Character Trouble

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Doris
Keyword(s):  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Moral Character ◽  
Human Psychology ◽  
Field Of Inquiry ◽  
Distinct Field

This book collects a sampling of Doris’ essays in moral psychology, from 1998 to 2021. Methodologically, the approach is thoroughly interdisciplinary, especially focused on philosophy and psychology. Substantively, the essays focus on issues having to do with moral character and morally responsible agency, and the ways in which human psychology orders, and fails to order, ethically significant behavior. Cumulatively, the essays give a sense of some of the major debates in interdisciplinary moral psychology, starting with its emergence as a distinct field of inquiry in the 1990s.

scholarly journals Citizen Science as a Distinct Field of Inquiry

BioScience ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Jordan ◽  
Alycia Crall ◽  
Steven Gray ◽  
Tina Phillips ◽  
David Mellor
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Field Of Inquiry ◽  
Distinct Field

Conscience – An Essay in Moral Psychology

Philosophy ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Lyons
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Personal Integrity ◽  
Human Psychology ◽  
Functional Models ◽  
Moral Point ◽  
Moral Point Of View

AbstractThe ultimate aim of this essay is to suggest that conscience is a very important part of human psychology and of our moral point of view, not something that can be dismissed as merely ‘a part of Christian theology’. The essay begins with discussions of what might be regarded as the two most influential functional models of conscience, the classical Christian account of conscience and the Freudian account of conscience. Then, using some insights from these models, and from some comparatively recent work in psychology and especially psychiatry, the author argues for a quite different model of conscience that might be called the personal integrity account of conscience.

scholarly journals Comparative Administrative Law: Outlining a Field of Study

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Rose-Ackerman ◽  
Peter L. Lindseth
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Administrative Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Administrative State ◽  
The Public ◽  
De Se ◽  
Regulatory Bodies ◽  
Key Topics ◽  
Field Of Inquiry ◽  
Distinct Field

Comparative administrative law is emerging as a distinct field of inquiry after a period of neglect. To demonstrate this claim, the authors summarize their edited volume on the topic – a collection that aims to stimulate research across legal systems and scholarly disciplines. After a set of historical reflections, the authors consider key topics at the intersection of administrative and constitutional law, including the contested issue of administrative independence. Two further sections highlight tensions between expertise and accountability, drawing insights from economics and political science. The essay then considers the changing boundaries of the administrative state – both the public–private distinction and the links between domestic and transnational regulatory bodies, such as the European Union. The essay concludes with reflections on a core concern of administrative law: the way individuals and organizations across different systems test and challenge the legitimacy of public authority.Le droit administratif comparé est en train de se manifester comme domaine d’étude distinct suite à une période pendant laquelle il a été négligé. Pour démontrer cette affirmation, les auteurs présentent un sommaire du volume à ce sujet dont ils dirigent la publication – une collection qui vise à stimuler la recherche au sein de divers systèmes juridiques et diverses disciplines d’érudition. Après une série de réflexions historiques, les auteurs traitent de questions–clés qui relèvent en même temps du droit administratif et du droit constitutionnel, y compris la question controversée de l’indépendance administrative. Deux autres sections mettent en lumière des tensions entre l’expertise et l’obligation de rendre compte, puisant dans les sciences économique et politique. L’article traite ensuite des limites changeantes de l’état administratif – d’une part, quant à la distinction public–privé et d’autre part, quant aux liens entre les organismes de réglementation domestiques et transnationaux, telle que l’Union européenne. L’article se termine avec des réflexions sur une préoccupation de fond du droit administratif : la façon dont les individus et les organisations dans des systèmes différents mettent à l’épreuve et contestent la légitimité de l’autorité publique.

Listening to Reason in Plato and Aristotle

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic Scott
Keyword(s):  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Nicomachean Ethics ◽  
Moral Argument ◽  
Human Psychology ◽  
And Gender

Focusing on Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, this book compares their views on the persuasiveness of moral argument: how far did they think it could reach beyond a narrow circle of believers and influence people more generally? Answering this question requires a wide–ranging approach, which examines their views on such topics as rationality, moral psychology, rhetoric, education, and gender. The first part of the book shows that for Plato certain kinds of argument are beyond the reach of most people, specifically arguments that make appeal to transcendent Forms. But he still thought that there is another level of argument, restricted to human psychology and politics, which could have a much wider appeal, especially if supplemented by the appropriate rhetoric. The second half of the book turns to the Nicomachean Ethics to determine Aristotle’s views about the reach of moral argument, as well as its purposes. He is certainly very restrictive when it comes to the kinds of argument pursued in the work itself, proposing to talk only to those who are mature in years and well brought up. Like Plato, however, he also allows for the possibility of another type of discourse, which is more rhetorical in nature and could benefit those who are less mature. Though mainly focused on the Republic and Nicomachean Ethics, this book also examines relevant passages from Plato’s Laws and Aristotle’s Politics.

Postcolonial Legal Studies

2019 ◽  
pp. 103-123
Author(s):  
Renisa Mawani
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Literature ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
English History ◽  
Legal Studies ◽  
Field Of Inquiry ◽  
Distinct Field ◽  
Do So

The emergence of postcolonial studies as a distinct field of inquiry has commonly been attributed to the work of Edward W. Said, particularly his groundbreaking book, Orientalism. Since the early 1980s, Said’s insights have had a significant influence in the humanities, reshaping the fields of comparative literature, English, history, and anthropology. However, his arguments and interventions have held comparably less force in law and legal studies. Forty years after the publication of Orientalism, this chapter reconsiders to what extent Said’s work—and postcolonial studies more generally—has influenced themes, debates, and directions in law and legal studies. To do so, this chapter borrows Said’s three-part edifice—“The Scope of Orientalism”; “Orientalist Structures and Restructures”; and “Orientalism Now”—as a mode of organizing and as a method of reading the scholarship that falls under the sign of postcolonial legal studies and as a way to consider directions for further study.

From Psychology to Morality

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Deigh
Keyword(s):  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Practical Reason ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
Natural Phenomena ◽  
Moral Thought ◽  
Human Psychology ◽  
Modern Thought

The essays in this collection belong to the tradition of naturalism in ethics. Its program is to explain moral thought and action as wholly natural phenomena, that is, to explain such thought and action without recourse to either a reality separate from that of the natural world or volitional powers that operate independently of natural forces. Naturalism’s greatest exponent in ancient thought was Aristotle. In modern thought Hume and Freud stand out as the most influential contributors to the tradition. All three thinkers made the study of human psychology fundamental to their work in ethics. All three built their theories on studies of human desires and emotions and assigned to reason the role of guiding the actions that spring from our desires and emotions toward ends that promise self-fulfillment and away from ends that are self-destructive. The collection’s essays draw inspiration from their ideas and are arranged to follow the lead of Aristotle’s and Hume’s ethics. The first three survey and examine general theories of emotion and motivation. The next two focus on emotions that are central to human sociability. Turning to distinctively cognitive powers necessary for moral thought and action, the sixth and seventh essays discuss the role of empathy in moral judgment and defend Bernard Williams’s controversial account of practical reason. The final five essays use the studies in moral psychology of the previous essays to treat questions in ethics and social philosophy. The treatment of these questions exemplifies the implementation of a naturalist program in these disciplines.

Rousseau on the ground of obligation: Reconsidering the Social Autonomy interpretation

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafeeq Hasan
Keyword(s):  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Human Psychology ◽  
Internal Connection ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rational Ground ◽  
Social Autonomy ◽  
Kantian Philosophy

In Rousseau’s Social Contract, political laws are rationally binding because they satisfy the interests that motivate individuals to obey such laws. The later books of Emile justify morality by showing that it is continuous with the natural dispositions of a well-brought-up subject and is thus conducive to genuine happiness. In both the moral and political cases, Rousseau argues for an internal connection between the rational ground of an obligation and the broader aspects of human psychology that are satisfied and expressed by acting from that obligation. Yet, inspired by Kantian philosophy, the recent and influential Social Autonomy interpretation has disjoined rationality and psychology. Criticising this interpretation, I argue that for Rousseau, obligations are justified because they satisfy the demands made by our moral psychology, most notably amour-propre, i.e. the desire to have one’s worth recognised by others.

scholarly journals Principles of Moral Accounting: How our Intuitive Moral Sense Balances Rights and Wrongs

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Gregory Blane Johnson ◽  
Jaye Jungmin Ahn
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Person Perception ◽  
Temporal Order ◽  
Moral Character ◽  
Moral Rights ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Moral Sense ◽  
Do So

We are all saints and sinners: Some of our actions benefit other people, while other actions harm people. How do people balance moral rights against moral wrongs when evaluating others’ actions? Across 9 studies, we contrast the predictions of three conceptions of intuitive morality—outcome- based (utilitarian), act-based (deontologist), and person-based (virtue ethics) approaches. Although good acts can partly offset bad acts—consistent with utilitarianism—they do so incompletely and in a manner relatively insensitive to magnitude, but sensitive to temporal order and the match between who is helped and harmed. Inferences about personal moral character best predicted blame judgments, explaining variance across items and across participants. However, there was modest evidence for both deontological and utilitarian processes too. These findings contribute to conversations about moral psychology and person perception, and may have policy implications.

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