scholarly journals The concepts of virtue after the „character – situation” debate

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasza Anna Szutta
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Moral Character ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Empirical Adequacy ◽  
Global Approach ◽  
Moral Virtues ◽  
Good Action ◽  
Interactionist Theory

The article focuses on a currently hot debate in contemporary ethics that takes place between so-called situationists and the advocates of virtue ethics. The fundamental assumption made by virtue ethics is that developing and perfecting one’s moral character or moral virtues warrants one’s morally good action. Situationists claim that this assumption contradicts the results of the latest empirical studies. From this observation, they conclude that virtue ethics is based on an empirically inadequate moral psychology.In the first part of the article, I present the conceptions of virtue and moral character developed in response to the situationist criticism. I show to which degree these conceptions differ from the classical, so-called global approach in virtue ethics In the second part, based on the references to the latest empirical studies in social and cognitive psychology, I argue, against the situationist objection, that the classical notion of virtue meets the requirement of empirical adequacy. I mainly resort to the interactionist theory of personality by W. Mischel, R. Baumeister’s studies over self-control, D. Kahneman's conception of two-processual mind, and the studies over automatized processes by J. Bargh.

Virtue Ethics and/or Virtue Epistemology: A Response to Anton Froeyman

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 432-446
Author(s):  
Herman Paul
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Virtue Epistemology ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Moral Virtues ◽  
Intellectual Courage ◽  
Virtuous Behavior ◽  
Moral Dimensions ◽  
Ethical Approaches

Abstract In response to Anton Froeyman’s paper, “Virtues of Historiography,” this article argues that philosophers of history interested in why historians cherish such virtues as carefulness, impartiality, and intellectual courage would do wise not to classify these virtues unequivocally as either epistemic or moral virtues. Likewise, in trying to grasp the roles that virtues play in the historian’s professional practice, philosophers of history would be best advised to avoid adopting either an epistemological or an ethical perspective. Assuming that the historian’s virtuous behavior has epistemic and moral dimensions (as well as aesthetic, political, and other dimensions), this article advocates a non-reductionist account of historical scholarship, which acknowledges that the virtues cherished by historians usually play a variety of roles, depending on the goals they are supposed to serve. Given that not the least important of these goals are epistemic ones, the articles concludes that virtue ethical approaches, to the extent that they are focused on the acquisition of moral instead of epistemic goods, insufficiently recognize the role of virtue in the pursuit of such epistemic aims as knowledge and understanding.

scholarly journals Charakter (Character)

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Bell
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Classical Tradition ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Moral Character ◽  
Ethical Thought ◽  
Isaac Newton ◽  
Political Rationality ◽  
Political Resource ◽  
Virtuous Character ◽  
European Thought

The lexeme Charakter denotes the set of innate or acquired dispositions that make an individual or a nation distinctive, determine its behaviour, and give it psychological and moral strength. Charakter plays a central role in Goethe’s moral psychology and his ethical thought in general, as well as in his thinking on culture. His psychological and ethical thought is notoriously hard to classify or to align with the main traditions of European thought. His concern with Charakter could be said to belong to the broad classical tradition of virtue ethics, in the sense that Goethe placed moral character at the heart of ethics. However, in contrast to the classical tradition of virtue ethics, which holds that both the rational and the non-rational parts of humans contribute to a virtuous character, and that virtues can be conceptualized clearly, Goethe resists the claims of reason on our moral character. His early writings on culture and the drama Egmont have a Rousseauian flavour: Charakter represents a natural force that is endangered by civilization. After the French Revolution and in opposition to the emergence of liberalism, Goethe came to see Charakter as a political resource that was superior to political rationality. In his most sustained engagements with philosophical ethics—his essays on Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1805) and Isaac Newton (1810)—Goethe argues, in deliberate opposition to Kant, that natural Charakter has at least as much ethical force as reason and that naturalistic descriptions of human behaviour are at least as valid as moral ones. Moreover, Charakter has the advantage of leading us by a more direct and reliable route to morally good outcomes. In this sense, it can be said without risk of exaggeration that Charakter displaces rationality in Goethe’s ethical thought.

Posthuman Bliss?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan B. Levin
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
Holistic Perspective ◽  
Living Well ◽  
Self Transcendence ◽  
The Mind

Transhumanists urge us to pursue the biotechnological heightening of select capacities, above all, cognitive ability, so far beyond any human ceiling that the beings with those capacities would exist on a higher ontological plane. Because transhumanists tout humanity’s self-transcendence via science and technology, and suggest that bioenhancement may be morally required, the human stakes of how we respond to transhumanism are unprecedented and immense. In Posthuman Bliss? The Failed Promise of Transhumanism, Susan B. Levin challenges transhumanists’ overarching commitments regarding the mind, brain, ethics, liberal democracy, knowledge, and reality in a more thoroughgoing and integrated way than has occurred thus far. Her critique shows transhumanists’ notion of humanity’s self-transcendence into “posthumanity” to be pure, albeit seductive, fantasy. Levin’s philosophical conclusions would stand even if, as transhumanists proclaim, science and technology supported their vision of posthumanity. They offer breezy assurances that posthumans will emerge if we but allocate sufficient resources to that end. Yet, far from offering theoretical and practical “proof of concept” for the vision that they urge upon us, transhumanists engage inadequately with cognitive psychology, biology, and neuroscience, often relying on questionable or outdated views within those fields. Having shown in depth why transhumanism should be rejected, Levin defends a holistic perspective on living well that is rooted in Aristotle’s virtue ethics but adapted to liberal democracy. This holism is thoroughly human, in the best of senses. We must jettison transhumanists’ fantasy, both because their arguments fail and because transhumanism fails to do us justice.

Your Facts or Mine?

2019 ◽  
pp. 73-92
Author(s):  
Morgan Marietta ◽  
David C. Barker
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Core Values ◽  
Personal Knowledge ◽  
Detailed Review ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms

Chapter 5 commences Part II of the book, Causes. It reviews the well-demonstrated psychological mechanisms that lead citizens toward perceiving only a specific set of facts, all the while believing in their sophisticated and unbiased appraisal. A constellation of reinforcing mechanisms adds up to citizens projecting their priors onto their perceptions. The chapter provides a detailed review of the psychological foundations of fact perceptions. It begins by describing the power of personal knowledge (highlighting the notorious “dress controversy” of 2015) and continues to discuss the contributions of cognitive psychology, social psychology, the theory of motivated reasoning, and the perspective that “reasoning is for arguing.” It concludes that all of these literatures point to a powerful role for core values as shapers of reality perceptions, noting the lack of empirical studies that directly test that hypothesis.

Willpower and the Cultivation of Virtues

2021 ◽  
pp. 80-102
Author(s):  
Ryan West
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Peter 1 ◽  
2 Peter

This chapter explores some roles willpower might play in a Christian’s grace-empowered attempt to “make every effort to supplement [his or her] faith with virtue” (2 Peter 1:5, ESV). Working from a distinction Robert Adams makes between “motivational” and “structural” virtues, West argues that virtues of the latter sort—of which self-control, perseverance, and patience are paradigm examples—are partially constituted by willpower. He then draws on recent empirical studies of self-regulation to explain how the wise exertion of willpower can help one not only resist temptation, but also leverage temptation in the interest of cultivating virtues in both of Adams’s categories.

EXPRESS: Consumer Self-Control and the Biological Sciences: Implications for Marketing Stakeholders

2020 ◽  
pp. 002224292098327
Author(s):  
Yanmei Zheng ◽  
Joseph W. Alba
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Human Welfare ◽  
Lay Perspective ◽  
Lay Perspectives ◽  
Welfare Implications

The authors argue that appreciation of the biological underpinnings of human behavior can alter the beliefs and actions of multiple marketing stakeholders in ways that have immense welfare implications. However, a biological perspective often deviates from the lay perspective. The realization of improved welfare depends in part on narrowing this gap. The authors review biological evidence on self-control and report 10 empirical studies that examine lay response to biological characterizations of self-control. The authors contrast lay response with scientific understanding and then offer implications of biology—as well as the gap between the scientific and lay perspectives—for policymakers, firms, consumers, marketing educators, and scholars. The authors also identify opportunities for future research. The authors conclude that marketing scholars can and should play an active role in narrowing the gap between the scientific and lay perspectives in the service of both theory development and human welfare.

Audio-Psycho-Phonology at Potchefstroom: A Review

1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 136-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter E. van Jaarsveld ◽  
Wynand F. du Plessis
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Therapeutic Approach ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Mentally Retarded ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Clinical Observations

Audio-psycho-phonology (APP) has been hailed by some critics as refreshingly new, dynamic, pioneering and revolutionary, whilst others question the theoretical principles and the therapeutic approach, inter alia, because of the strong accent on clinical observations and the lack of rigorous empirical backing. This article presents a short outline of the Tomatis APP approach as well as an overview of eight empirical studies conducted in South Africa on topics such as laterality, stuttering, anxiety, and the application of the technique to the severely mentally retarded. The studies indicate positive effects, such as improved self-control, self-concept, interpersonal relations and achievement functioning. However, identified methodological deficiencies limit the degree to which the gains can be attributed to the APP approach alone. Finally, the authors propose the adoption of a research strategy that is more likely to identify, and produce an understanding of the strategies, agents and mechanisms by which different elements of the APP approach produce their results.

scholarly journals Personal features and malevolent creativity on the example of cadets and policemen

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 83-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.V. Meshkova ◽  
V.A. Shapoval ◽  
E.A. Gerasimenko ◽  
M. Potarykina ◽  
I.A. Meshkov
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Cognitive Component ◽  
Characteristics Analysis ◽  
Adolescents And Adults ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Individual

We present and analyze the results of two empirical studies conducted in the framework of adaptation of "The malevolent creativity behavior scale" (Hao et al.) on samples of cadets-students grades 9-10 (N=89, 70-boys) and police officers (N=62, average age 26 years, men). The hypothesis that the implementation of original solutions in behavior harmful to other people is due to the interaction of aggression/its components and a set of personal characteristics was tested. The results showed: 1. a special contribution belongs to the cognitive component of aggression-hostility (Bass-Perry questionnaire), both in adolescents and adults; 2. there are age and gender features in predictors of anti-social creativity. It is shown by the example of cadets that Machiavellianism, low neuroticism, agreeableness (NEO-5 FFI) can be included in the complex of personal characteristics. Analysis of the results obtained in the sample of police officers with non-legal education showed that the combination of low hostility with high self-regulation and self-control of the individual ("self-directedness ",TCI-125) can become a resource of resistance to anti-socially directed behavior, in particular corruption.

scholarly journals The Interpretive-Sensory Access Theory of Self-Knowledge: Empirical Adequacy and Scientific Fruitfulness

Problemos ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 97 ◽  
pp. 150-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulius Rimkevičius
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Empirical Adequacy ◽  
Other Minds ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Claims

The interpretive-sensory access theory of self-knowledge claims that we come to know our own minds by turning our capacities for knowing other minds onto ourselves. Peter Carruthers argues that two of the theory’s advantages are empirical adequacy and scientific fruitfulness: it leaves few of the old discoveries unexplained and makes new predictions that provide a framework for new discoveries. A decade has now passed since the theory’s introduction. I review the most important developments during this time period regarding the two criteria: whether the theory’s six main predictions were supported, and whether the theory’s predictions contributed to new empirical studies. I argue that the interpretive-sensory access theory of self-knowledge remains empirically adequate and scientifically fruitful.

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