to make moral judgments with the type of lone potential victim as the between-subject variable. The results generally replicated those of the

How Do We Teach What Is Right? Research and Issues in Ethical and Moral Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Constance M.

1996-01-01

Enhances understanding of values-education issues by addressing research on moral and ethical development. Presents Damon's tripartite distinction among moral reflection, moral emotion, and moral conduct--head, heart, and habit--to show moral development's complexity. Although promoting prosocial behavior is parents' responsibility, literature is…

Aggressive and prosocial children's emotion attributions and moral reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Malti, Tina; Gasser, Luciano; Buchmann, Marlis

2009-01-01

Aggressive and prosocial children's emotion attributions and moral reasoning were investigated. Participants were 235 kindergarten children (M=6.2 years) and 136 elementary-school children (M=7.6 years) who were selected as aggressive or prosocial based on (kindergarten) teacher ratings. The children were asked to evaluate hypothetical rule violations, attribute emotions they would feel in the role of the victimizer, and justify their responses. Compared with younger prosocial children, younger aggressive children attributed fewer negative emotions and were more likely to provide sanction-oriented justifications when evaluating rule violations negatively. Furthermore, age-, gender- and context-effects in moral development occurred. The context-effects included both effects of transgression type (i.e., prosocial morality vs. fairness) on emotion attributions and moral reasoning and the effects of the context of moral evaluation and emotion attribution on moral reasoning. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of emotion attributions and moral reasoning as antecedents of children's aggressive and prosocial behavior. Copyright 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

No Absolutism Here: Harm Predicts Moral Judgment 30× Better Than Disgust-Commentary on Scott, Inbar, & Rozin (2016).

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Kurt; Schein, Chelsea

2016-05-01

Moral absolutism is the idea that people's moral judgments are insensitive to considerations of harm. Scott, Inbar, and Rozin (2016, this issue) claim that most moral opponents to genetically modified organisms are absolutely opposed-motivated by disgust and not harm. Yet there is no evidence for moral absolutism in their data. Perceived risk/harm is the most significant predictor of moral judgments for "absolutists," accounting for 30 times more variance than disgust. Reanalyses suggest that disgust is not even a significant predictor of the moral judgments of absolutists once accounting for perceived harm and anger. Instead of revealing actual moral absolutism, Scott et al. find only empty absolutism: hypothetical, forecasted, self-reported moral absolutism. Strikingly, the moral judgments of so-called absolutists are somewhat more sensitive to consequentialist concerns than those of nonabsolutists. Mediation reanalyses reveal that moral judgments are most proximally predicted by harm and not disgust, consistent with dyadic morality. © The Author(s) 2016.

The Morality of Aspiration: A Neglected Dimension of Law and Morality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

W. van der Burg (Wibren)

1999-01-01

markdownabstractIntroduction In The Morality of Law, Fuller introduces the distinction between the morality of duty and the morality of aspiration, and applies it to problems of jurisprudence. 1 In moral theory, both types of morality may be easily associated (though never completely

Emotions and clinical ethics support. A moral inquiry into emotions in moral case deliberation.

Science.gov (United States)

Molewijk, Bert; Kleinlugtenbelt, Dick; Pugh, Scott M; Widdershoven, Guy

2011-12-01

Emotions play an important part in moral life. Within clinical ethics support (CES), one should take into account the crucial role of emotions in moral cases in clinical practice. In this paper, we present an Aristotelian approach to emotions. We argue that CES can help participants deal with emotions by fostering a joint process of investigation of the role of emotions in a case. This investigation goes beyond empathy with and moral judgment of the emotions of the case presenter. In a moral case deliberation, the participants are invited to place themselves in the position of the case presenter and to investigate their own emotions in the situation. It is about critically assessing the facts in the case that cause the emotion and the related (moral) thoughts that accompany the emotion. It is also about finding the right emotion in a given situation and finding the right balance in dealing with that emotion. These steps in the moral inquiry give rise to group learning. It is a process of becoming open towards the perspectives of others, leading to new insights into what is an appropriate emotion in the specific situation. We show how this approach works in moral case deliberation. A physician presents a situation in which he is faced with a pregnant woman who is about to deliver multiple extremely premature infants at the threshold of viability. The moral deliberation of the case and the emotions therein leads to the participants' conclusion that "compassion" is a more adequate emotion than "sadness". The emotion "sadness" is pointed towards the tragedy that is happening to the woman. The emotion "compassion" is pointed towards the woman; it combines consideration and professional responsibility. Through the shift towards compassion, participants experienced more creativity and freedom to deal with the sad situation and to support the woman. The paper ends with an analysis and reflection on the deliberation process. In the conclusion we argue for more attention to

An assessment of the temporal dynamics of moral decisions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregory J. Koop

2013-09-01

Full Text Available In the domain of moral decision making, models in which emotion and deliberation constitute competing dual-systems have become increasingly popular. Currently, the favored explanation of this interaction is what Evans (2008 termed a ``default-interventionist'' (DI process where moral decisions are the result of a prepotent emotional response, which can be overridden with substantial deliberative effort. Although this ``emotion-then-deliberation'' sequence is often assumed, existing methods have lacked the requisite process resolution to clearly depict the nature of this interaction. The present work utilized continuous mouse tracking, or response dynamics, to develop and test predictions of these DI models of moral decision making. Study 1 utilized previously published moral dilemmas to validate the method for use with such complex stimuli. Although the data replicated typical choice and RT patterns, the process metrics provided by the response trajectories did not demonstrate the online preference reversals predicted by DI models. Study 2 utilized more rigorously constructed stimuli and an alternative presentation format to provide the strongest possible test of DI predictions, but again failed to show the predicted reversals. In summary, neither experiment provided data in accordance with the predictions of popular DI dual-systems models, which suggests that researchers should consider models allowing for concurrent activation of deliberative and emotional systems, or reconceptualize moral decisions within the typical multiattribute decision framework.

Emotion-based learning systems and the development of morality.

Science.gov (United States)

Blair, R J R

2017-10-01

In this paper it is proposed that important components of moral development and moral judgment rely on two forms of emotional learning: stimulus-reinforcement and response-outcome learning. Data in support of this position will be primarily drawn from work with individuals with the developmental condition of psychopathy as well as fMRI studies with healthy individuals. Individuals with psychopathy show impairment on moral judgment tasks and a pronounced increased risk for instrumental antisocial behavior. It will be argued that these impairments are developmental consequences of impaired stimulus-aversive conditioning on the basis of distress cue reinforcers and response-outcome learning in individuals with this disorder. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Moral distress: a comparative analysis of theoretical understandings and inter-related concepts.

Science.gov (United States)

Lützén, Kim; Kvist, Beatrice Ewalds

2012-03-01

Research on ethical dilemmas in health care has become increasingly salient during the last two decades resulting in confusion about the concept of moral distress. The aim of the present paper is to provide an overview and a comparative analysis of the theoretical understandings of moral distress and related concepts. The focus is on five concepts: moral distress, moral stress, stress of conscience, moral sensitivity and ethical climate. It is suggested that moral distress connects mainly to a psychological perspective; stress of conscience more to a theological-philosophical standpoint; and moral stress mostly to a physiological perspective. Further analysis indicates that these thoughts can be linked to the concepts of moral sensitivity and ethical climate through a relationship to moral agency. Moral agency comprises a moral awareness of moral problems and moral responsibility for others. It is suggested that moral distress may serve as a positive catalyst in exercising moral agency. An interdisciplinary approach in research and practice broadens our understanding of moral distress and its impact on health care personnel and patient care.

Liberating Moral Reflection

Science.gov (United States)

Horell, Harold D.

2013-01-01

The author argues that if we are to foster life-giving and liberating moral reflection, we must first liberate moral reflection from distortions; specifically, from the distorting effects of moral insensitivity, destructive moral relativism, and confusions resulting from a failure to understand the dynamics of moral reflection. The author proposes…

Moral Identity Predicts Doping Likelihood via Moral Disengagement and Anticipated Guilt.

Science.gov (United States)

Kavussanu, Maria; Ring, Christopher

2017-08-01

In this study, we integrated elements of social cognitive theory of moral thought and action and the social cognitive model of moral identity to better understand doping likelihood in athletes. Participants (N = 398) recruited from a variety of team sports completed measures of moral identity, moral disengagement, anticipated guilt, and doping likelihood. Moral identity predicted doping likelihood indirectly via moral disengagement and anticipated guilt. Anticipated guilt about potential doping mediated the relationship between moral disengagement and doping likelihood. Our findings provide novel evidence to suggest that athletes, who feel that being a moral person is central to their self-concept, are less likely to use banned substances due to their lower tendency to morally disengage and the more intense feelings of guilt they expect to experience for using banned substances.

The threat of moral transgression: The impact of group membership and moral opportunity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Toorn, J.; Ellemers, N.; Doosje, B.

2015-01-01

When other ingroup members behave immorally, people's motivation to maintain a moral group image may cause them to experience increased threat and act defensively in response. In the current research, we investigated people's reactions to others' misconduct and examined the effect of group

Effects of Incidental Emotions on Moral Dilemma Judgments: An Analysis Using the CNI Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Gawronski, Bertram; Conway, Paul; Armstrong, Joel; Friesdorf, Rebecca; Hütter, Mandy

2018-02-01

Effects of incidental emotions on moral dilemma judgments have garnered interest because they demonstrate the context-dependent nature of moral decision-making. Six experiments (N = 727) investigated the effects of incidental happiness, sadness, and anger on responses in moral dilemmas that pit the consequences of a given action for the greater good (i.e., utilitarianism) against the consistency of that action with moral norms (i.e., deontology). Using the CNI model of moral decision-making, we further tested whether the three kinds of emotions shape moral dilemma judgments by influencing (a) sensitivity to consequences, (b) sensitivity to moral norms, or (c) general preference for inaction versus action regardless of consequences and moral norms (or some combination of the three). Incidental happiness reduced sensitivity to moral norms without affecting sensitivity to consequences or general preference for inaction versus action. Incidental sadness and incidental anger did not show any significant effects on moral dilemma judgments. The findings suggest a central role of moral norms in the contribution of emotional responses to moral dilemma judgments, requiring refinements of dominant theoretical accounts and supporting the value of formal modeling approaches in providing more nuanced insights into the determinants of moral dilemma judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Artificial Intelligence and Moral intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Pana

2008-07-01

Full Text Available We discuss the thesis that the implementation of a moral code in the behaviour of artificial intelligent systems needs a specific form of human and artificial intelligence, not just an abstract intelligence. We present intelligence as a system with an internal structure and the structural levels of the moral system, as well as certain characteristics of artificial intelligent agents which can/must be treated as 1- individual entities (with a complex, specialized, autonomous or selfdetermined, even unpredictable conduct, 2- entities endowed with diverse or even multiple intelligence forms, like moral intelligence, 3- open and, even, free-conduct performing systems (with specific, flexible and heuristic mechanisms and procedures of decision, 4 – systems which are open to education, not just to instruction, 5- entities with “lifegraphy”, not just “stategraphy”, 6- equipped not just with automatisms but with beliefs (cognitive and affective complexes, 7- capable even of reflection (“moral life” is a form of spiritual, not just of conscious activity, 8 – elements/members of some real (corporal or virtual community, 9 – cultural beings: free conduct gives cultural value to the action of a ”natural” or artificial being. Implementation of such characteristics does not necessarily suppose efforts to design, construct and educate machines like human beings. The human moral code is irremediably imperfect: it is a morality of preference, of accountability (not of responsibility and a morality of non-liberty, which cannot be remedied by the invention of ethical systems, by the circulation of ideal values and by ethical (even computing education. But such an imperfect morality needs perfect instruments for its implementation: applications of special logic fields; efficient psychological (theoretical and technical attainments to endow the machine not just with intelligence, but with conscience and even spirit; comprehensive technical

The Art of Sympathy : Forms of Moral and Emotional Persuasion in Fiction

OpenAIRE

Sklar, Howard

2008-01-01

"The Art of Sympathy: Forms of Moral and Emotional Persuasion" in Fiction is an interdisciplinary study that looks closely at the ways that stories evoke sympathy, and the significance of this emotion for the development of moral attitudes and awareness. By linking readers' emotional responses to fiction with the potential impact of such responses on "the moral imagination," the study builds on empirical research conducted by literary scholars and psychologists into the emotional effects of r...

Moral fiction or moral fact? The distinction between doing and allowing in medical ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Huddle, Thomas S

2013-06-01

Opponents of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) maintain that physician withdrawal-of-life-sustaining-treatment cannot be morally equated to voluntary active euthanasia. PAS opponents generally distinguish these two kinds of act by positing a possible moral distinction between killing and allowing-to-die, ceteris paribus. While that distinction continues to be widely accepted in the public discourse, it has been more controversial among philosophers. Some ethicist PAS advocates are so certain that the distinction is invalid that they describe PAS opponents who hold to the distinction as in the grip of 'moral fictions'. The author contends that such a diagnosis is too hasty. The possibility of a moral distinction between active euthanasia and allowing-to-die has not been closed off by the argumentative strategies employed by these PAS advocates, including the contrasting cases strategy and the assimilation of doing and allowing to a common sense notion of causation. The philosophical debate over the doing/allowing distinction remains inconclusive, but physicians and others who rely upon that distinction in thinking about the ethics of end-of-life care need not give up on it in response to these arguments. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Is equal moral consideration really compatible with unequal moral status?

Science.gov (United States)

Rossi, John

2010-09-01

The issue of moral considerability, or how much moral importance a being's interests deserve, is one of the most important in animal ethics. Some leading theorists--most notably David DeGrazia--have argued that a principle of "equal moral consideration" is compatible with "unequal moral status." Such a position would reconcile the egalitarian force of equal consideration with more stringent obligations to humans than animals. The article presents arguments that equal consideration is not compatible with unequal moral status, thereby forcing those who would justify significantly different moral protections for humans and animals to argue for unequal consideration.

Individual Differences in Moral Development: Does Intelligence Really Affect Children’s Moral Reasoning and Moral Emotions?

Science.gov (United States)

Beißert, Hanna M.; Hasselhorn, Marcus

2016-01-01

This study investigates the relationship between intelligence and individual differences in children’s moral development across a range of different moral transgressions. Taking up prior research that showed morality and intelligence to be related in adolescents and adults, the current study wants to test if these findings can be extended to younger children. The study was designed to address some of the shortcomings in prior research by examining young children aged between 6 years; 4 months and 8 years; 10 months, using a broad concept of moral development including emotional aspects and applying an approach that is closely connected to children’s daily lives. Participants (N = 129) completed a standardized intelligence test and were presented four moral transgression stories to assess moral development. Results demonstrated that findings from prior research with adolescents or adults cannot simply be extended to younger participants. No significant correlations of moral development and intelligence were found for any of the presented stories. This provides first evidence that – at least in middle childhood – moral developmental status seems to be independent from children’s general intelligence assessed by figural inductive reasoning tests. PMID:28066287

Individual differences in moral development: Does intelligence really affect children’s moral reasoning and moral emotions?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanna Maria Beißert

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the relationship between intelligence and individual differences in children’s moral development across a range of different moral transgressions. Taking up prior research that showed morality and intelligence to be related in adolescents and adults, the current study wants to test if these findings can be extended to younger children. The study was designed to address some of the shortcomings in prior research by examining young children aged between 6 years; 4 months and 8 years; 10 months, using a broad concept of moral development including emotional aspects and applying an approach that is closely connected to children’s daily lives. Participants (N = 129 completed a standardized intelligence test and were presented four moral transgression stories to assess moral development. Results demonstrated that findings from prior research with adolescents or adults cannot simply be extended to younger participants. No significant correlations of moral development and intelligence were found for any of the presented stories. This provides first evidence that – at least in middle childhood – moral developmental status seems to be independent from children’s general intelligence assessed by figural inductive reasoning tests.

The Neural Correlates of Moral Thinking: A Meta-Analysis

OpenAIRE

Douglas J. Bryant; Wang F; Kelley Deardeuff; Emily Zoccoli; Chang S. Nam

2016-01-01

We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate current research that aims to map the neural correlates of two typical conditions of moral judgment: right-wrong moral judgments and decision-making in moral dilemmas. Utilizing the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) method, we conducted a meta-analysis using neuroimaging data obtained from twenty-one previous studies that measured responses in one or the other of these conditions. We found that across the studies (n = 400), distinct neural circuit...

Cultural Conceptions of Morality: Examining Laypeople's Associations of Moral Character

Science.gov (United States)

Vauclair, Christin-Melanie; Wilson, Marc; Fischer, Ronald

2014-01-01

Whether moral conceptions are universal or culture-specific is controversial in moral psychology. One option is to refrain from imposing theoretical constraints and to ask laypeople from different cultures how "they" conceptualize morality. Our article adopts this approach by examining laypeople's associations of moral character in…

Children's Moral Emotions and Moral Cognition: Towards an Integrative Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Malti, Tina; Latzko, Brigitte

2010-01-01

This chapter presents a brief introduction to the developmental and educational literature linking children's moral emotions to cognitive moral development. A central premise of the chapter is that an integrative developmental perspective on moral emotions and moral cognition provides an important conceptual framework for understanding children's…

Everyday moral reasoning in the governmentality of HIV risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Cristian Rangel, J; Adam, Barry D

2014-01-01

Drawing on the sociology of morality, this article analyses the social contexts, discourses and ethno-methods of everyday life that shape real-world decisions of gay men around HIV prevention. Through an analysis of the predominant narratives in an online public forum created for an HIV prevention campaign, this article explores the ways in which homosexually active men engage in everyday moral reasoning and challenge a neoliberal moral order of risk and responsibility. The article concludes that gay and bisexual men engage in forms of practical morality with their sexual partners and imagine larger communities of interest, love, companionship and pleasure. At the same time, they draw heavily from discourses on individual and rational responsibility, as well as narratives of romance and community, that shape forms of moral selfhood. Risk management techniques that are grounded in notions of rational choice and that are insensitive to the emotional worlds that these men inhabit create situations of risk avoidance but also inadvertently open them to new forms of vulnerability. © 2013 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2013 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Moral concepts set decision strategies to abstract values.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svenja Caspers

Full Text Available Persons have different value preferences. Neuroimaging studies where value-based decisions in actual conflict situations were investigated suggest an important role of prefrontal and cingulate brain regions. General preferences, however, reflect a superordinate moral concept independent of actual situations as proposed in psychological and socioeconomic research. Here, the specific brain response would be influenced by abstract value systems and moral concepts. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying such responses are largely unknown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI with a forced-choice paradigm on word pairs representing abstract values, we show that the brain handles such decisions depending on the person's superordinate moral concept. Persons with a predominant collectivistic (altruistic value system applied a "balancing and weighing" strategy, recruiting brain regions of rostral inferior and intraparietal, and midcingulate and frontal cortex. Conversely, subjects with mainly individualistic (egocentric value preferences applied a "fight-and-flight" strategy by recruiting the left amygdala. Finally, if subjects experience a value conflict when rejecting an alternative congruent to their own predominant value preference, comparable brain regions are activated as found in actual moral dilemma situations, i.e., midcingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Our results demonstrate that superordinate moral concepts influence the strategy and the neural mechanisms in decision processes, independent of actual situations, showing that decisions are based on general neural principles. These findings provide a novel perspective to future sociological and economic research as well as to the analysis of social relations by focusing on abstract value systems as triggers of specific brain responses.

Moral Concepts Set Decision Strategies to Abstract Values

Science.gov (United States)

Caspers, Svenja; Heim, Stefan; Lucas, Marc G.; Stephan, Egon; Fischer, Lorenz; Amunts, Katrin; Zilles, Karl

2011-01-01

Persons have different value preferences. Neuroimaging studies where value-based decisions in actual conflict situations were investigated suggest an important role of prefrontal and cingulate brain regions. General preferences, however, reflect a superordinate moral concept independent of actual situations as proposed in psychological and socioeconomic research. Here, the specific brain response would be influenced by abstract value systems and moral concepts. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying such responses are largely unknown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a forced-choice paradigm on word pairs representing abstract values, we show that the brain handles such decisions depending on the person's superordinate moral concept. Persons with a predominant collectivistic (altruistic) value system applied a “balancing and weighing” strategy, recruiting brain regions of rostral inferior and intraparietal, and midcingulate and frontal cortex. Conversely, subjects with mainly individualistic (egocentric) value preferences applied a “fight-and-flight” strategy by recruiting the left amygdala. Finally, if subjects experience a value conflict when rejecting an alternative congruent to their own predominant value preference, comparable brain regions are activated as found in actual moral dilemma situations, i.e., midcingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Our results demonstrate that superordinate moral concepts influence the strategy and the neural mechanisms in decision processes, independent of actual situations, showing that decisions are based on general neural principles. These findings provide a novel perspective to future sociological and economic research as well as to the analysis of social relations by focusing on abstract value systems as triggers of specific brain responses. PMID:21483767

Why there is no supernatural morality: response to Miller's opening statement.

Science.gov (United States)

Shermer, Michael

2016-11-01

If one is going to argue that objective morality depends on an Archimedean point outside the natural world, then it would seem to imply that this source is necessarily supernatural. Thus, Christian Miller begins by defining precisely who he thinks this supernatural moral law giver is: the omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent creator of the universe who is still actively involved with human affairs-Elohim, Jehovah, Yahweh, or Allah-aka God. Already I'm skeptical. © 2016 New York Academy of Sciences.

The threat of moral transgression: The impact of group membership and moral opportunity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Toorn, J; Ellemers, Naomi; Doosje, B.

When other ingroup members behave immorally, people’s motivation to maintain a moral group image may cause them to experience increased threat and act defensively in response. In the current research, we investigated people’s reactions to others’ misconduct and examined the effect of group

Context, Moral Orientation and Self- Esteem: Impacting the Moral ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Context, Moral Orientation and Self- Esteem: Impacting the Moral Development of ... The purpose of this study was to compare moral orientation and a measure of self-esteem with the degree of consideration ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Brogaard's Moral Contextualism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Binderup, Lars Grassme

2008-01-01

Brogaard's non-indexical version of moral contextualism has two related problems. It is unable to account for the function of truth-governed assertoric moral discourse, since it leaves two (semantically clearheaded) disputants without any incentive to resolve seemingly contradictory moral claims....... The moral contextualist could explain why people do feel such an incentive by ascribing false beliefs about the semantic workings of their own language. But, secondly, this leaves Brogaard's moral contextualism looking weaker than a Mackie-style invariantist error theory about morals. The latter is equally...

Defining Features of Moral Sensitivity and Moral Motivation: Pathways to Moral Reasoning in Medical Students

Science.gov (United States)

Morton, Kelly R.; Worthley, Joanna S.; Testerman, John K.; Mahoney, Marita L.

2006-01-01

Kohlberg's theory of moral development explores the roles of cognition and emotion but focuses primarily on cognition. Contemporary post-formal theories lead to the conclusion that skills resulting from cognitive-affective integration facilitate consistency between moral judgement and moral behaviour. Rest's four-component model of moral…

INTERVENING DEONTOLOGI MORAL EVALUATION AUDITOR DALAM PENGARUHNYA PEMBUATAN KEPUTUSAN BERBASIS ETIS DENGAN PERKEMBANGAN MORAL COGNITIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emrinaldi Nur DP

2014-12-01

consistent about their responsible and ethics. Population of this research is all independent auditors working in KAP in Pekanbaru, Padang and Batam. While sample are those who work in KAP kotaPekanbaru, Padang and Batam. Sampling was done by purposive sampling method. The numbers of sample used are 69 respondents. Data is analyzed by PLS analysis technique (Partial Least Square using SmartPLS software.Result shows that time pressure has significant effect to audit procedure’s premature sign off, cognitive moral development and deontology moral evaluation have non-significant negative effect to audit procedure’s premature sign off. Besides that, there is also a significant connection between somebody’s cognitive moral development and deontology moral evaluation. Fifth T-Statistic tes simultaneously has no effect to audit procedure’s premature sign off. Only 23,8% variability construct premature stopping attitude of audit procedure, and the rest 76.2% explaine by other variable outside this research.

Morality in everyday life.

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Hofmann, Wilhelm; Wisneski, Daniel C; Brandt, Mark J; Skitka, Linda J

2014-09-12

The science of morality has drawn heavily on well-controlled but artificial laboratory settings. To study everyday morality, we repeatedly assessed moral or immoral acts and experiences in a large (N = 1252) sample using ecological momentary assessment. Moral experiences were surprisingly frequent and manifold. Liberals and conservatives emphasized somewhat different moral dimensions. Religious and nonreligious participants did not differ in the likelihood or quality of committed moral and immoral acts. Being the target of moral or immoral deeds had the strongest impact on happiness, whereas committing moral or immoral deeds had the strongest impact on sense of purpose. Analyses of daily dynamics revealed evidence for both moral contagion and moral licensing. In sum, morality science may benefit from a closer look at the antecedents, dynamics, and consequences of everyday moral experience. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The Everyday Moral Judge - Autobiographical Recollections of Moral Emotions.

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Körner, André; Tscharaktschiew, Nadine; Schindler, Rose; Schulz, Katrin; Rudolph, Udo

2016-01-01

Moral emotions are typically elicited in everyday social interactions and regulate social behavior. Previous research in the field of attribution theory identified ought (the moral standard of a given situation or intended goal), goal-attainment (a goal can be attained vs. not attained) and effort (high vs. low effort expenditure) as cognitive antecedents of moral emotions. In contrast to earlier studies, mainly relying on thought experiments, we investigated autobiographical recollections of N = 312 participants by means of an online study. We analyzed a diverse range of moral emotions, i.e., admiration, anger, contempt, indignation, pride, respect, schadenfreude, and sympathy, by using a mixed-method approach. Qualitative and quantitative methods clearly corroborate the important role of ought, goal-attainment, and effort as eliciting conditions of moral emotions. Furthermore, we built categorical systems based on our participants' descriptions of real-life situations, allowing for more fine-grained distinctions between seemingly similar moral emotions. We thus identify additional prerequisites explaining more subtle differences between moral emotion clusters as they emerge from our analyses (i.e., cluster 1: admiration, pride, and respect; cluster 2: anger, contempt, and indignation; cluster 3: schadenfreude and sympathy). Results are discussed in the light of attributional theories of moral emotions, and implications for future research are derived.

The Everyday Moral Judge - Autobiographical Recollections of Moral Emotions.

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André Körner

Full Text Available Moral emotions are typically elicited in everyday social interactions and regulate social behavior. Previous research in the field of attribution theory identified ought (the moral standard of a given situation or intended goal, goal-attainment (a goal can be attained vs. not attained and effort (high vs. low effort expenditure as cognitive antecedents of moral emotions. In contrast to earlier studies, mainly relying on thought experiments, we investigated autobiographical recollections of N = 312 participants by means of an online study. We analyzed a diverse range of moral emotions, i.e., admiration, anger, contempt, indignation, pride, respect, schadenfreude, and sympathy, by using a mixed-method approach. Qualitative and quantitative methods clearly corroborate the important role of ought, goal-attainment, and effort as eliciting conditions of moral emotions. Furthermore, we built categorical systems based on our participants' descriptions of real-life situations, allowing for more fine-grained distinctions between seemingly similar moral emotions. We thus identify additional prerequisites explaining more subtle differences between moral emotion clusters as they emerge from our analyses (i.e., cluster 1: admiration, pride, and respect; cluster 2: anger, contempt, and indignation; cluster 3: schadenfreude and sympathy. Results are discussed in the light of attributional theories of moral emotions, and implications for future research are derived.

Relational responsibilities in responsive evaluation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Visse, M.A.; Abma, T.A.; Widdershoven, G.A.M.

2012-01-01

This article explores how we can enhance our understanding of the moral responsibilities in daily, plural practices of responsive evaluation. It introduces an interpretive framework for understanding the moral aspects of evaluation practice. The framework supports responsive evaluators to better

Moral vindications.

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Kumar, Victor

2017-10-01

Psychologists and neuroscientists have recently been unearthing the unconscious processes that give rise to moral intuitions and emotions. According to skeptics like Joshua Greene, what has been found casts doubt on many of our moral beliefs. However, a new approach in moral psychology develops a learning-theoretic framework that has been successfully applied in a number of other domains. This framework suggests that model-based learning shapes intuitions and emotions. Model-based learning explains how moral thought and feeling are attuned to local material and social conditions. Philosophers can draw on these explanations, in some cases, in order to vindicate episodes of moral change. Explanations can support justifications by showing that they are not mere rationalizations. In addition, philosophical justifications are a fertile source for empirical hypotheses about the rational learning mechanisms that shape moral intuitions and emotions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Moral Hindsight.

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Fleischhut, Nadine; Meder, Björn; Gigerenzer, Gerd

2017-03-01

How are judgments in moral dilemmas affected by uncertainty, as opposed to certainty? We tested the predictions of a consequentialist and deontological account using a hindsight paradigm. The key result is a hindsight effect in moral judgment. Participants in foresight, for whom the occurrence of negative side effects was uncertain, judged actions to be morally more permissible than participants in hindsight, who knew that negative side effects occurred. Conversely, when hindsight participants knew that no negative side effects occurred, they judged actions to be more permissible than participants in foresight. The second finding was a classical hindsight effect in probability estimates and a systematic relation between moral judgments and probability estimates. Importantly, while the hindsight effect in probability estimates was always present, a corresponding hindsight effect in moral judgments was only observed among "consequentialist" participants who indicated a cost-benefit trade-off as most important for their moral evaluation.

Curriculum changes and moral issues in nursing education.

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Karseth, Berit

2004-11-01

Through history nursing education has strongly advocated the importance of educating students towards moral and ethical responsibility. In today's society however, it has become increasingly difficult to honour this concern. One peephole to capture the ongoing struggle is to look into the curriculum where different stakeholders voice different opinions. Following a social constructive perspective the curriculum texts represent specific interest among stakeholders related to nursing education in a certain historical periods. By analysing the two last versions of the curriculum we get an insight into moral and ethical issues at stake and different ways of addressing these questions. While moral and ethical issues in the curriculum of 1987 follow a disciplinary discourse emphasising the importance of learning ethical concepts and modes of arguments, the curriculum of 2000 places ethical and moral issues within an employability discourse. In this curriculum moral issues are seen as an obligation linked to students practical and technical skills. The 2000 curriculum represents a shift from emphasising the independent and reflective professional to underline the skillful and morally obliged practitioner.

Searching for Moral Dumbfounding: Identifying Measurable Indicators of Moral Dumbfounding

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Cillian McHugh

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Moral dumbfounding is defined as maintaining a moral judgement, without supporting reasons. The most cited demonstration of dumbfounding does not identify a specific measure of dumbfounding and has not been published in peer-review form, or directly replicated. Despite limited empirical examination, dumbfounding has been widely discussed in moral psychology. The present research examines the reliability with which dumbfounding can be elicited, and aims to identify measureable indicators of dumbfounding. Study 1 aimed at establishing the effect that is reported in the literature. Participants read four scenarios and judged the actions described. An Interviewer challenged participants’ stated reasons for judgements. Dumbfounding was evoked, as measured by two indicators, admissions of not having reasons (17%, unsupported declarations (9% with differences between scenarios. Study 2 measured dumbfounding as the selecting of an unsupported declaration as part of a computerised task. We observed high rates of dumbfounding across all scenarios. Studies 3a (college sample and 3b (MTurk sample, addressing limitations in Study 2, replaced the unsupported declaration with an admission of having no reason, and included open-ended responses that were coded for unsupported declarations. As predicted, lower rates of dumbfounding were observed (3a 20%; 3b 16%; or 3a 32%; 3b 24% including unsupported declarations in open-ended responses. Two measures provided evidence for dumbfounding across three studies; rates varied with task type (interview/computer task, and with the particular measure being employed (admissions of not having reasons/unsupported declarations. Possible cognitive processes underlying dumbfounding and limitations of methodologies used are discussed as a means to account for this variability.

Moral Philosophy and Social Work Policy.

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Reiman, Amanda

2009-10-01

Policies in the United States regarding personal responsibility and deviant behavior often follow an underlying moral philosophy. This paper examines the philosophies in American social policy, and how beliefs about personal responsibility, definitions of deviance and the role of the social welfare system shape current policies.

Moral Philosophy and Social Work Policy

OpenAIRE

Reiman, Amanda

2009-01-01

Policies in the United States regarding personal responsibility and deviant behavior often follow an underlying moral philosophy. This paper examines the philosophies in American social policy, and how beliefs about personal responsibility, definitions of deviance and the role of the social welfare system shape current policies.

The Theory of Dyadic Morality: Reinventing Moral Judgment by Redefining Harm.

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Schein, Chelsea; Gray, Kurt

2018-02-01

The nature of harm-and therefore moral judgment-may be misunderstood. Rather than an objective matter of reason, we argue that harm should be redefined as an intuitively perceived continuum. This redefinition provides a new understanding of moral content and mechanism-the constructionist Theory of Dyadic Morality (TDM). TDM suggests that acts are condemned proportional to three elements: norm violations, negative affect, and-importantly-perceived harm. This harm is dyadic, involving an intentional agent causing damage to a vulnerable patient (A→P). TDM predicts causal links both from harm to immorality (dyadic comparison) and from immorality to harm (dyadic completion). Together, these two processes make the "dyadic loop," explaining moral acquisition and polarization. TDM argues against intuitive harmless wrongs and modular "foundations," but embraces moral pluralism through varieties of values and the flexibility of perceived harm. Dyadic morality impacts understandings of moral character, moral emotion, and political/cultural differences, and provides research guidelines for moral psychology.

Contextual and perceptual brain processes underlying moral cognition: a quantitative meta-analysis of moral reasoning and moral emotions.

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Sevinc, Gunes; Spreng, R Nathan

2014-01-01

Human morality has been investigated using a variety of tasks ranging from judgments of hypothetical dilemmas to viewing morally salient stimuli. These experiments have provided insight into neural correlates of moral judgments and emotions, yet these approaches reveal important differences in moral cognition. Moral reasoning tasks require active deliberation while moral emotion tasks involve the perception of stimuli with moral implications. We examined convergent and divergent brain activity associated with these experimental paradigms taking a quantitative meta-analytic approach. A systematic search of the literature yielded 40 studies. Studies involving explicit decisions in a moral situation were categorized as active (n = 22); studies evoking moral emotions were categorized as passive (n = 18). We conducted a coordinate-based meta-analysis using the Activation Likelihood Estimation to determine reliable patterns of brain activity. Results revealed a convergent pattern of reliable brain activity for both task categories in regions of the default network, consistent with the social and contextual information processes supported by this brain network. Active tasks revealed more reliable activity in the temporoparietal junction, angular gyrus and temporal pole. Active tasks demand deliberative reasoning and may disproportionately involve the retrieval of social knowledge from memory, mental state attribution, and construction of the context through associative processes. In contrast, passive tasks reliably engaged regions associated with visual and emotional information processing, including lingual gyrus and the amygdala. A laterality effect was observed in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, with active tasks engaging the left, and passive tasks engaging the right. While overlapping activity patterns suggest a shared neural network for both tasks, differential activity suggests that processing of moral input is affected by task demands. The results provide novel

Contextual and perceptual brain processes underlying moral cognition: a quantitative meta-analysis of moral reasoning and moral emotions.

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Gunes Sevinc

Full Text Available BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Human morality has been investigated using a variety of tasks ranging from judgments of hypothetical dilemmas to viewing morally salient stimuli. These experiments have provided insight into neural correlates of moral judgments and emotions, yet these approaches reveal important differences in moral cognition. Moral reasoning tasks require active deliberation while moral emotion tasks involve the perception of stimuli with moral implications. We examined convergent and divergent brain activity associated with these experimental paradigms taking a quantitative meta-analytic approach. DATA SOURCE: A systematic search of the literature yielded 40 studies. Studies involving explicit decisions in a moral situation were categorized as active (n = 22; studies evoking moral emotions were categorized as passive (n = 18. We conducted a coordinate-based meta-analysis using the Activation Likelihood Estimation to determine reliable patterns of brain activity. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS: Results revealed a convergent pattern of reliable brain activity for both task categories in regions of the default network, consistent with the social and contextual information processes supported by this brain network. Active tasks revealed more reliable activity in the temporoparietal junction, angular gyrus and temporal pole. Active tasks demand deliberative reasoning and may disproportionately involve the retrieval of social knowledge from memory, mental state attribution, and construction of the context through associative processes. In contrast, passive tasks reliably engaged regions associated with visual and emotional information processing, including lingual gyrus and the amygdala. A laterality effect was observed in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, with active tasks engaging the left, and passive tasks engaging the right. While overlapping activity patterns suggest a shared neural network for both tasks, differential activity suggests that

The ABC of moral development: an attachment approach to moral judgment

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Govrin, Aner

2014-01-01

As with other cognitive faculties, the etiology of moral judgment and its connection to early development is complex. Because research is limited, the causative and contributory factors to the development of moral judgment in preverbal infants are unclear. However, evidence is emerging from studies within both infant research and moral psychology that may contribute to our understanding of the early development of moral judgments. Though its finding are preliminary, this proposed paradigm synthesizes these findings to generate an overarching, model of the process that appears to contribute to the development of moral judgment in the first year of life. I will propose that through early interactions with the caregiver, the child acquires an internal representation of a system of rules that determine how right/wrong judgments are to be construed, used, and understood. By breaking moral situations down into their defining features, the attachment model of moral judgment outlines a framework for a universal moral faculty based on a universal, innate, deep structure that appears uniformly in the structure of almost all moral judgments regardless of their content. The implications of the model for our understanding of innateness, universal morality, and the representations of moral situations are discussed. PMID:24478739

Low levels of empathic concern predict utilitarian moral judgment.

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Gleichgerrcht, Ezequiel; Young, Liane

2013-01-01

Is it permissible to harm one to save many? Classic moral dilemmas are often defined by the conflict between a putatively rational response to maximize aggregate welfare (i.e., the utilitarian judgment) and an emotional aversion to harm (i.e., the non-utilitarian judgment). Here, we address two questions. First, what specific aspect of emotional responding is relevant for these judgments? Second, is this aspect of emotional responding selectively reduced in utilitarians or enhanced in non-utilitarians? The results reveal a key relationship between moral judgment and empathic concern in particular (i.e., feelings of warmth and compassion in response to someone in distress). Utilitarian participants showed significantly reduced empathic concern on an independent empathy measure. These findings therefore reveal diminished empathic concern in utilitarian moral judges.

Executive Summary: Transforming Moral Distress into Moral Resilience in Nursing.

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Rushton, Cynda Hylton; Schoonover-Shoffner, Kathy; Kennedy, Maureen Shawn

To examine practices for addressing moral distress, a collaborative project was developed by the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, the American Journal of Nursing, and the Journal of Christian Nursing, along with the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and the American Nurses Association. Its purpose was to identify strategies that individuals and systems can use to mitigate the detrimental effects of moral distress and foster moral resilience. On August 11 and 12, 2016, an invitational symposium, State of the Science: Transforming Moral Distress into Moral Resilience in Nursing, was held at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore, Maryland. Forty-five nurse clinicians, researchers, ethicists, organization representatives, and other stakeholders took part. The result of the symposium was group consensus on recommendations for addressing moral distress and building moral resilience in four areas: practice, education, research, and policy. Participants and the organizations represented were energized and committed to moving this agenda forward. The full report is available online at http://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Pages/Moral-Distress-Supplement.aspx.

Genetic Influences on Response to Alcohol and Response to Pharmacotherapies for Alcoholism

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Enoch, Mary-Anne

2014-01-01

Although very many individuals drink alcohol at safe levels, a significant proportion escalates their consumption with addiction as the end result. Alcoholism is a common, moderately heritable, psychiatric disorder that is accompanied by considerable morbidity and mortality. Variation in clinical presentation suggests inter-individual variation in mechanisms of vulnerability including genetic risk factors. The development of addiction is likely to involve numerous functional genetic variants of small effects. The first part of this review will focus on genetic factors underlying inter-individual variability in response to alcohol consumption, including variants in alcohol metabolizing genes that produce an aversive response (the flushing syndrome) and variants that predict the level of subjective and physiological response to alcohol. The second part of this review will report on genetic variants that identify subgroups of alcoholics who are more likely to respond to pharmacotherapy to reduce levels of drinking or maintain abstinence. Genetic analyses of the level of response to alcohol, particularly of the functional OPRM1 A118G polymorphism and 5′ and 3′ functional polymorphisms in SLC6A4, are beginning to provide insights into the etiology of alcoholism and also genotype-stratified subgroup responses to naltrexone and SSRIs / ondansetron respectively. Because of large inter-ethnic variation in allele frequencies, the relevance of these functional polymorphisms will vary between ethnic groups. However there are relatively few published studies in this field, particularly with large sample sizes in pharmacogenetic studies, therefore it is premature to draw any conclusions at this stage. PMID:24220019

Moral Geography and Exploration of the Moral Possibility Space

OpenAIRE

Bongrae Seok

2017-01-01

This article reviews Owen Flanagan’s latest book “The Geography of Morals, Varieties of Moral Possibilities” (2017). By exploring the space of moral possibility (i.e., diverse options and viewpoints of morality from different philosophical and religious traditions throughout the world), Flanagan argues that ethics is not simply a study of a priori conditions of normative rules and ideal values but a process of developing a careful understanding of varying conditions of human ecology and build...

Moral virtues

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Georg Spielthenner

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Although much has been published on virtues in recent years, there is still considerable uncertainty in philosophy (and even more among philosophical laymen about the concept of a virtue and especially about moral virtues. In this article, I will try to clarify these notions. In particular, I want to answer the question: When are virtues moral virtues? Clearly, not every practical virtue is a moral virtue. Why was the courage of the Nazi soldiers in the second world war not a moral virtue, but yet is presumably one if included among the cardinal virtues? To clarify this question, this article will deal with the concept of a virtue but I will also investigate the notion of virtues being of a moral nature. To this end, I propose and explain (I a definition of moral virtues and clarify this definition further in section (II, by explaining why I did not include qualities, which others have considered as essential.

HIV and AIDS in South Africa: a social and moral responsibility in shaping organisational action

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Renitha Rampersad

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In recent years, the interest in corporate social responsibility issues has shown an increase. Worldwide problems, especially those related to HIV/AIDS, caught public attention towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR themes. In a country with more people living with HIV/AIDS than in any other nation (UNAIDS 2007, prevention and treatment is critical. HIV/AIDS is seen to be threatening the communities in which businesses are functioning and is further threatening the business itself. This article examines the moral and social responsibility of the corporate sector in its effort to deal with the issue of HIV/AIDS. Big business leaders have recognized the threat of HIV/AIDS to the workplace and have positioned responses towards the disease from an ethical, legal and cost-effective business perspective; however the response from small to medium businesses is relatively weak. This article conveys a descriptive critique, based on bibliographic research on Corporate Social Responsibility, HIV/AIDS and related concepts.

The measurement of principled morality by the Kohlberg Moral Dilemma Questionnaire.

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Heilbrun, A B; Georges, M

1990-01-01

The four stages preceding the postconventional level in the Kohlberg (1958, 1971, 1976) system of moral development are described as involving moral judgments that conform to external conditions of punishment, reward, social expectation, and conformity to the law. No special level of self-control seems necessary to behave in keeping with these conditions of external reinforcement. In contrast, the two stages of postconventional (principled) mortality involve defiance of majority opinion and defiance of the law--actions that would seem to require greater self-control. This study was concerned with whether postconventional moral reasoning, as measured by the Kohlberg Moral Dilemma Questionnaire (MDQ), can be associated with higher self-control. If so, prediction of principled moral behavior from the MDQ would be based not only on postconventional moral reasoning but bolstered by the necessary level of self-control as well. College students who came the closest to postconventional moral reasoning showed better self-control than college students who were more conventional or preconventional in their moral judgments. These results support the validity of the MDQ for predicting principled moral behavior.

On Shermer on morality.

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Miller, Christian B

2016-11-01

This is my critical commentary on Michael Shermer's paper "Morality is real, objective, and natural." Shermer and I agree that morality is both real and objective. Here I raise serious reservations about both Shermer's account of where morality comes from and his account of what morality tells us to do. His approach to the foundations of morality would allow some very disturbing behaviors to count as moral, and his approach to what morality says does not provide the action guidance we need from a moral theory. © 2016 New York Academy of Sciences.

Moral Education as Intercultural Moral Education

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Frisancho, Susana; Delgado, Guillermo Enrique

2018-01-01

In a diverse country such as Peru, moral education should reflect social, cultural, political and spiritual dilemmas of both indigenous and non-indigenous peoples and their communities. To promote understanding and respect amongst people from different sociocultural backgrounds, moral education should encourage a dialogue between indigenous values…

A framework for understanding moral distress among palliative care clinicians.

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Rushton, Cynda H; Kaszniak, Alfred W; Halifax, Joan S

2013-09-01

Palliative care clinicians confront suffering as they care for people living with life-limiting conditions. When the degree of suffering becomes unjustified, moral distress can ensue. Promising work from neuroscience and social psychology has yet to be applied to clinical practice. Our objective was to expand a social psychology model focusing on empathy and compassion in response to suffering to include an ethical dimension and to examine how the interrelationships of its proposed components can assist clinicians in understanding their responses to morally distressing situations. In the clinical context, responses to distressing events are thought to include four dimensions: empathy (emotional attunement), perspective taking (cognitive attunement), memory (personal experience), and moral sensitivity (ethical attunement). These dynamically intertwined dimensions create the preconditions for how clinicians respond to a triggering event instigated by an ethical conflict or dilemma. We postulate that if the four dimensions are highly aligned, the intensity and valence of emotional arousal will influence ethical appraisal and discernment by engaging a robust view of the ethical issues, conflicts, and possible solutions and cultivating compassionate action and resilience. In contrast, if they are not, ethical appraisal and discernment will be deficient, creating emotional disregulation and potentially leading to personal and moral distress, self-focused behaviors, unregulated moral outrage, burnout, and secondary stress. The adaptation and expansion of a conceptual framework offers a promising approach to designing interventions that help clinicians mitigate the detrimental consequences of unregulated moral distress and to build the resilience necessary to sustain themselves in clinical service.

Why Be Moral? Children's Explicit Motives for Prosocial-Moral Action

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Sonia eSengsavang

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Recent research on young children's morality has stressed the autonomous and internal nature of children's moral motivation. However, this research has mostly focused on implicit moral motives, whereas children's explicit motives have not been investigated directly. This study examined children’s explicit motives for why they want to engage in prosocial actions and avoid antisocial behavior. A total of 195 children aged 4 to 12 years were interviewed about their motives for everyday prosocial-moral actions, as well as reported on their relationship with their parents. Children's explicit motives to abstain from antisocial behavior were found to be more external and less other-oriented than their motives for prosocial action. Motives that reflected higher levels of internal motivation became more frequent with age. Moreover, positive parent-child relationships predicted more other-oriented motives and greater explication of moral motives. Overall, the study provides evidence that children’s explicit moral motivation is far more heterogeneous than prominent theories of moral development (past and present suggest.

Why be moral? Children's explicit motives for prosocial-moral action.

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Sengsavang, Sonia; Willemsen, Kayleen; Krettenauer, Tobias

2015-01-01

Recent research on young children's morality has stressed the autonomous and internal nature of children's moral motivation. However, this research has mostly focused on implicit moral motives, whereas children's explicit motives have not been investigated directly. This study examined children's explicit motives for why they want to engage in prosocial actions and avoid antisocial behavior. A total of 195 children aged 4-12 years were interviewed about their motives for everyday prosocial-moral actions, as well as reported on their relationship with their parents. Children's explicit motives to abstain from antisocial behavior were found to be more external and less other-oriented than their motives for prosocial action. Motives that reflected higher levels of internal motivation became more frequent with age. Moreover, positive parent-child relationships predicted more other-oriented motives and greater explication of moral motives. Overall, the study provides evidence that children's explicit moral motivation is far more heterogeneous than prominent theories of moral development (past and present) suggest.

Patient participation: causing moral stress in psychiatric nursing?

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Jansen, Trine-Lise; Hanssen, Ingrid

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to explore psychiatric nurses' experiences and perspectives regarding patient participation. Patient participation is an ambiguous, complex and poorly defined concept with practical/clinical, organisational, legal and ethical aspects, some of which in psychiatric units may cause ethical predicaments and moral stress in nurses, for instance when moral caring acts are thwarted by constraints. An explorative quantitative pilot study was conducted at a psychiatric subacute unit through three focus group interviews with a total of nine participants. A thematic analytic approach was chosen. Preliminary empirical findings were discussed with participants before the final data analysis. Ethical research guidelines were followed. Patient participation is a difficult ideal to realise because of vagueness of aim and content. What was regarded as patient participation differed. Some interviewees held that patients may have a say within the framework of restraints while others saw patient participation as superficial. The interviewees describe themselves as patient's spokespersons and contributing to patients participating in their treatment as a great responsibility. They felt squeezed between their ethical values and the 'system'. They found themselves in a negotiator role trying to collaborate with both the doctors and the patients. Privatisation of a political ideal makes nurses vulnerable to burn out and moral distress. Nurses have a particular ethical responsibility towards vulnerable patients, and may themselves be vulnerable when caught in situations where their professional and moral values are threatened. Unclear concepts make for unclear division of responsibility. Patient participation is often a neglected value in current psychiatric treatment philosophy. When healthcare workers' ethical sensibilities are compromised, this may result in moral stress. © 2016 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Questioning the Moral Understanding of Law

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Pavčnik Marijan

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The primary content-related framework we are bound to are the basic human rights as established in the constitution. These basic rights may change and develop, yet as the heritage of our political and legal culture, they possess such a solid core meaning that only a “dogmatic sceptic” (G. Radbruch can doubt it. In societies with plural values, the moral values expressed by the basic human rights are the most solid moral basis of law. The moral understanding of law is necessarily accompanied by a moral criticism of law. Such criticism is often not pleasing to the authorities, but it cannot be avoided if one wants to live up to our responsibility towards nature, society and future generations. A lawyer who is not interested in these issues and only sticks to the letter of the law acts in a fossilized manner and does not enrich the life that the law is intended for. Legal thought should always have its meaning, as Smole’s Antigone would say.

Psychopathy: what apology making tells us about moral agency.

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Ayob, Gloria; Thornton, Tim

2014-02-01

Psychopathy is often used to settle disputes about the nature of moral judgment. The "trolley problem" is a familiar scenario in which psychopathy is used as a test case. Where a convergence in response to the trolley problem is registered between psychopathic subjects and non-psychopathic (normal) subjects, it is assumed that this convergence indicates that the capacity for making moral judgments is unimpaired in psychopathy. This, in turn, is taken to have implications for the dispute between motivation internalists and motivation externalists, for instance. In what follows, we want to do two things: firstly, we set out to question the assumption that convergence is informative of the capacity for moral judgment in psychopathy. Next, we consider a distinct feature of psychopathy which we think provides strong grounds for holding that the capacity for moral judgment is seriously impaired in psychopathic subjects. The feature in question is the psychopathic subject's inability to make sincere apologies. Our central claim will be this: convergence in response to trolley problems does not tell us very much about the psychopathic subject's capacity to make moral judgments, but his inability to make sincere apologies does provide us with strong grounds for holding that this capacity is seriously impaired in psychopathy.

Morality, Responsibility, and the University. Studies in Academic Ethics.

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Cahn, Steven M., Ed.

This book presents 14 essays from American philosophers who critically investigate the moral issues generated by academic life. Topics addressed include free speech on campus, justifications for tenure, faculty appointment and evaluation procedures, the differing demands of research and teaching, sexual harassment, parietal rules,…

Low levels of empathic concern predict utilitarian moral judgment.

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Ezequiel Gleichgerrcht

Full Text Available Is it permissible to harm one to save many? Classic moral dilemmas are often defined by the conflict between a putatively rational response to maximize aggregate welfare (i.e., the utilitarian judgment and an emotional aversion to harm (i.e., the non-utilitarian judgment. Here, we address two questions. First, what specific aspect of emotional responding is relevant for these judgments? Second, is this aspect of emotional responding selectively reduced in utilitarians or enhanced in non-utilitarians? The results reveal a key relationship between moral judgment and empathic concern in particular (i.e., feelings of warmth and compassion in response to someone in distress. Utilitarian participants showed significantly reduced empathic concern on an independent empathy measure. These findings therefore reveal diminished empathic concern in utilitarian moral judges.

EMOTIONS AND REASONING IN MORAL DECISION MAKING

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V. V. Nadurak

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the research is the study of relationship between emotional and rational factors in moral decisions making. Methodology. The work is primarily based on the analysis and synthesis of the main empirical studies of the problem, each of which uses the methods of those sciences in which they were conducted (neurosciences. Originality. In general, the process of moral decision making cannot be described by a single simple model that would see only emotional or rational factor in foundation of this process. Moral decision making is characterized by different types of interaction between emotions and rational considerations. The influence of emotional and rational factors on moral decision is nonlinear: moral decision, which person makes, isn’t proportional to those emotions that preceded it and isn't unambiguously determined by them, because rational reasoning and contextual factors can significantly change it. Similarly, the reasoning that precede the decision is not necessarily reflected in the decision, because it can be significantly corrected by those emotions that accompany it. Conclusions. The process of moral decision making involves complex, heterogeneous interaction between emotional and rational factors. There are three main types of such interaction: first, the reasoning serves to rationalize prior emotional response; second, there are cases when reasoning precedes emotional reactions and determines it; third, interaction between these factors is characterized by cyclic causality (emotion impacts reasoning, which in turn impacts emotions. The influence of emotions or rational reasoning on moral decision is nonlinear.

Reconciling the self and morality: an empirical model of moral centrality development.

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Frimer, Jeremy A; Walker, Lawrence J

2009-11-01

Self-interest and moral sensibilities generally compete with one another, but for moral exemplars, this tension appears to not be in play. This study advances the reconciliation model, which explains this anomaly within a developmental framework by positing that the relationship between the self's interests and moral concerns ideally transforms from one of mutual competition to one of synergy. The degree to which morality is central to an individual's identity-or moral centrality-was operationalized in terms of values advanced implicitly in self-understanding narratives; a measure was developed and then validated. Participants were 97 university students who responded to a self-understanding interview and to several measures of morally relevant behaviors. Results indicated that communal values (centered on concerns for others) positively predicted and agentic (self-interested) values negatively predicted moral behavior. At the same time, the tendency to coordinate both agentic and communal values within narrative thought segments positively predicted moral behavior, indicating that the 2 motives can be adaptively reconciled. Moral centrality holds considerable promise in explaining moral motivation and its development.

Kaip galima su sveiko proto morale suderinama moralės teorija

OpenAIRE

Vasilionytė, Ieva

2014-01-01

The dissertation explores the question of the possibility of a moral theory compatible with common sense morality. Common sense morality is limited to its two fundamental features, or suppositions: moral judgements are truth apt and practical, i.e. they are at the same time in some sense objectively right or wrong and necessarily action guiding. In contemporary philosophy, the two fundamental features of common sense morality seem to be incompatible: only descriptions can have truth values, b...

Neural processing of moral violations among incarcerated adolescents with psychopathic traits

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Carla L. Harenski

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Neuroimaging studies have found that adult male psychopaths show reduced engagement of limbic and paralimbic circuitry while making moral judgments. The goal of this study was to investigate whether these findings extend to adolescent males with psychopathic traits. Functional MRI was used to record hemodynamic activity in 111 incarcerated male adolescents while they viewed unpleasant pictures that did or did not depict moral transgressions and rated each on “moral violation severity”. Adolescents were assessed for psychopathic traits using the Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version (PCL-YV, Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime Version (KSADS-PL Conduct Disorder supplement, and Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits-Youth Version (ICU-Y. While viewing pictures depicting moral transgressions, CD scores were negatively correlated with hemodynamic responses in the anterior temporal cortex. Adolescents scoring low on the ICU-Y showed a positive correlation between right amygdala responses and severity of violation ratings; those with high ICU-Y scores showed a negative correlation. While viewing unpleasant pictures with and without moral transgressions, PCL-YV scores were negatively correlated with hemodynamic responses in the left amygdala. Overall, the results are consistent with those previously found in adult male psychopaths, but vary depending on the type of psychopathy assessment.

How moral disagreement may ground principled moral compromise

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Kappel, Klemens

2018-01-01

In an influential article, Simon C. May forcefully argued that, properly understood, there can never be principled reasons for moral compromise (May, 2005). While there may be pragmatic reasons for compromising that involve, for instance, concern for political expediency or for stability, there a......In an influential article, Simon C. May forcefully argued that, properly understood, there can never be principled reasons for moral compromise (May, 2005). While there may be pragmatic reasons for compromising that involve, for instance, concern for political expediency or for stability......, there are properly speaking no principled reasons to compromise. My aim in the article is to show how principled moral compromise in the context of moral disagreements over policy options is possible. I argue that when we disagree, principled reasons favoring compromises or compromising can assume a more significant...... part of what makes a position all things considered best, and in this way disagreement can ground moral compromise....

Expertise for Teaching Biology Situated in the Context of Genetic Testing

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Van der Zande, Paul; Akkerman, Sanne F.; Brekelmans, Mieke; Waarlo, Arend Jan; Vermunt, Jan D.

2012-07-01

Contemporary genomics research will impact the daily practice of biology teachers who want to teach up-to-date genetics in secondary education. This article reports on a research project aimed at enhancing biology teachers' expertise for teaching genetics situated in the context of genetic testing. The increasing body of scientific knowledge concerning genetic testing and the related consequences for decision-making indicate the societal relevance of an educational approach based on situated learning. What expertise do biology teachers need for teaching genetics in the personal health context of genetic testing? This article describes the required expertise by exploring the educational practice. Nine experienced teachers were interviewed about the pedagogical content, moral and interpersonal expertise areas concerning how to teach genetics in the personal health context of genetic testing, and the lessons of five of them were observed. The findings showed that the required teacher expertise encompasses specific pedagogical content expertise, interpersonal expertise and a preference for teacher roles and teaching approaches for the moral aspects of teaching in this context. A need for further development of teaching and learning activities for (reflection on) moral reasoning came to the fore. Suggestions regarding how to apply this expertise into context-based genetics education are discussed.

Who answers the call? Institutional moral agency and global justice

OpenAIRE

Klapdor, Michael

2010-01-01

This thesis asks who is able to answer the call to action that the problems of global injustice pose. It focuses on the concept of institutions such as states, intergovernmental organisations, corporations and non-governmental organisations as moral agents and whether such institutions can be said to be morally responsible for creating or responding to global injustice. It examines three theories of institutional moral agency as presented by Peter French, Toni Erskine and Onora O’Neill and th...

Mapping the Moral Domain

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Graham, Jesse; Nosek, Brian A.; Haidt, Jonathan; Iyer, Ravi; Koleva, Spassena; Ditto, Peter H.

2010-01-01

The moral domain is broader than the empathy and justice concerns assessed by existing measures of moral competence, and it is not just a subset of the values assessed by value inventories. To fill the need for reliable and theoretically-grounded measurement of the full range of moral concerns, we developed the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ) based on a theoretical model of five universally available (but variably developed) sets of moral intuitions: Harm/care, Fairness/reciprocity, Ingroup/loyalty, Authority/respect, and Purity/sanctity. We present evidence for the internal and external validity of the scale and the model, and in doing so present new findings about morality: 1. Comparative model fitting of confirmatory factor analyses provides empirical justification for a five-factor structure of moral concerns. 2. Convergent/discriminant validity evidence suggests that moral concerns predict personality features and social group attitudes not previously considered morally relevant. 3. We establish pragmatic validity of the measure in providing new knowledge and research opportunities concerning demographic and cultural differences in moral intuitions. These analyses provide evidence for the usefulness of Moral Foundations Theory in simultaneously increasing the scope and sharpening the resolution of psychological views of morality. PMID:21244182

Moral politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rapp, Carolin; Traunmüller, Richard; Freitag, Markus

2014-01-01

This article combines the research strands of moral politics and political behavior by focusing on the effect of individual and contextual religiosity on individual vote decisions in popular initiatives and public referenda concerning morally charged issues. We rely on a total of 13 surveys with 1...... American research on moral politics, direct democracies, and the public role of religion....

Media Morality and Visual Icons in the Age of Social Media

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Mortensen, Mette; Trenz, Hans-Jörg

2016-01-01

New and social media are increasingly used to raise issues of global justice. Images and texts representing distant suffering in an emotionally charged way involve users of social media in debates about ethical standards and moral responsibility. This raises the question of how social media users...... in fall 2015, which raised questions of distant spectatorship and moral responses with renewed urgency and immediacy. We consider the conditions of collective reception and interpretation of visual icons of human suffering, which became viral through social media in this period. We first situate social...... media reception in the framework for the analysis of moral spectatorship. We secondly explore the link between iconic images and the emergence of so-called impromptu publics of moral spectatorship. As an empirical case, we refer to the performance of reddit discussion groups in confronting the salient...

Selective Moral Disengagement in the Exercise of Moral Agency.

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Bandura, Albert

2002-01-01

Addresses the issue of selective moral disengagement in the exercise of moral agency. Argues that moral functioning is governed by self-reactive selfhood rather than by dispassionate abstract reasoning. Concludes that the massive threats to human welfare stem mainly from deliberate acts of principle rather than from unrestrained acts of impulse.…

Artificial Intelligence as a Means to Moral Enhancement

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Klincewicz Michał

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper critically assesses the possibility of moral enhancement with ambient intelligence technologies and artificial intelligence presented in Savulescu and Maslen (2015. The main problem with their proposal is that it is not robust enough to play a normative role in users’ behavior. A more promising approach, and the one presented in the paper, relies on an artificial moral reasoning engine, which is designed to present its users with moral arguments grounded in first-order normative theories, such as Kantianism or utilitarianism, that reason-responsive people can be persuaded by. This proposal can play a normative role and it is also a more promising avenue towards moral enhancement. It is more promising because such a system can be designed to take advantage of the sometimes undue trust that people put in automated technologies. We could therefore expect a well-designed moral reasoner system to be able to persuade people that may not be persuaded by similar arguments from other people. So, all things considered, there is hope in artificial intelligence for moral enhancement, but not in artificial intelligence that relies solely on ambient intelligence technologies.

Moral Beliefs and Cognitive Homogeneity

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Nevia Dolcini

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The Emotional Perception Model of moral judgment intends to account for experientialism about morality and moral reasoning. In explaining how moral beliefs are formed and applied in practical reasoning, the model attempts to overcome the mismatch between reason and action/desire: morality isn’t about reason for actions, yet moral beliefs, if caused by desires, may play a motivational role in (moral agency. The account allows for two kinds of moral beliefs: genuine moral beliefs, which enjoy a relation to desire, and motivationally inert moral beliefs acquired in ways other than experience. Such etiology-based dichotomy of concepts, I will argue, leads to the undesirable view of cognition as a non-homogeneous phenomenon. Moreover, the distinction between moral beliefs and moral beliefs would entail a further dichotomy encompassing the domain of moral agency: one and the same action might possibly be either genuine moral, or not moral, if acted by individuals lacking the capacity for moral feelings, such as psychopaths.

Pedagogical Formation Students' Resistance Behaviors towards Teaching-Learning Processes and Their Moral Maturity

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Argon, Türkan; Sezen-Gültekin, Gözde

2016-01-01

Moral maturity, defined as the competence in moral emotions, thoughts, judgments, attitudes and behaviors, is one of the most important qualities that the would-be teachers at Faculties of Education must possess. Teachers with moral maturity will train students with the qualities of reliability, responsibility, fairness, objectivity, consistency…

The Everyday Moral Judge – Autobiographical Recollections of Moral Emotions

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Tscharaktschiew, Nadine; Schindler, Rose; Schulz, Katrin; Rudolph, Udo

2016-01-01

Moral emotions are typically elicited in everyday social interactions and regulate social behavior. Previous research in the field of attribution theory identified ought (the moral standard of a given situation or intended goal), goal-attainment (a goal can be attained vs. not attained) and effort (high vs. low effort expenditure) as cognitive antecedents of moral emotions. In contrast to earlier studies, mainly relying on thought experiments, we investigated autobiographical recollections of N = 312 participants by means of an online study. We analyzed a diverse range of moral emotions, i.e., admiration, anger, contempt, indignation, pride, respect, schadenfreude, and sympathy, by using a mixed-method approach. Qualitative and quantitative methods clearly corroborate the important role of ought, goal-attainment, and effort as eliciting conditions of moral emotions. Furthermore, we built categorical systems based on our participants’ descriptions of real-life situations, allowing for more fine-grained distinctions between seemingly similar moral emotions. We thus identify additional prerequisites explaining more subtle differences between moral emotion clusters as they emerge from our analyses (i.e., cluster 1: admiration, pride, and respect; cluster 2: anger, contempt, and indignation; cluster 3: schadenfreude and sympathy). Results are discussed in the light of attributional theories of moral emotions, and implications for future research are derived. PMID:27977699

How American Nurses Association Code of Ethics informs genetic/genomic nursing.

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Tluczek, Audrey; Twal, Marie E; Beamer, Laura Curr; Burton, Candace W; Darmofal, Leslie; Kracun, Mary; Zanni, Karen L; Turner, Martha

2018-01-01

Members of the Ethics and Public Policy Committee of the International Society of Nurses in Genetics prepared this article to assist nurses in interpreting the American Nurses Association (2015) Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (Code) within the context of genetics/genomics. The Code explicates the nursing profession's norms and responsibilities in managing ethical issues. The nearly ubiquitous application of genetic/genomic technologies in healthcare poses unique ethical challenges for nursing. Therefore, authors conducted literature searches that drew from various professional resources to elucidate implications of the code in genetic/genomic nursing practice, education, research, and public policy. We contend that the revised Code coupled with the application of genomic technologies to healthcare creates moral obligations for nurses to continually refresh their knowledge and capacities to translate genetic/genomic research into evidence-based practice, assure the ethical conduct of scientific inquiry, and continually develop or revise national/international guidelines that protect the rights of individuals and populations within the context of genetics/genomics. Thus, nurses have an ethical responsibility to remain knowledgeable about advances in genetics/genomics and incorporate emergent evidence into their work.

Moral education through literature

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Pantić Nataša

2006-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines a variety of perspectives on the role of literature in moral education. These proceed from general considerations to more specific issues that remain contested to the present day, such as distinction between individual and social morality. Others bring any literature under suspicion in the post-structuralist era, such as the cultural relativity of morality, distinctions between aesthetic and moral dimensions of literary works, and between moral awareness and behavior. The discussion is illustrated through considerations of the place of literature in English moral education from the Victorians to the present day. The discussion of dilemmas that policy makers and educators face today focuses on three dilemmas that often serve to question a possibility of justifying the morally educative power of literature: cultural relativism in literature and ideology (and its implications for the canon, the distinction between an aesthetic and moral power of literature, and finally, the doubts about the transferability of moral awareness acquired through literature to actual moral conduct. .

A naturalized concept of justice? A critical response based on Jürgen Habermas´s moral theory

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César Ortega Esquembre

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to study critically, with the help of Habermas´s moral theory, the current naturalistic approach to morality —which is based on both the evolutionary theory and neuroscience—. In doing so it will be explained the specifically moral use of practical reason, as Habermas propose; it will be compared this moral use with Kohlberg's postconventional stage of moral development; and it will be claimed that naturalistic approach cannot explain this stage, that can be understood as specific justice area.

Nurse moral distress: A survey identifying predictors and potential interventions.

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Rathert, Cheryl; May, Douglas R; Chung, Hye Sook

2016-01-01

Ethical dilemmas and conflicts are inherent in today's health care organizations and may lead to moral distress, which is often associated with physical and psychological symptoms. Although the existence of moral distress has been observed by scholars for decades, most of the research has been descriptive and has examined what types of health care conflicts lead to distress. This study tested a comprehensive model, underpinned by Social Cognitive Theory, that examined work environment and intrapersonal variables that may influence moral distress. We surveyed nursing staff employed in a U.S. acute care hospital (response rate=45%; n=290). More than half of the respondents reported they experience ethical dilemmas and conflicts from several times a month to daily, and nearly half reported they experience moral distress at least several times a month. Structural equation modeling analysis simultaneously examined the effects of five independent variables on moral distress and moral voice: (a) frequency of ethical dilemmas and conflicts; (b) moral efficacy; (c) ethics communication; (d) ethical environment; and (e) organizational ethics support. Results revealed significant independent effects of the frequency of ethics issues and organizational ethics support on moral distress. Bootstrapping analysis indicated that voice fully mediated the relationship between moral efficacy and moral distress, and partially mediated the relationship between organizational ethics support and distress. Supplemental analysis revealed that organizational ethics support moderated the moral efficacy-voice-moral distress relationship such that when organizational support was low, moral efficacy was negatively related to moral distress via voice. Although it may be impossible to eliminate all ethical dilemmas and conflicts, leaders and organizations may wish to help improve nurses' moral efficacy, which appears to give rise to voice, and reduced moral distress. Increasing organizational

Principals’ Moral Agency and Ethical Decision-Making: Toward a Transformational Ethics

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Sabre Lynn Cherkowski

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This descriptive study provides a rich portrait of moral agency and ethical decision-making processes among a sample of Canadian school principals. Using an ethical responsibility framework linking moral agency and transformational leadership, the researchers found that 1 modeling moral agency is important for encouraging others to engage their own moral agency in the best interests of all children; 2 despite efforts to engage in collaborative decision-making, principals are often faced with the reality that they are the ones to absorb the cost of decisions; and 3 moral agents need to become wide-awake to the ethical issues and challenges that permeate their day-to-day work lives.

Moral Disengagement Among Bystanders to School Bullying

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Obermann, Marie-Louise

2011-01-01

This study examined the use of moral disengagement among children indirectly involved in bullying (bystanders). A sample of Danish adolescents (N = 660, M age 12.6 years) were divided into four groups depending on their bystander status: (a) outsiders, who did not experience bullying among...... their peers; (b) defenders, who were likely to help the victims in bullying episodes; (c) guilty bystanders, who did nothing to help bullied peers but felt guilty about it; and (d) unconcerned bystanders, who witnessed peers being bullied, without feeling responsible. Results indicated that, besides from...... active personal involvement in bullying others, being an unconcerned bystander to bullying also associates with moral disengagement. Unconcerned bystanders had significantly higher moral disengagement than guilty bystanders and defenders. Outsiders also showed significant higher disengagement than...

Moral Development in Adolescence

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Hart, Daniel; Carlo, Gustavo

2005-01-01

Themes in the papers in this special issue of the "JRA" on moral development are identified. We discuss the intersection of moral development research with policy concerns, the distinctive qualities of moral life in adolescence that warrant investigation, the multiple connotations of "moral", the methods typical of moral development research, and…

Conversational Effects of Gender and Children's Moral Reasoning

OpenAIRE

Björnberg, Marina

2007-01-01

This thesis aimed partly to examine the effects of gender on conversation dynamics, partly to investigate whether interaction between participants with contrasting opinions promotes cognitive development on a moral task. Another objective was to explore whether particular conversational features of interaction would have any impact upon a pair’s joint response or on each child’s moral development. The conversations were coded with regard to simultaneous speech acts, psychosocial behaviour and...

TMS Affects Moral Judgment, Showing the Role of DLPFC and TPJ in Cognitive and Emotional Processing

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Danique eJeurissen

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Decision-making involves a complex interplay of emotional responses and reasoning processes. In this study, we use TMS to explore the neurobiological substrates of moral decisions in humans. To examining the effects of TMS on the outcome of a moral-decision, we compare the decision outcome of moral-personal and moral-impersonal dilemmas to each other and examine the differential effects of applying TMS over the right DLPFC or right TPJ. In this comparison, we find that the TMS-induced disruption of the DLPFC during the decision process, affects the outcome of the moral-personal judgment, while TMS-induced disruption of TPJ affects only moral-impersonal conditions. In other words, we find a double-dissociation between DLPFC and TPJ in the outcome of a moral decision. Furthermore, we find that TMS-induced disruption of the DLPFC during non-moral, moral-impersonal, and moral-personal decisions lead to lower ratings of regret about the decision. Our results are in line with the dual-process theory and suggest a role for both the emotional response and cognitive reasoning process in moral judgment. Both the emotional and cognitive processes were shown to be involved in the decision outcome.

TMS affects moral judgment, showing the role of DLPFC and TPJ in cognitive and emotional processing.

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Jeurissen, Danique; Sack, Alexander T; Roebroeck, Alard; Russ, Brian E; Pascual-Leone, Alvaro

2014-01-01

Decision-making involves a complex interplay of emotional responses and reasoning processes. In this study, we use TMS to explore the neurobiological substrates of moral decisions in humans. To examining the effects of TMS on the outcome of a moral-decision, we compare the decision outcome of moral-personal and moral-impersonal dilemmas to each other and examine the differential effects of applying TMS over the right DLPFC or right TPJ. In this comparison, we find that the TMS-induced disruption of the DLPFC during the decision process, affects the outcome of the moral-personal judgment, while TMS-induced disruption of TPJ affects only moral-impersonal conditions. In other words, we find a double-dissociation between DLPFC and TPJ in the outcome of a moral decision. Furthermore, we find that TMS-induced disruption of the DLPFC during non-moral, moral-impersonal, and moral-personal decisions lead to lower ratings of regret about the decision. Our results are in line with the dual-process theory and suggest a role for both the emotional response and cognitive reasoning process in moral judgment. Both the emotional and cognitive processes were shown to be involved in the decision outcome.

Sex Differences in Moral Reasoning: Response to Walker's (1984) Conclusion That There Are None.

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Baumrind, Diana

1986-01-01

Takes issue with Lawrence Walker's literature review on developmental and individual differences in moral reasoning which found no consistent evidence for sex differences in moral development. Argues instead that the source and specific nature of these differences have yet to be established. (HOD)

Men, maternity and moral residue: negotiating the moral demands of the transition to first time fatherhood.

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Ives, Jonathan

2014-09-01

This article discusses men's transition to first time fatherhood, with a focus on the way they recognise various in-tension moral demands and negotiate an appropriate role for themselves. The findings are taken from a longitudinal study, drawing on elements of grounded theory, comprising a series of face-to-face and telephone interviews with 11 men over a 9-month period from the 12(th) week of pregnancy to 8 weeks after the birth. The analysis focuses on men's feelings and experience of exclusion and participation, and their response and reaction to that experience. The findings present two descriptive themes, 'on the inside looking in' and 'present but not participating', followed by third theme 'deference and support: a moral response' that exposes the dilemmatic nature of men's experience and explains the participants' apparent acceptance of being less involved. The discussion explores the concept of moral residue, arguing that while deference and support may be an appropriate role for fathers in the perinatal period it may also be a compromise that leads to feelings of uncertainty and frustration, which is a consequence of being in a genuinely dilemmatic situation. © 2014 The Author. Sociology of Health & Illness published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for Sociology of Health and Illness (SHIL).

The Unifying Moral Dyad: Liberals and Conservatives Share the Same Harm-Based Moral Template.

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Schein, Chelsea; Gray, Kurt

2015-08-01

Do moral disagreements regarding specific issues (e.g., patriotism, chastity) reflect deep cognitive differences (i.e., distinct cognitive mechanisms) between liberals and conservatives? Dyadic morality suggests that the answer is "no." Despite moral diversity, we reveal that moral cognition--in both liberals and conservatives--is rooted in a harm-based template. A dyadic template suggests that harm should be central within moral cognition, an idea tested--and confirmed--through six specific hypotheses. Studies suggest that moral judgment occurs via dyadic comparison, in which counter-normative acts are compared with a prototype of harm. Dyadic comparison explains why harm is the most accessible and important of moral content, why harm organizes--and overlaps with--diverse moral content, and why harm best translates across moral content. Dyadic morality suggests that various moral content (e.g., loyalty, purity) are varieties of perceived harm and that past research has substantially exaggerated moral differences between liberals and conservatives. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Rapid genetic restoration of a keystone species exhibiting delayed demographic response

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Genetic founder effects are often expected when animals colonize restored habitat in fragmented landscapes, but empirical data on genetic responses to restoration are limited. We examined the genetic response of banner-tailed kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis) to landscape-scale grassland restor...

Does ethical membership matter? Moral identification and its organizational implications.

Science.gov (United States)

May, Douglas R; Chang, Young K; Shao, Ruodan

2015-05-01

This research meaningfully connects the literatures on identification and business ethics by proposing the new construct of moral identification. Moral identification is defined here as the perception of oneness or belongingness associated with an organization that exhibits ethical traits (e.g., care, kindness, and compassion), which also involves a deliberate concern of the membership with an ethical organization. Integrating social identity theory with theory on the moral self, this research examines an overall theoretical model where moral identification plays a significant role in explaining employee attraction, motivation, and retention (i.e., 3 components of the overall theoretical framework). These components were examined separately in 3 empirical studies and findings from these studies first revealed that moral identification explained why job seekers with strong (vs. weak) moral identities were more attracted to a socially responsible organization (Study 1). Second, moral identification was associated with lower employee unethical proorganizational behavior (Study 2). Finally, moral identification was negatively related to employees' turnover intentions. Organizations' legal compliance moderated this relation such that it was stronger when organizations have higher (vs. lower) levels of legal compliance (Study 3). Taken together, these studies suggest that moral identification offers new insights in explaining both potential and current employees' behaviors when morality is contextually relevant and subjectively meaningful. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Explaining Moral Behavior.

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Osman, Magda; Wiegmann, Alex

2017-03-01

In this review we make a simple theoretical argument which is that for theory development, computational modeling, and general frameworks for understanding moral psychology researchers should build on domain-general principles from reasoning, judgment, and decision-making research. Our approach is radical with respect to typical models that exist in moral psychology that tend to propose complex innate moral grammars and even evolutionarily guided moral principles. In support of our argument we show that by using a simple value-based decision model we can capture a range of core moral behaviors. Crucially, the argument we propose is that moral situations per se do not require anything specialized or different from other situations in which we have to make decisions, inferences, and judgments in order to figure out how to act.

Integrity and moral residue: nurses as participants in a moral community.

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Hardingham, Lorraine B

2004-07-01

This paper will examine the concepts of integrity and moral residue as they relate to nursing practice in the current health care environment. I will begin with my definition and conception of ethical practice, and, based on that, will go on to argue for the importance of recognizing that nurses often find themselves in the position of compromising their moral integrity in order to maintain their self-survival in the hospital or health care environment. I will argue that moral integrity is necessary to a moral life, and is relational in nature. When integrity is threatened, the result is moral distress, moral residue, and in some cases, abandonment of the profession. The solution will require more than teaching bioethics to nursing students and nurses. It will require changes in the health care environment, organizational culture and the education of nurses, with an emphasis on building a moral community as an environment in which to practise ethically.

[Improving job morale of nurses despite insurance cost control. 1: Organization assessment].

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Haw, Mary Ann; Claus, Eleanor G; Durbin-Lafferty, Ellen; Iversen, Sharon M

2003-04-01

Faced with declining resources for health care and greater pressures to improve productivity of nursing staff, nursing administrators must act now to develop organizational responses to morale problems among nursing staff. As part of a two-part series for JONA, the authors describe low-cost organizational approaches that address nursing morale. Presented in Part 1 is a low-cost diagnostic process for assessing needs of staff and appraising organizational dimensions contributing to morale. Assessment findings provide clear direction for developing organizational approaches for improving morale.

The Application of Kohlberg's Moral Development Model to College Students' Technology Ethics Decisions

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Kiser, Angelina I. T.; Morrison, Eileen E.; Craven, Annette

2009-01-01

This study examined undergraduate university students' (n=121) responses to six ethical dilemmas within the realm of information technology (IT). Using a framework based on Kohlberg's stages of moral development, the study evaluated the level of moral development as demonstrated in these responses. An apriori coding system was used to analyze the…

Socialization and individual antecedents of adolescents' and young adults' moral motivation.

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Malti, Tina; Buchmann, Marlis

2010-02-01

Socialization and individual differences were examined as antecedents of moral motivation in representative samples of 15-year-old adolescents (N = 1,258; 54% female) and 21-year-old young adults (N = 584; 53% female). The adolescents' primary caregivers (N = 1,056) also participated. The strength of moral motivation was rated by participants' responses to two hypothetical moral dilemmas in terms of action decisions, emotion attributions, and justifications. Socialization was measured by the perceived quality of friendship, parent-child relationships, and educational background. The importance attached to social justice and various personality traits were also assessed. Adolescents' moral motivation was positively associated with the quality of their parent-child relationship and the importance of social justice. Young adults' moral motivation was predicted by the perceived quality of friendships, the importance of social justice, and agreeableness. For both groups, moral motivation was greater in females. The theoretical implications of the findings for the development of moral motivation are discussed.

Trust, moral responsibility, the self, and well-ordered societies: the importance of basic philosophical concepts for clinical ethics.

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Mccullough, Laurence B

2002-02-01

Although the work of clinical ethics is intensely practical, it employs and presumes philosophical concepts from the central branches of philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and political philosophy. This essay introduces this issue in the Journal on clinical ethics by considering how the papers and book reviews included in it illuminate four such concepts: trust, moral responsibility, the self and well-ordered societies.

Green consumers and public policy: On socially contingent moral motivation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nyborg, Karine; Brekke, Kjell Arne; Howarth, Richard B.

2006-01-01

'Green' consumers appear to accept individual responsibility for the provision of public goods. The propensity to take such responsibility may depend on beliefs about others' behavior, even for consumers motivated by internalized moral norms, not by social sanctions. This effect can produce multiple equilibria with either high or low demand for 'green' products. Permanent increases in green consumption may be achieved by imposing temporary taxes or subsidies, or through advertising that influences beliefs about others' behavior or about external effects. If a tax is interpreted as taking responsibility away from the individual, however, taxes can reduce the influence of moral motivation. (author)

Moral foundations vignettes: a standardized stimulus database of scenarios based on moral foundations theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Clifford, Scott; Iyengar, Vijeth; Cabeza, Roberto; Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter

2015-12-01

Research on the emotional, cognitive, and social determinants of moral judgment has surged in recent years. The development of moral foundations theory (MFT) has played an important role, demonstrating the breadth of morality. Moral psychology has responded by investigating how different domains of moral judgment are shaped by a variety of psychological factors. Yet, the discipline lacks a validated set of moral violations that span the moral domain, creating a barrier to investigating influences on judgment and how their neural bases might vary across the moral domain. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap by developing and validating a large set of moral foundations vignettes (MFVs). Each vignette depicts a behavior violating a particular moral foundation and not others. The vignettes are controlled on many dimensions including syntactic structure and complexity making them suitable for neuroimaging research. We demonstrate the validity of our vignettes by examining respondents' classifications of moral violations, conducting exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and demonstrating the correspondence between the extracted factors and existing measures of the moral foundations. We expect that the MFVs will be beneficial for a wide variety of behavioral and neuroimaging investigations of moral cognition.

Moral foundations vignettes: a standardized stimulus database of scenarios based on moral foundations theory

Science.gov (United States)

Iyengar, Vijeth; Cabeza, Roberto; Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter

2016-01-01

Research on the emotional, cognitive, and social determinants of moral judgment has surged in recent years. The development of moral foundations theory (MFT) has played an important role, demonstrating the breadth of morality. Moral psychology has responded by investigating how different domains of moral judgment are shaped by a variety of psychological factors. Yet, the discipline lacks a validated set of moral violations that span the moral domain, creating a barrier to investigating influences on judgment and how their neural bases might vary across the moral domain. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap by developing and validating a large set of moral foundations vignettes (MFVs). Each vignette depicts a behavior violating a particular moral foundation and not others. The vignettes are controlled on many dimensions including syntactic structure and complexity making them suitable for neuroimaging research. We demonstrate the validity of our vignettes by examining respondents’ classifications of moral violations, conducting exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and demonstrating the correspondence between the extracted factors and existing measures of the moral foundations. We expect that the MFVs will be beneficial for a wide variety of behavioral and neuroimaging investigations of moral cognition. PMID:25582811

Moral Appearances: Emotions, Robots, and Human Morality.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Coeckelbergh, Mark

2010-01-01

Can we build ‘moral robots’? If morality depends on emotions, the answer seems negative. Current robots do not meet standard necessary conditions for having emotions: they lack consciousness, mental states, and feelings. Moreover, it is not even clear how we might ever establish whether robots

Moral foundations, worldviews, moral absolutism and belief in conspiracy theories.

Science.gov (United States)

Leone, Luigi; Giacomantonio, Mauro; Lauriola, Marco

2017-09-05

In the present research, we examined whether individual differences in basic moral concerns might be related to a greater endorsement of conspiracy theories. Building on the notion that conspiracy theories often deal with super-individual relevant events in which a group perspective is central, we proposed that individual differences in moral concerns pertaining to group- and community-concerns (i.e., binding moral foundations) rather than to individual well-being (i.e., individualising moral foundations) would be positively associated with conspiracy beliefs. We further hypothesised that such relations would be totally mediated by beliefs in a dangerous world and by embracing moral absolutism. We found support for these predictions in two community samples (Ns: 319; 514). Theoretical implications were discussed. © 2017 International Union of Psychological Science.

Neural processing of moral violations among incarcerated adolescents with psychopathic traits.

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Harenski, Carla L; Harenski, Keith A; Kiehl, Kent A

2014-10-01

Neuroimaging studies have found that adult male psychopaths show reduced engagement of limbic and paralimbic circuitry while making moral judgments. The goal of this study was to investigate whether these findings extend to adolescent males with psychopathic traits. Functional MRI was used to record hemodynamic activity in 111 incarcerated male adolescents while they viewed unpleasant pictures that did or did not depict moral transgressions and rated each on "moral violation severity". Adolescents were assessed for psychopathic traits using the Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version (PCL-YV), Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime Version (KSADS-PL) Conduct Disorder supplement, and Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits-Youth Version (ICU-Y). While viewing pictures depicting moral transgressions, CD scores were negatively correlated with hemodynamic responses in the anterior temporal cortex. Adolescents scoring low on the ICU-Y showed a positive correlation between right amygdala responses and severity of violation ratings; those with high ICU-Y scores showed a negative correlation. While viewing unpleasant pictures with and without moral transgressions, PCL-YV scores were negatively correlated with hemodynamic responses in the left amygdala. Overall, the results are consistent with those previously found in adult male psychopaths, but vary depending on the type of psychopathy assessment. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Distributed Cognition and Distributed Morality: Agency, Artifacts and Systems.

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Heersmink, Richard

2017-04-01

There are various philosophical approaches and theories describing the intimate relation people have to artifacts. In this paper, I explore the relation between two such theories, namely distributed cognition and distributed morality theory. I point out a number of similarities and differences in these views regarding the ontological status they attribute to artifacts and the larger systems they are part of. Having evaluated and compared these views, I continue by focussing on the way cognitive artifacts are used in moral practice. I specifically conceptualise how such artifacts (a) scaffold and extend moral reasoning and decision-making processes, (b) have a certain moral status which is contingent on their cognitive status, and (c) whether responsibility can be attributed to distributed systems. This paper is primarily written for those interested in the intersection of cognitive and moral theory as it relates to artifacts, but also for those independently interested in philosophical debates in extended and distributed cognition and ethics of (cognitive) technology.

Moral Complexity: The Fatal Attraction of Truthiness and the Importance of Mature Moral Functioning.

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Narvaez, Darcia

2010-03-01

Recently, intuitionist theories have been effective in capturing the academic discourse about morality. Intuitionist theories, like rationalist theories, offer important but only partial understanding of moral functioning. Both can be fallacious and succumb to truthiness: the attachment to one's opinions because they "feel right," potentially leading to harmful action or inaction. Both intuition and reasoning are involved in deliberation and expertise. Both are malleable from environmental and educational influence, making questions of normativity-which intuitions and reasoning skills to foster-of utmost importance. Good intuition and reasoning inform mature moral functioning, which needs to include capacities that promote sustainable human well-being. Individual capacities for habituated empathic concern and moral metacognition-moral locus of control, moral self-regulation, and moral self-reflection-comprise mature moral functioning, which also requires collective capacities for moral dialogue and moral institutions. These capacities underlie moral innovation and are necessary for solving the complex challenges humanity faces. © The Author(s) 2010.

Religion, morality, evolution.

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Bloom, Paul

2012-01-01

How did religion evolve? What effect does religion have on our moral beliefs and moral actions? These questions are related, as some scholars propose that religion has evolved to enhance altruistic behavior toward members of one's group. I review here data from survey studies (both within and across countries), priming experiments, and correlational studies of the effects of religion on racial prejudice. I conclude that religion has powerfully good moral effects and powerfully bad moral effects, but these are due to aspects of religion that are shared by other human practices. There is surprisingly little evidence for a moral effect of specifically religious beliefs.

Moral distress within neonatal and paediatric intensive care units: a systematic review.

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Prentice, Trisha; Janvier, Annie; Gillam, Lynn; Davis, Peter G

2016-08-01

To review the literature on moral distress experienced by nursing and medical professionals within neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and paediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Pubmed, EBSCO (Academic Search Complete, CINAHL and Medline) and Scopus were searched using the terms neonat*, infant*, pediatric*, prematur* or preterm AND (moral distress OR moral responsibility OR moral dilemma OR conscience OR ethical confrontation) AND intensive care. 13 studies on moral distress published between January 1985 and March 2015 met our inclusion criteria. Fewer than half of those studies (6) were multidisciplinary, with a predominance of nursing staff responses across all studies. The most common themes identified were overly 'burdensome' and disproportionate use of technology perceived not to be in a patient's best interest, and powerlessness to act. Concepts of moral distress are expressed differently within nursing and medical literature. In nursing literature, nurses are often portrayed as victims, with physicians seen as the perpetrators instigating 'aggressive care'. Within medical literature moral distress is described in terms of dilemmas or ethical confrontations. Moral distress affects the care of patients in the NICU and PICU. Empirical data on multidisciplinary populations remain sparse, with inconsistent definitions and predominantly small sample sizes limiting generalisability of studies. Longitudinal data reflecting the views of all stakeholders, including parents, are required. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Ethical issues in predictive genetic testing: a public health perspective.

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Fulda, K G; Lykens, K

2006-03-01

As a result of the increase in genetic testing and the fear of discrimination by insurance companies, employers, and society as a result of genetic testing, the disciplines of ethics, public health, and genetics have converged. Whether relatives of someone with a positive predictive genetic test should be notified of the results and risks is a matter urgently in need of debate. Such a debate must encompass the moral and ethical obligations of the diagnosing physician and the patient. The decision to inform or not will vary depending on what moral theory is used. Utilising the utilitarian and libertarian theories produces different outcomes. The principles of justice and non-maleficence will also play an important role in the decision.

"Moral Ecology" and "Moral Capital": Tools towards a Sociology of Moral Education from a South African Ethnography

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Swartz, Sharlene

2010-01-01

Research and pedagogy in the field of morality and moral education has long been dominated by philosophical and psychological disciplines. Although sociological studies and theorising in the field have not been absent, it has been limited and non-systematic. Drawing on a study that investigated the lived morality of a group of young South Africans…

Moral Judgment, Sensitivity To Reasons, and the Multi-system View

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Orsi

2012-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper I attempt a critical examination of the multi-system or dual-process view of moral judgment. This view aims to provide a psychological explanation of moral sensitivity, and in particular an explanation of conflicting moral sensitivities in dilemma cases such as the crying baby scenario. I argue that proponents of the multi-system view owe us a satisfactory account of the mechanisms underlying “consequentialist” responses to such scenarios. For one thing, the “cognitive” processes involved in consequentialist reasoning only seem to play a subserving role with respect to the final judgment (providing non-moral inputs to judgment, or exerting additional strength to override the immediate “deontological” response. In this sense, Greene and colleagues fail to identify a peculiar system of moral judgment specularly opposed to the affective “deontological” one. For another, Greene and colleagues’ work on the emotion-cognition dichotomy and the distinction between alarm-bell and currency emotions, though promising, still falls short of providing an adequate and consistent picture of the psychological mechanisms underlying “cognitive” evaluations and verdicts in dilemma scenarios. It is suggested that alongside further experimental work, proponents of this view should pay more attention to the conceptual underpinnings of their distinctions.

Basic Genetics: A Human Approach.

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Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, Colorado Springs, CO. Center for Education in Human and Medical Genetics.

This document (which has the form of a magazine) provides a variety of articles, stories, editorials, letters, interviews, and other types of magazine features (such as book reviews) which focus on human genetics. In addition to providing information about the principles of genetics, nearly all of the sections in the "magazine" address moral,…

Reactions to morally motivated deviance

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Cramwinckel, F.M.; Van den Bos, K.; Van Dijk, E.

2015-01-01

People value morality in themselves and others. They want to be moral and good individuals, associate themselves with others who share their moral values, and belong to moral groups. As an ironic consequence of the importance of morality, people sometimes respond negatively to morally motivated

Morality, responsibility and risk: the importance of alternative perspectives in vaccination research.

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Lyons, Antonia C

2014-02-01

The four papers presented in this special section together provide a striking example of the importance of eliciting people's understandings and meanings of vaccinations, from parents and children to health and medical professionals. This commentary reflects on the findings of the papers in this special section and considers them within a broader sociocultural view on vaccination research. The four papers in the special section were integrated with previous research and scholarship on public health and vaccinations. The studies demonstrate how both uptake of vaccinations and their meanings vary by cultural context, most notably across Eastern and Western Europe, and the fundamental role that political, economic and healthcare systems play. Nevertheless, there are many similarities across seemingly diverse contexts. Three specific tensions are apparent across the findings (and within other vaccination research). These tensions revolve around (1) responsible citizen versus responsible individual, (2) scientific knowledge versus lay understandings and (3) uncertainty and risk versus certainty and trust. Threaded through these tensions are discourses around citizenship, trust, morality, gender and power that are important to consider in research on vaccinations.

Mortality Salience and Morality: Thinking about Death Makes People Less Utilitarian

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Tremoliere, Bastien; De Neys, Wim; Bonnefon, Jean-Francois

2012-01-01

According to the dual-process model of moral judgment, utilitarian responses to moral conflict draw on limited cognitive resources. Terror Management Theory, in parallel, postulates that mortality salience mobilizes these resources to suppress thoughts of death out of focal attention. Consequently, we predicted that individuals under mortality…

Morale and Productivity

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-01

account for valuation of highly technical skill sets and variation among job descriptions. 9 Once morale can be effectively measured and linked to...morale progression through phases (arrival, engagement, acceptance, and reentry), which have corresponding peaks and valleys for morale and, by

It's not all about moral reasoning: Understanding the content of Moral Case Deliberation.

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Svantesson, Mia; Silén, Marit; James, Inger

2018-03-01

Moral Case Deliberation is one form of clinical ethics support described as a facilitator-led collective moral reasoning by healthcare professionals on a concrete moral question connected to their practice. Evaluation research is needed, but, as human interaction is difficult to standardise, there is a need to capture the content beyond moral reasoning. This allows for a better understanding of Moral Case Deliberation, which may contribute to further development of valid outcome criteria and stimulate the normative discussion of what Moral Case Deliberation should contain. To explore and compare the content beyond moral reasoning in the dialogue in Moral Case Deliberation at Swedish workplaces. A mixed-methods approach was applied for analysing audio-recordings of 70 periodic Moral Case Deliberation meetings at 10 Swedish workplaces. Moral Case Deliberation facilitators and various healthcare professions participated, with registered nurses comprising the majority. Ethical considerations: No objection to the study was made by an Ethical Review Board. After oral and written information was provided, consent to be recorded was assumed by virtue of participation. Other than 'moral reasoning' (median (md): 45% of the spoken time), the Moral Case Deliberations consisted of 'reflections on the psychosocial work environment' to a varying extent (md: 29%). Additional content comprised 'assumptions about the patient's psychosocial situation' (md: 6%), 'facts about the patient's situation' (md: 5%), 'concrete problem-solving' (md: 6%) and 'process' (md: 3%). The findings suggest that a restorative function of staff's wellbeing in Moral Case Deliberation is needed, as this might contribute to good patient care. This supports outcome criteria of improved emotional support, which may include relief of moral distress. However, facilitators need a strategy for how to proceed from the participants' own emotional needs and to develop the use of their emotional knowing to focus on

Morality in everyday life

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Hofmann, W.; Wisneski, D.C.; Brandt, M.J.; Skitka, L.J.

2014-01-01

The science of morality has drawn heavily on well-controlled but artificial laboratory settings. To study everyday morality, we repeatedly assessed moral or immoral acts and experiences in a large (N = 1252) sample using ecological momentary assessment. Moral experiences were surprisingly frequent

The morality of assisted reproduction and genetic manipulation A moralidade da reprodução assistida e da manipulação genética

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maurizio Mori

1999-01-01

Full Text Available The author analyzes the pros and cons of various forms of assisted reproduction, including the use of so-called 'genetic manipulation'. He shows how in ethics the only arguments with any chance of reaching a consensus (or at least an agreement are those of the rational type, based on universally acceptable ethical principles or corroborated by empirical facts and real life experience (as the starting point for identifying problems requiring analysis. After an analysis in which he identifies the incoherence and inconsistency of arguments against assisted reproduction, the author defends the right of human beings to decide autonomously about the most healthy forms of procreation, including those involving genetic manipulation. His starting point is the moral principle by which it is morally preferable to intervene in natural processes (as opposed to not intervening whenever this implies preventing and reducing disease and sufferingO autor se propõe a analisar os argumentos pró e contra as várias formas de reprodução assistida, inclusive aquela dependente da assim chamada manipulação genética. Mostra como os únicos argumentos com chance de chegar ao consenso, ou, pelo menos, a um acordo, sejam os argumentos racionais, embasados em princípios éticos (universalmente aceitáveis, ou corroborados por fatos empíricos e experiências de vida (como ponto de partida para identificar os problemas que requerem análise. Após uma parte desconstrutiva, na qual aponta a incoerência e a inconsistência dos argumentos contrários, o autor defende o direito dos humanos em decidir autonomamente acerca das formas mais saudáveis de procriação, inclusive aquelas que envolvem manipulações genéticas. Para tanto, baseia-se no princípio moral segundo o qual é moralmente preferível interferir nos processos naturais que não intervir quando isso implica prevenir e reduzir doenças e sofrimento.

What Develops in Moral Development? A Model of Moral Sensibility

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Sherblom, Stephen A.

2012-01-01

The field of moral psychology would benefit from an integrative model of what develops in moral development, contextualized within the larger scope of social science research. Moral sensibility is proposed as the best concept to embody stated aims, but the content of this concept must be more finely articulated and conceptualized as a dynamic…

Moral (or ethical education in Slovakia and its theoretical basis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gluchman Vasil

2016-06-01

Full Text Available With regard to existing concept of the moral education (ethics in Slovakia, the questions of ethics and morals are only one of the partial sections. The dominant role is played by psychology based on Roberto Olivar’s concept with emphasis on pro-socialization and on Erickson’s concept of the psychosocial development. From the philosophy basis point of view, only Aristotle, even in reduced form and Spranger’s concept of the life forms are mentioned. Philosophy and ethics are only complements to more psychologically based educational program which is resulting from the problematic division of a social and moral experience into egoistic and prosocial. Egoism is presented in a distorted form and is characterized as the cause of all moral evil. However, there are several different types of understanding of the term egoism in philosophy and ethics as for example psychological and ethical egoism, or self-interest. Ethical egoism or self-interest cannot be identified with selfishness. The main aim of moral education should not be only to form the desired children and youth moral orientation but on the other hand, to form morally self-confident individuals who are able to solve the moral problems, to help the others to solve them as well and to be able to bear moral responsibility for their own deeds.

Morality and Psychopathic Criminals. Ethicocentrism, Mental Incapacity, Free Will, and the Fear of Decriminalization

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Lorenzo Magnani

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Present-day legal judgments of psychopathic criminals strongly avoid the exploitation of “moral” considerations. Currently, the attribution of responsibility to criminals often takes advantage of the cognitive concept of mental incapacity so that, in these cases, the moral judgment about moral conducts of “psycho-pathological” criminals is potentially extinguished. I contend that the theories and methods that are currently used in western societies to discharge moral and legal responsibility are not clear in their epistemic structure and so partially unreliable. To support this conclusion I take advantage of my recent cognitive studies concerning the multiplicity of moral frameworks, the gene/cognitive niche co-evolution, and the concept of free will.

Judging the morality of utilitarian actions: How poor utilitarian accessibility makes judges irrational.

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Kusev, Petko; van Schaik, Paul; Alzahrani, Shrooq; Lonigro, Samantha; Purser, Harry

2016-12-01

Is it acceptable and moral to sacrifice a few people's lives to save many others? Research on moral dilemmas in psychology, experimental philosophy, and neuropsychology has shown that respondents judge utilitarian personal moral actions (footbridge dilemma) as less appropriate than equivalent utilitarian impersonal moral actions (trolley dilemma). Accordingly, theorists (e.g., Greene et al., 2001) have argued that judgments of appropriateness in personal moral dilemmas are more emotionally salient and cognitively demanding (taking more time to be rational) than impersonal moral dilemmas. Our novel findings show an effect of psychological accessibility (driven by partial contextual information; Kahneman, 2003) on utilitarian moral behavior and response time for rational choices. Enhanced accessibility of utilitarian outcomes through comprehensive information about moral actions and consequences boosted utility maximization in moral choices, with rational choices taking less time. Moreover, our result suggests that previous results indicating emotional interference, with rational choices taking more time to make, may have been artifacts of presenting partial information.

Religion and morality.

Science.gov (United States)

McKay, Ryan; Whitehouse, Harvey

2015-03-01

The relationship between religion and morality has long been hotly debated. Does religion make us more moral? Is it necessary for morality? Do moral inclinations emerge independently of religious intuitions? These debates, which nowadays rumble on in scientific journals as well as in public life, have frequently been marred by a series of conceptual confusions and limitations. Many scientific investigations have failed to decompose "religion" and "morality" into theoretically grounded elements; have adopted parochial conceptions of key concepts-in particular, sanitized conceptions of "prosocial" behavior; and have neglected to consider the complex interplay between cognition and culture. We argue that to make progress, the categories "religion" and "morality" must be fractionated into a set of biologically and psychologically cogent traits, revealing the cognitive foundations that shape and constrain relevant cultural variants. We adopt this fractionating strategy, setting out an encompassing evolutionary framework within which to situate and evaluate relevant evidence. Our goals are twofold: to produce a detailed picture of the current state of the field, and to provide a road map for future research on the relationship between religion and morality. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Moral competence among nurses in Malawi: A concept analysis approach.

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Maluwa, Veronica Mary; Gwaza, Elizabeth; Sakala, Betty; Kapito, Esnath; Mwale, Ruth; Haruzivishe, Clara; Chirwa, Ellen

2018-01-01

Nurses are expected to provide comprehensive, holistic and ethically accepted care according to their code of ethics and practice. However, in Malawi, this is not always the case. This article analyses moral competence concept using the Walker and Avant's strategy of concept analysis. The aim of this article is to analyse moral competence concept in relation to nursing practice and determine defining attributes, antecedents and consequences of moral competence in nursing practice. Analysis of moral competence concept was done using Walker and Avant's strategy of concept analysis. Deductive analysis was used to find the defining attributes of moral competence, which were kindness, compassion, caring, critical thinking, ethical decision making ability, problem solving, responsibility, discipline, accountability, communication, solidarity, honesty, and respect for human values, dignity and rights. The identified antecedents were personal, cultural and religious values; nursing ethics training, environment and guidance. The consequences of moral competence are team work spirit, effective communication, improved performance and positive attitudes in providing nursing care. Moral competence can therefore be used as a tool to improve care in nursing practice to meet patients' problems and needs and consequently increase public's satisfaction in Malawi.

Morality and Ecological Moral: contributions to the teaching practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ligiane Raimundo Gomes

2010-05-01

Full Text Available This research searched to investigate if the acquisition of the notion of respect to the environment, that we call “ecological moral”, is constructed during the childish development, solidarily to the construction of the morality, presupposing that the notion of respect on the ecological field is the same that found the conquest of the moral autonomy. For this investigation, it had been taken a sample of 15 participants, five by age group – form 6 to 8 years old, 10 to 11 years old and 13 to 15 years old. Through the piagetian clinical method, it was told to the children and adolescents two groups of stories: three stories were taken from Piaget’s studies about morality, focusing the conscience of rules and the notions of lie and justice, and four another hypothetical stories were created specifically to study the respect to the environment, focusing, respectively, the selective collection, the extinction of the birds, the pollution of a river and the cutting of tree. The statements of the participants were analysed according to the theoretical reference of Piaget concerning to the morality, also helped by some studious that have been amplifying the application field of Piaget’s theory. The data analysis allowed us to set up three levels for the development of the notion of respect to the environment, proving that the ecological moral has a psychogenetic dimension and there is a relation between the development of the morality and the acquisition of the ecological moral.

Moral Education in Taiwan.

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Meyer, Jeffrey F.

1988-01-01

Reports the attitudes of 80 Taiwanese teachers of morality about moral education in the face of drastic social change and modernization. Discusses the content and nature of traditional Chinese morality, the effects of contemporary culture on children's moral development, and teaching methods. Contains 18 references. (SV)

Ignorance Is No Excuse: Moral Judgments Are Influenced by a Genetic Variation on the Oxytocin Receptor Gene

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Walter, Nora T.; Montag, Christian; Markett, Sebastian; Felten, Andrea; Voigt, Gesine; Reuter, Martin

2012-01-01

Perspective-taking has become a main focus of studies on moral judgments. Recent fMRI studies have demonstrated that individual differences in brain activation predict moral decision making. In particular, pharmacological studies highlighted the crucial role for the neuropeptide oxytocin in social behavior and emotional perception. In the present…

Radiation risks and benefits: politics and morality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maxey, M.N.

1983-01-01

The bioethical framework from which moral reasoning concerning nuclear technology has been derived is both seriously flawed and conceptually inadequate. The reasons are examined and are arranged in response to three questions. First, what is the status of alleged scientific evidence from which moral conclusions about the unacceptability of man-made radiation exposures are derived. Secondly, what criticisms of risk assessment reasoning are pertinent to ethical reflection. Finally, what revisions in an ethical framework are necessary if risk estimates of low-dose radiation exposure are to be conducted properly

Ocean acidification genetics - Genetics and genomics of response to ocean acidification

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — We are applying a variety of genetic tools to assess the response of our ocean resources to ocean acidification, including gene expression techniques, identification...

Moral distress and its interconnection with moral sensitivity and moral resilience: viewed from the philosophy of Viktor E. Frankl.

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Lützén, Kim; Ewalds-Kvist, Béatrice

2013-10-01

The interconnection between moral distress, moral sensitivity, and moral resilience was explored by constructing two hypothetical scenarios based on a recent Swedish newspaper report. In the first scenario, a 77-year-old man, rational and awake, was coded as "do not resuscitate" (DNR) against his daughter's wishes. The patient died in the presence of nurses who were not permitted to resuscitate him. The second scenario concerned a 41-year-old man, who had been in a coma for three weeks. He was also coded as "do not resuscitate" and, when he stopped breathing, was resuscitated by his father. The nurses persuaded the physician on call to resume life support treatment and the patient recovered. These scenarios were analyzed using Viktor Frankl's existential philosophy, resulting in a conceivable theoretical connection between moral distress, moral sensitivity, and moral resilience. To substantiate our conclusion, we encourage further empirical research.

Adolescents' Self-Attributed Moral Emotions Following a Moral Transgression: Relations with Delinquency, Confidence in Moral Judgment and Age

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Krettenauer, Tobias; Eichler, Dana

2006-01-01

The study investigates adolescents' self-attributed moral emotions following a moral transgression by expanding research with children on the happy-victimizer phenomenon. In a sample of 200 German adolescents from Grades 7, 9, 11, and 13 (M=16.18 years, SD=2.41), participants were confronted with various scenarios describing different moral rule…

Moral Behavior as Rule Governed Behavior: Person and System Effects on Moral Decision Making.

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Kurtines, William M.; And Others

Recent approaches to research on moral development have considered the preeminence of situational factors in moral development and moral behavior. An open systems approach emphasizes the interactive effects of person and situation variables on moral decision-making. The interactive effects of three sets of variables on moral decision-making were…

Moral motivation within groups

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lee, Romy van der

2013-01-01

Morality is of particular importance to people: People want to be considered moral and want to belong to moral groups. Consequently, morality judgments have the potential to motivate individuals to behave in ways that are considered to be ‘good’. In the current dissertation, I examined the impact of

Genetic polymorphisms and lipid response to dietary changes in humans

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weggemans, R.M.; Zock, P.L.; Ordovas, J.M.; Ramos-Galluzzi, J.; Katan, M.B.

2001-01-01

Previous studies on the effects of genetic polymorphisms on the serum cholesterol response to dietary treatments were often inconsistent and frequently involved small numbers of subjects. We studied the effect of 10 genetic polymorphisms on the responses of serum cholesterol to saturated and trans

Morality in Interactions: On the Display of Moral Behavior by Leaders and Employees

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S. van Gils (Suzanne)

2012-01-01

textabstractRecent research has tried to understand moral behavior in the workplace mainly from an intra-personal perspective, blaming ethical failures on the person’s moral character, moral development or moral identity, or on isolated aspects of the situation. In doing so, little attention has

Finding the moral heart of treatment: mental health care in a French prison.

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Fernandez, Fabrice; Lézé, Samuel

2011-05-01

Morality is one of the most important elements of social actions, specifically in medical settings. Unfortunately, in social science, morality is often undertheorized and can lead to moralism. The aim of the paper is to test the "moral economy theory" which highlights the link between some local moral evaluations and a political context. We focus on "treatment" as therapeutic tool and as moral regulation of patients in a French remand centre. On the basis of an ethnography of forms of care for prisoners (2009-2010), and semi-directed interviews with working mental health professionals (n = 10), we analyse their engagement and their moral expectations of the prisoners under their care. Firstly, we show how prisoners are selected and then converted into patients deserving of attention (expectations of honesty, sincerity and compliance). Secondly, we show how these patients are divided into three main intervention categories, in which the treatment is both therapeutic and moral (expectations of responsibility, recognition of guilt, and self-esteem). Finally, we discuss these moral criteria within a new moral economy of vulnerability. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The development of moral emotions and decision-making from adolescence to early adulthood: a 6-year longitudinal study.

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Krettenauer, Tobias; Colasante, Tyler; Buchmann, Marlis; Malti, Tina

2014-04-01

Adolescents' emotions in the context of moral decision-making repeatedly have been shown to predict actual behaviour. However, little systematic information on developmental change regarding these emotion expectancies has been available thus far. This longitudinal study investigated anticipated moral emotions and decision-making between the ages of 15 and 21 in a representative sample of Swiss adolescents (N = 1,258; 54 % female; M = 15.30 years). Anticipated moral emotions and decision-making were assessed through a semi-structured interview procedure. Using Bernoulli hierarchical linear modeling, it was found that positive feelings after a moral transgression (i.e., "happy victimizer" responses) decreased over time, whereas positive feelings after a moral decision (i.e., "happy moralist" responses) increased. However, this pattern was contingent upon the moral scenario presented. Systematic relationships between anticipated moral emotions and moral personality characteristics of sympathy, conscientiousness, and agreeableness were found, even when controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and cognitive ability. Overall, this study demonstrates that the development of anticipated moral emotions is not limited to childhood. Furthermore, our findings suggest that moral emotions serve as an important link between moral personality development and decision-making processes that are more proximal to everyday moral behavior.

Foundations for Moral Relativism

OpenAIRE

Velleman, J. David

2015-01-01

In this new edition of Foundations for Moral Relativism, a distinguished moral philosopher tames a bugbear of current debate about cultural difference. J. David Velleman shows that different communities can indeed be subject to incompatible moralities, because their local mores are rationally binding. At the same time, he explains why the mores of different communities, even when incompatible, are still variations on the same moral themes. The book thus maps out a universe of many moral world...

[Beyond moral education: the modern transformation of traditional medical charity].

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Zhang, T T

2017-09-28

In traditional society, medical charity had strong moral and educational purposes. But this pursuit of morality faded away in modern times. As to the charity purpose, unlike the medical charity organizations that were eager to rebuild the morality and public ethics, instead, more and more interests were paid to utilitarian consideration and secular benefits. As to the social function of charity, "diseases" were no longer regarded as the extension of "poverty" , but the most direct index of rehabilitation. Medical activities became increasingly simple and developed towards professionalization, leading to the advent, to certain extent, of modern medical system. Medical charity, as a strategic approach for saving the nation and social reform, went beyond moral education, embodying national responsibility and political intention.

Long-term care: the family, post-modernity, and conflicting moral life-worlds.

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Engelhardt, H Tristram

2007-01-01

Long-term care is controversial because it involves foundational disputes. Some are moral-economic, bearing on whether the individual, the family, or the state is primarily responsible for long-term care, as well as on how one can establish a morally and financially sustainable long-term-care policy, given the moral hazard of people over-using entitlements once established, the political hazard of media democracies promising unfundable entitlements, the demographic hazard of relatively fewer workers to support those in need of long-term care, the moral hazard to responsibility of shifting accountability to third parties, and the bureaucratic hazard of moving from individual and family choice to bureaucratic oversight. These disputes are compounded by controversies regarding the nature of the family (Is it to be regarded primarily as a socio-biological category, a fundamental ontological category of social reality, or a construct resulting from the consent of the participants?), as well as its legal and moral autonomy and authority over its members. As the disputes show, there is no common understanding of respect and human dignity that will easily lead out of these disputes. The reflections on long-term care in this issue underscore the plurality of moralities defining bioethics.

Popper's Third World: Moral Habits, Moral Habitat and Their Maintenance

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Ozolins, Janis Talivaldis

2010-01-01

If we accept Popper's idea that the human habitat is described in terms of three worlds, and that there are overlaps between these three worlds, our moral actions and values will also be subject to the same kinds of consideration as a repertoire of behaviours exhibited in a physical environment. We will develop moral habits in a moral habitat and…

When Do Morally Motivated Innovators Elicit Inspiration Instead of Irritation?

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Bolderdijk, Jan Willem; Brouwer, Claire; Cornelissen, Gert

2017-01-01

Innovators (i.e., consumers who are the first to adopt an innovation) are pivotal for the societal diffusion of sustainable innovations. But when are innovators most influential? Recent work suggests that morally motivated innovators (i.e., consumers who adopt an innovation out of concern for the welfare of others) can make fellow consumers who have not yet adopted that innovation feel morally inadequate. As a self-defense mechanism, those fellow consumers might dismiss these innovators and their choices. As a result, ironically, morally motivated innovators might discourage others to adopt sustainable innovations. In an experimental study, we replicate this pattern, but also show that moral innovators can elicit a more positive response as well. Specifically, our results offer initial evidence that morally motivated innovators may be more inspiring than self-interested innovators, provided that their actions do not directly pose a threat to the moral self-concept of observers. In sum, our research sheds empirical light on the conditions under which innovators are likely to facilitate, rather than slow down the transition to a more sustainable society.

Manipulating Morality: Third-Party Intentions Alter Moral Judgments by Changing Causal Reasoning.

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Phillips, Jonathan; Shaw, Alex

2015-08-01

The present studies investigate how the intentions of third parties influence judgments of moral responsibility for other agents who commit immoral acts. Using cases in which an agent acts under some situational constraint brought about by a third party, we ask whether the agent is blamed less for the immoral act when the third party intended for that act to occur. Study 1 demonstrates that third-party intentions do influence judgments of blame. Study 2 finds that third-party intentions only influence moral judgments when the agent's actions precisely match the third party's intention. Study 3 shows that this effect arises from changes in participants' causal perception that the third party was controlling the agent. Studies 4 and 5, respectively, show that the effect cannot be explained by changes in the distribution of blame or perceived differences in situational constraint faced by the agent. © 2014 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Una nota sobre la responsabilidad moral individual frente a la calamidad del hambre (A note on the moral individual responsibility against the calamity of hunger

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Macario Alemany García

2012-07-01

Full Text Available El texto da cuenta sucintamente del viejo problema de la responsabilidad moral de los ricos frente a las calamidades del hambre y la pobreza absoluta. Para ello, se presentan las propuestas de Ernesto Garzón y Peter Singer sobre el nivel de responsabilidad exigible y se señalan algunas críticas plausibles a las mismas. A continuación, se explica la última iniciativa de Singer para promover el fin de la pobreza absoluta y las tensiones que la misma entraña para su propia teoría. Finalmente, se aboga por considerar el asunto desde el punto de vista de la ética de las virtudes.ABSTRACTThe text briefly approaches the old problem of moral responsibility of the rich over the calamities of hunger and absolute poverty. To this end, it presents Ernesto Garzón and Peter Singer’s proposals about the level of accountability and it identifies some plausible critiques to them. Then, it explains Singer’s latest initiative to promote an end to absolute poverty and the tensions it poses to his own theory. Finally, it advocates for considering the matter from the point of view of virtue ethics.

Improving nursing morale in a climate of cost containment. Part 1. Organizational assessment.

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Haw, M A; Claus, E G; Durbin-Lafferty, E; Iversen, S M

1984-10-01

Faced with declining resources for health care and greater pressures to improve productivity of nursing staff, nursing administrators must act now to develop organizational responses to morale problems among nursing staff. As part of a two-part series for JONA, the authors describe low-cost organizational approaches that address nursing morale. Presented in Part 1 is a low-cost diagnostic process for assessing needs of staff and appraising organizational dimensions contributing to morale. Assessment findings provide clear direction for developing organizational approaches for improving morale.

Individual Differences in Moral Development: Does Intelligence Really Affect Children?s Moral Reasoning and Moral Emotions?

OpenAIRE

Bei?ert, Hanna M.; Hasselhorn, Marcus

2016-01-01

This study investigates the relationship between intelligence and individual differences in children’s moral development across a range of different moral transgressions. Taking up prior research that showed morality and intelligence to be related in adolescents and adults, the current study wants to test if these findings can be extended to younger children. The study was designed to address some of the shortcomings in prior research by examining young children aged between 6 years; 4 months...

Serotonin Transporter Genotype (5-HTTLPR) Predicts Utilitarian Moral Judgments

OpenAIRE

Marsh, Abigail A.; Crowe, Samantha L.; Yu, Henry H.; Gorodetsky, Elena K.; Goldman, David; Blair, R. J. R.

2011-01-01

Background The psychological and neurobiological processes underlying moral judgment have been the focus of extensive recent research. Here we show that serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) genotype predicts responses to moral dilemmas featuring foreseen harm to an innocent. Methodology/Principal Findings Participants in this study judged the acceptability of actions that would unintentionally or intentionally harm an innocent victim in order to save others' lives. An analysis of variance reveale...

An assessment of the temporal dynamics of moral decisions

OpenAIRE

Gregory J. Koop

2013-01-01

In the domain of moral decision making, models in which emotion and deliberation constitute competing dual-systems have become increasingly popular. Currently, the favored explanation of this interaction is what Evans (2008) termed a ``default-interventionist'' (DI) process where moral decisions are the result of a prepotent emotional response, which can be overridden with substantial deliberative effort. Although this ``emotion-then-deliberation'' sequence is often assumed, existing methods ...

Ethical issues in predictive genetic testing: a public health perspective

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Fulda, K G; Lykens, K

2006-01-01

As a result of the increase in genetic testing and the fear of discrimination by insurance companies, employers, and society as a result of genetic testing, the disciplines of ethics, public health, and genetics have converged. Whether relatives of someone with a positive predictive genetic test should be notified of the results and risks is a matter urgently in need of debate. Such a debate must encompass the moral and ethical obligations of the diagnosing physician and the patient. The decision to inform or not will vary depending on what moral theory is used. Utilising the utilitarian and libertarian theories produces different outcomes. The principles of justice and non‐maleficence will also play an important role in the decision. PMID:16507657

How Large Is the Role of Emotion in Judgments of Moral Dilemmas?

OpenAIRE

Horne, Zachary; Powell, Derek

2016-01-01

Moral dilemmas often pose dramatic and gut-wrenching emotional choices. It is now widely accepted that emotions are not simply experienced alongside people's judgments about moral dilemmas, but that our affective processes play a central role in determining those judgments. However, much of the evidence purporting to demonstrate the connection between people's emotional responses and their judgments about moral dilemmas has recently been called into question. In the present studies, we reexam...

Plant genetic and molecular responses to water deficit

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Silvio Salvi

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Plant productivity is severely affected by unfavourable environmental conditions (biotic and abiotic stresses. Among others, water deficit is the plant stress condition which mostly limits the quality and the quantity of plant products. Tolerance to water deficit is a polygenic trait strictly dependent on the coordinated expression of a large set of genes coding for proteins directly involved in stress-induced protection/repair mechanisms (dehydrins, chaperonins, enzymes for the synthesis of osmoprotectants and detoxifying compounds, and others as well as genes involved in transducing the stress signal and regulating gene expression (transcription factors, kinases, phosphatases. Recently, research activities in the field evolved from the study of single genes directly involved in cellular stress tolerance (functional genes to the identification and characterization of key regulatory genes involved in stress perception and transduction and able to rapidly and efficiently activate the complex gene network involved in the response to stress. The complexity of the events occurring in response to stress have been recently approached by genomics tools; in fact the analysis of transcriptome, proteome and metabolome of a plant tissue/cell in response to stress already allowed to have a global view of the cellular and molecular events occurring in response to water deficit, by the identification of genes activated and co-regulated by the stress conditions and the characterization of new signalling pathways. Moreover the recent application of forward and reverse genetic approaches, trough mutant collection development, screening and characterization, is giving a tremendous impulse to the identification of gene functions with key role in stress tolerance. The integration of data obtained by high-throughput genomic approaches, by means of powerful informatic tools, is allowing nowadays to rapidly identify of major genes/QTLs involved in stress tolerance

Temporal dynamics of disgust and morality: an event-related potential study.

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Qun Yang

Full Text Available Disgust is argued to be an emotion that motivates the avoidance of disease-causing entities in the physical domain and unacceptable behaviors in the social-moral domain. Empirical work from behavioral, physiological and brain imaging studies suggests moral judgments are strongly modulated by disgust feelings. Yet, it remains unclear how they are related in the time course of neural processing. Examining the temporal order of disgust emotion and morality could help to clarify the role of disgust in moral judgments. In the present research, a Go/No-Go paradigm was employed to evoke lateralized readiness potentials (LRPs to investigate the temporal order of physical disgust and moral information processing. Participants were asked to give a "yes" or "no" response regarding the physical disgust and moral wrongness of a social act. The results showed that the evaluation of moral information was processed prior to that of physical disgust information. This suggests that moral information is available earlier than physical disgust, and provides more data on the biological heterogeneity between disgust and morality in terms of the time course of neural activity. The findings implicate that physical disgust emotion may not be necessary for people to make moral judgments. They also suggest that some of our moral experience may be more fundamental (than physical disgust experience to our survival and development, as humans spend a considerable amount of time engaging in social interaction.

Media's Moral Messages: Assessing Perceptions of Moral Content in Television Programming

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Glover, Rebecca J.; Garmon, Lance C.; Hull, Darrell M.

2011-01-01

This study extends the examination of moral content in the media by exploring moral messages in television programming and viewer characteristics predictive of the ability to perceive such messages. Generalisability analyses confirmed the reliability of the Media's Moral Messages (MMM) rating form for analysing programme content and the existence…

Ethical Perspectives, Reactions to Other's Moral Behavior, and Consequent Moral Action.

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Pope, William R.; Forsyth, Donelson R.

In analyzing various moral and legal philosophies, two perspectives emerge, absolute moral rules/higher law, and situationally-specific moral rules/legal positivism. From these two perspectives, four types of individuals emerge in accordance with their degree of adherence to ideological tenets: (1) situationists (high on idealism and relativism);…

Race, Genetic Ancestry and Response to Antidepressant Treatment for Major Depression

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Murphy, Eleanor; Hou, Liping; Maher, Brion S; Woldehawariat, Girma; Kassem, Layla; Akula, Nirmala; Laje, Gonzalo; McMahon, Francis J

2013-01-01

The Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) Study revealed poorer antidepressant treatment response among black compared with white participants. This racial disparity persisted even after socioeconomic and baseline clinical factors were taken into account. Some studies have suggested genetic contributions to this disparity, but none have attempted to disentangle race and genetic ancestry. Here we used genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data to examine independent contributions of race and genetic ancestry to citalopram response. Secondary data analyses included 1877 STAR*D participants who completed an average of 10 weeks of citalopram treatment and provided DNA samples. Participants reported their race as White (n=1464), black (n=299) or other/mixed (n=114). Genetic ancestry was estimated by multidimensional scaling (MDS) analyses of about 500 000 SNPs. Ancestry proportions were estimated by STRUCTURE. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the direct and indirect effects of observed and latent predictors of response, defined as change in the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS) score from baseline to exit. Socioeconomic and baseline clinical factors, race, and anxiety significantly predicted response, as previously reported. However, direct effects of race disappeared in all models that included genetic ancestry. Genetic African ancestry predicted lower treatment response in all models. Although socioeconomic and baseline clinical factors drive racial differences in antidepressant response, genetic ancestry, rather than self-reported race, explains a significant fraction of the residual differences. Larger samples would be needed to identify the specific genetic mechanisms that may be involved, but these findings underscore the importance of including more African-American patients in drug trials. PMID:23827886

Reproductive cloning, genetic engineering and the autonomy of the child: the moral agent and the open future.

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Mameli, M

2007-02-01

Some authors have argued that the human use of reproductive cloning and genetic engineering should be prohibited because these biotechnologies would undermine the autonomy of the resulting child. In this paper, two versions of this view are discussed. According to the first version, the autonomy of cloned and genetically engineered people would be undermined because knowledge of the method by which these people have been conceived would make them unable to assume full responsibility for their actions. According to the second version, these biotechnologies would undermine autonomy by violating these people's right to an open future. There is no evidence to show that people conceived through cloning and genetic engineering would inevitably or even in general be unable to assume responsibility for their actions; there is also no evidence for the claim that cloning and genetic engineering would inevitably or even in general rob the child of the possibility to choose from a sufficiently large array of life plans.

Caring for tomorrow's workforce: Moral resilience and healthcare ethics education.

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Monteverde, Settimio

2016-02-01

Preparing tomorrow's healthcare workforce for managing the growing complexity of care places high demands on students, educators, and faculties. In the light of worrying data about study-related stress and burnout, understanding how students manage stressors and develop resilience has been identified as a priority topic of research. In addition to study-related stressors, also moral stressors are known to characterize the students' first clinical experiences. However, current debates show that it remains unclear how healthcare ethics education should address them. In order to clarify this issue, this study first develops the notion of moral resilience as a response to moral stressors involving both situations of moral complexity and moral wrongness. Second, it explores the potential of healthcare ethics education in fostering moral resilience. For this purpose, it defines moral resilience operationally as a reduction of moral distress in a given axis of time measured by a validated tool. The educational transferability was assessed within an explorative, quantitative pre-post interventional study with a purposive sample of 166 nursing students. The educational intervention comprised a lecture introducing the typology of moral stressors. Before and after the lecture, students were presented vignettes depicting morally stressful situations. The competent research ethics committee confirmed that no ethical approval was needed. Informed consent was obtained from participants. Three of four vignettes showed a modest but statistically significant reduction in measured levels of distress after the lecture (p ethics education in providing students with transformative knowledge that fosters moral resilience. In times of global scarcity of educational resources, healthcare ethics education has an important contribution to offer in the promotion of students' mental and physical health by strengthening the knowledge base of moral resilience. This legitimates its costs for

Moral Norms in Management Ethics

OpenAIRE

Gavrilescu Liviu

2011-01-01

The culture and values of a community shape its behavior with the support of all the norms, rules and institutions created for this purpose. Business environment is focused on the responsibility to company success. This philosophy is the base of business ethics, of specific rules systems, supplemented and not replaced by legal regulations. However, responsibility for business can come into conflict with the common morality of society, the public in general, creating an "ethical paradox". The ...

Eugenics and moral authorship. Analysis of a Habermas´s thesis

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César Ortega Esquembre

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to study the Jürgen Habermas´s vision of genetic manipulation; in particular, it will be addressed critically his assumption that the genetically engineered person would loose his awareness of authorship. In the author´s view, positive genetic intervention —one that is to genetically enhance the subject— would eliminate the awareness of authorship of that subject, as well as his self-understanding as moral agent. Two aspects of the question will be approached: firstly, the correctness or incorrectness of Habermas´s thesis. Secondly, the relevance of the thesis to oppose positive eugenics. Could be other arguments considered within Habermas´s conceptual framework to oppose positive eugenics?

The Epistemology of Moral Bioenhancement.

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Crutchfield, Parker

2016-07-01

Moral bioenhancement is the potential practice of manipulating individuals' moral behaviors by biological means in order to help resolve pressing moral issues such as climate change and terrorism. This practice has obvious ethical implications, and these implications have been and continue to be discussed in the bioethics literature. What have not been discussed are the epistemological implications of moral bioenhancement. This article details some of these implications of engaging in moral bioenhancement. The argument begins by making the distinction between moral bioenhancement that manipulates the contents of mental states (e.g. beliefs) and that which manipulates other, non-representational states (e.g. motivations). Either way, I argue, the enhanced moral psychology will fail to conform to epistemic norms, and the only way to resolve this failure and allow the moral bioenhancement to be effective in addressing the targeted moral issues is to make the moral bioenhancement covert. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Historical Overview and Contemporary Expansion of Psychological Theories of Determinism, Probabilistic Causality, Indeterminate Free Will, and Moral and Legal Responsibility

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Wilks, Duffy; Ratheal, Juli D'Ann

2009-01-01

The authors provide a historical overview of the development of contemporary theories of counseling and psychology in relation to determinism, probabilistic causality, indeterminate free will, and moral and legal responsibility. They propose a unique model of behavioral causality that incorporates a theory of indeterminate free will, a concept…