scholarly journals Enactivism and the Paradox of Moral Perception

Topoi ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janna Van Grunsven
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Moral Perception ◽  
Epistemic Injustice ◽  
Ethical Life ◽  
Ethical Theories

AbstractIn this paper I home in on an ethical phenomenon that is powerfully elucidated by means of enactive resources but that has, to my knowledge, not yet been explicitly addressed in the literature. The phenomenon in question concerns what I will term the paradox of moral perception, which, to be clear, does not refer to a logical but to a phenomenological-practical paradoxicality. Specifically, I have in mind the seemingly contradictory phenomenon that perceiving persons as moral subjects is at once incredibly easy and incredibly difficult; it is something we do nearly effortlessly and successfully all the time without giving it much thought and it is something that often requires effort and that we fail at all the time (also often without giving it much thought). As I will argue, enactivism offers distinctive resources for explaining the paradoxical nature of moral perception. These resources, moreover, bring out two important dimensions of ethical life that are frequently overlooked in contemporary ethical theory: namely the embodied and socio-technical environment-embedded dimensions of moral perception and moral visibility. As I make my argument, I will be connecting enactivism with insights from David Hume’s and Iris Murdoch’s moral philosophy as well as insights from the field of Epistemic Injustice. As such, I aim to situate enactivism within the larger theoretical ethical landscape; showing connections with existing ethical theories and identifying some of the ways in which enactivism offers unique contributions to our understanding of ethical life. While doing so, I will furthermore introduce two forms of moral misperception: particular moral misperception and categorial moral misperception.

Adam Smith and David Hume: with Sympathy

Utilitas ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. L. Van Holthoon
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
David Hume ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Moral Sentiments ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Basic Issue

Why did Hume drop sympathy as a key concept of his moral philosophy, and why—on the other hand—did Smith make it into the ‘didactic principle’ of his Theory of Moral Sentiments? These questions confront us with the basic issue of ethical theory concerning human nature. My point in dealing with these questions is to show what views of human nature their respective choices involved. And my procedure will be to take a close look at the revisions they made to their ethical theories to bring out the contrasting aspects of their views of human nature.

scholarly journals The Moral Philosophy of Maria Montessori

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
PATRICK FRIERSON
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Moral Theory ◽  
Moral Virtue ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Moral Concepts ◽  
Maria Montessori ◽  
Individual Character ◽  
Individual Self ◽  
Shared Agency

Abstract This paper lays out the moral theory of philosopher and educator Maria Montessori (1870–1952). Based on a moral epistemology wherein moral concepts are grounded in a well-cultivated moral sense, Montessori develops a threefold account of moral life. She starts with an account of character as an ideal of individual self-perfection through concentrated attention on effortful work. She shows how respect for others grows from and supplements individual character, and she further develops a notion of social solidarity that goes beyond cooperation toward shared agency. Partly because she attends to children's ethical lives, Montessori highlights how character, respect, and solidarity all appear first as prereflective, embodied orientations of agency. Full moral virtue takes up prereflective orientations reflectively and extends them through moral concepts. Overall, Montessori's ethic improves on features similar to some in Nietzschean, Kantian, Hegelian, or Aristotelian ethical theories while situating these within a developmental and perfectionist ethics.

scholarly journals The paradox of imperfect duty in Kant's moral philosophy: A problem in 'applying' ethics'

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 540-564
Author(s):  
Phillip Richter
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Applied Ethics ◽  
Discourse Ethics ◽  
Kantian Ethics ◽  
Imperfect Duty ◽  
Helping Others ◽  
Metaphysics Of Morals

The Applied Ethics debate has not yet sufficiently clarified what application of ethics exactly is. The issue of application is considered to be especially problematic in Kantian ethics or in discourse ethics. This article describes the concept of applying ethics in Kant. In discussing the duty of helping others and the theory of its application in Metaphysics of Morals it is shown that a strict separation of justification and application in ethical theory results in the paradox of imperfect duty. The paradox says that the duty to help others would be fulfilled without ever being fulfilled in action. To overcome the paradox it is necessary to form submaximes of helping, which are not arbitrarily but instructed by a theory of casuistry. This casuistry, if it is considered as a doctrine of application in Kantian ethics, can overcome the paradox of imperfect duty. However, the casuistry can overcome this paradox only if it is understood as a philosophy of prudence, which can be found in Aristotle or Descartes.

Conclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Fedyk
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Psychological Organization ◽  
Different Levels

This chapter rearticulates many of the major ideas and arguments in the proceeding chapters. But it also connects one of the primary conclusions of the book up with a debate in ethics over what the structure and form of ethical theories should look like. The proceeding chapters show that one possible form that an ethical theory can take is a loose confederacies of different models and frameworks that apply to different levels of social and psychological organization.

A Dictionary of Ethics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence Cuneo
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Applied Ethics ◽  
Normative Ethics ◽  
Key Terms

This authoritative dictionary contains clear, concise definitions of key terms from ethical theory and touches upon a variety of relevant subfields including metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. A Dictionary of Ethics is a valuable reference resource for academics, practitioners, and students of moral philosophy, applied ethics, and public policy. It will also be of interest to readers looking to familiarize themselves with ethical terms and the concepts they express.

Biotechnology: The Ethics

1993 ◽  
Vol 1993 ◽  
pp. 25-25
Author(s):  
T B Mepham
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Reflective Equilibrium ◽  
Rational Analysis ◽  
Ethical Theories

Few people question the basis of their moral viewpoints, yet if science is to be applied ethically it is necessary to subject these viewpoints to rational analysis. The paper provides an overview of prominent ethical theories (deontological and consequentalist) and their impact on novel and prospective animal biotechnologies. These theories are applied to the principles of: autonomy, justice, nonmaleficence and beneficence in relation to the interests of animals, the environment and humans.Deontological approaches include ‘rights’-based theories (often derived intuitively or from scriptural sources) and ‘contractualist’ theories, dependent on an ‘unwritten contract’ between rational beings to ensure fairness. For consequentialists (eg utilitarians), it is the outcome of actions that determines their ethical value. Few people, consciously or unconsciously, consistently employ a single ethical theory, but there is often much concordance between actions based on the different theories. Except for some intuitionists, ethicists emphasise the role of rationality in ethical theory; for even though intuition is an important element, many consider that universalizability of ethical theories entails the establishment of a ‘reflective equilibrium’

scholarly journals Ethical Theories and Moral Guidance

Utilitas ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
PEKKA VÄYRYNEN
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Ought Implies Can ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Moral Guidance

Let the Guidance Constraint be the following norm for evaluating ethical theories: Other things being at least roughly equal, ethical theories are better to the extent that they provide adequate moral guidance. I offer an account of why ethical theories are subject to the Guidance Constraint, if indeed they are. We can explain central facts about adequate moral guidance, and their relevance to ethical theory, by appealing to certain forms of autonomy and fairness. This explanation is better than explanations that feature versions of the principle that ‘ought’ implies ‘can’. In closing, I address the objection that my account is questionable because it makes ethical theories subject not merely to purely theoretical but also to morally substantive norms.

Instrument for Verification of Ethical Theories in Physical Culture

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-91
Author(s):  
Miloš Marković ◽  
Božo Bokan
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Physical Culture ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Hypothetical Model ◽  
Statistical Indicators

AbstractThis study tested an instrument entitled “Physical Culture and Ethics” which consisted of 44 statements to which subjects responded on a Likert-type five-point scale. The statements reflected the ethical theories of Aristotle (14 statements), Kant (14 statements) and Mill (16 statements).The hypothetical model of ethical theories was verified on a sample of 163 students at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education in Belgrade (119 male students and 44 female students), attending all years of study (n1=22, n2=34, n3=36, n4=48, n5=23). We hypothesized that students would display greater maturity in terms of education and reaffirm their positions towards ethical issues in physical culture as they progressed in their studies, and also that the male and the female students had their specific moral outlooks on the reality of physical culture.When comparing the basic statistical indicators of students’ responses to statements reflecting the ethical theories (Aristotle, Kant, Mill) against the year of study students were in (mean value and standard deviation) – certain variation in values from the first to the fifth year of study was observed, thus confirming the hypothesis.When comparing the basic statistical indicators of male and female students’ responses to statements reflecting the ethical theories (Aristotle, Kant, Mill) – female students’ results were better on all scales, and Aristotle’s ethical theory showed a statistical significance, thus confirming the second hypothesis as well.

Analytic and Existential Ethics

Dialogue ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
C. D. MacNiven
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Moral Life ◽  
Analytic Tradition ◽  
American Philosophy ◽  
Moral Problems ◽  
Logical Study ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Moral Philosophers

“What has ethical theory to do with the moral life?”. This is a question which continually confronts moral philosophers, especially those who identify themselves with the analytic tradition of contemporary Anglo-American philosophy. Continental European moral philosophers and those Anglo-Americans who identify themselves with them are seldom confronted with this question. Existentialism, for example, has an obvious connection with the moral life which contemporary analytic philosophy seems to lack. For many people outside professional philosophic circles analytic moral philosophy appears completely irrelevant to the moral life. Since the analysts conceive ethics, to quote R. M. Hare, as “the logical study of the language of morals”, they never seem to get past linguistic analysis to the concrete moral problems which are its main incentive in the first place.

Moral Addicts

Dialogue ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-236
Author(s):  
Anthony Cunningham
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Moral Value ◽  
Ordinary Life ◽  
Moral Excellence ◽  
The Common ◽  
Physical Features ◽  
Modern Moral Philosophy

Any good ethical theory aspires to provide as comprehensive a guide to moral value and motivation as possible. Within modern moral philosophy, conceptions of moral value have been dominated largely by considerations of justice and concerns for the common good, and moral shortcomings have been accounted for primarily by appeal to ignorance, weakness, indifference or outright hostility to moral values. Yet the ways in which we fall short are far more complicated. By discussing one interesting example here, I hope to provide some support for the claim that our conceptions of moral value and motivation need enrichment. In making my case, I utilize a character who is more like a caricature than a figure from ordinary life. This touch of hyperbole is deliberate. Reflect for a moment on the function of a good cartoon caricature. By exaggerating physical features, it draws our attention to characteristics that go unnoticed in their normal context. Whereas cartoon caricatures aim at amusement, my goal is to distil some of our perceptions of moral excellence.

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