On Being a Fan and on Fanhood and Its Implications for Defeating the Moral Sceptic

Dialogue ◽

10.1017/s0012217321000330 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-22

Author(s):

Anita M. Superson

Keyword(s):

Moral Commitment ◽

Decisive Objection

Abstract I employ the notion of fanhood to object to David Gauthier's Dependency Thesis, according to which, if a disposition is rationally required to adopt, so too are the acts expressing it. I first establish that fanhood is a commitment relevantly similar to a moral commitment. I then argue that, because genuine fanhood characteristically issues in inherently irrational behaviours in the form of ‘luck charms,’ or, superstitious practices fans believe will help their team win, it poses a decisive objection to the Dependency Thesis, thereby eliminating a promising attempt to defeat the moral sceptic.

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Naturalistic Conceptions of Moral Commitment: Pathways for Resiliency in Adolescent Personality

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e517802007-001 ◽

2006 ◽

Author(s):

Kevin Reimer ◽

Jeanne Clevenger ◽

Robert Welsh ◽

Kyle Matsuba

Keyword(s):

Moral Commitment ◽

Adolescent Personality

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The Challenge of Educating Purposeful Teachers in Finland

Education Sciences ◽

10.3390/educsci11010029 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 29

Author(s):

Elina Kuusisto ◽

Kirsi Tirri

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Student Teachers ◽

21St Century ◽

School Community ◽

The Self ◽

Moral Commitment ◽

Mediating Factor

This article discusses the challenges of educating teachers in Finland. As a goal in teacher education for the 21st century we propose the purposeful teacher, referring to a teacher who has a long-term moral commitment to serve students, the school community and society. Our data collected from student (N = 912) and practising (N = 77) teachers yielded information on the purposes they identified as important in their lives. The survey included quantitative instruments and open- ended questions. The teachers identified happiness, relationships, work and self-actualisation as the most important contents of their aspirations. All the content categories could be understood as potential purposes in that the benefit extended beyond the teachers themselves. However, almost half of the student teachers (46%) and over half of teachers (55%) revealed only self-orientation. Less than half of them (43%, 36%, respectively) showed a beyond-the-self orientation, which is indicative of a purposeful teacher. Among the practising teachers, teaching appeared to be mainly a mediating factor in realising their purposes or aspirations. These results have implications related to contemporary teacher education in Finland. Both pre- and in-service teachers need to know about purposeful teaching in order to find meaning in their work.

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Can Animism Save the World? Reflections on Personhood and Complexity in the Ecological Crisis

Sociologus ◽

10.3790/soc.71.1.73 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 71 (1) ◽

pp. 73-92

Author(s):

Guido Sprenger

Keyword(s):

Intimate Relationships ◽

Ecological Crisis ◽

Ontological Status ◽

Moral Commitment ◽

Nature And Culture ◽

The World ◽

Human World ◽

Communicative Processes ◽

Politics Of Life

The term “animism” is at once a fantasy internal to modernity and a semiotic conduit enabling a serious inquiry into non-modern phenomena that radically call into question the modern distinction of nature and culture. Therefore, I suggest that the labelling of people, practices or ideas as “animist” is a strategic one. I also raise the question if animism can help to solve the modern ecological crisis that allegedly stems from the nature-culture divide. In particular, animism makes it possible to recognize personhood in non-humans, thus creating moral relationships with the non-human world. A number of scholars and activists identify animism as respect for all living beings and as intimate relationships with nature and its spirits. However, this argument still presupposes the fixity of the ontological status of beings as alive or persons. A different view of animism highlights concepts of fluid and unstable persons that emerge from ongoing communicative processes. I argue that the kind of attentiveness that drives fluid personhood may be supportive of a politics of life that sees relationships with non-humans in terms of moral commitment.

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U.S. Catholic Social Thought, Gender, and Economic Livelihood

Theological Studies ◽

10.1177/004056390506600304 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 66 (3) ◽

pp. 568-591 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Christine Firer Hinze

Keyword(s):

Gender Relations ◽

Universal Access ◽

Social Thought ◽

Catholic Social Thought ◽

Moral Commitment ◽

Family Work ◽

Beliefs And Practices ◽

Work Arrangements

[The author analyzes U.S. Catholic perspectives on economic livelihood at the beginnings of the 20th and 21st centuries, giving particular attention to the influence of beliefs and practices surrounding gender. Contemporary Catholic advocacy for worker justice, the author contends, will increase its credibility and efficacy if its fundamental moral commitment—to universal access to economic livelihood—is highlighted, and is more carefully distinguished from disputes about the specific gender relations and family-work arrangements by which livelihood is to be pursued.]

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