The Epistemology of Moral Praise and Moral Criticism

Are strangers sincere in their moral praise and criticism? Here we apply signaling theory to argue ceteris paribus moral criticism is more likely sincere than praise; the former tends to be a higher-fidelity signal (in Western societies). To offer an example: emotions are often self-validating as a signal because they're hard to fake. This epistemic insight matters: moral praise and criticism influence moral reputations, and affect whether others will cooperate with us. Though much of this applies to generic praise and criticism too, moral philosophers should value sincere moral praise and moral criticism for several reasons: it (i) offers insight into how others actually view us as moral agents; (ii) offers feedback to help us improve our moral characters; and (iii) encourages some behaviors, and discourages others. And so as moral agents, we should care whether moral praise and moral criticism is sincere.

Fairness, Sanction, and Condemnation

One might be puzzled about what philosophers have in mind when they talk about ‘basic desert,’ ‘true moral responsibility,’ or the ‘condemnatory force’ of moral criticism. In particular, one might be puzzled by its presumed relation to some strong requirement of freedom. The presumption is that, if we are not ‘free’ in some very strong sense, then we are not truly morally responsible and so do not deserve condemnation. But, what is this condemnation and why does it require a strong for of freedom? This chapter responds to this question and offers a new understanding of the presumed relation between a strong form of freedom and a status that might be called ‘condemnation’ or a kind of desert that might be called ‘basic.’

Just Kidding: Stand-Up, Speech Acts and Slurs

People respond to moral criticism of their speech by claiming that they were joking. In this paper, I develop a speech act analysis of the humor excuse consisting of a negative stage, in which the speaker denies he or she was making an assertion, and a positive stage, in which the speaker claims she or he was engaged in non-serious/humorous speech instead. This analysis, however, runs afoul of the group identity objection, according to which there is a moral distinction between jokes targeting members of vulnerable groups made by members of those groups and similar jokes made by non-members. In order to avoid this objection, I offer a revision to the speech act analysis that draws upon Perry’s distinction between beliefs and belief-states.

Makna Kisah Panggilan Para Murid Yesus Bagi Metode Pendidikan Agama Kristen

Jesus is a teacher who sets an example of His teaching to the disciples. The story of the early disciples' vocation provides evidence that Jesus is expertise in personal development. This fact is a moral criticism issue that is not in line with religious values and a challenge to Christian religious education which means the Church work in the educational issue. Through a library research approach, this study aims to explore the pedagogical meaning and methods of Christian religious education in vocational stories (Matthew 4: 18-22, Markus. 1: 16-20, Luke 5: 1-14). The focus is on the pedagogical meaning, methodology and implementation of the teachings of Jesus in the vocational story. The result is an imaginative analogy, a term that affirms the educational meaning of Christian religious and educational methodology where the experience (in the light of) faith is accompanied by acts that are much more effective in Christian religious education. Keywords: Pedagogy; Educational Methods; Christian Religious Education; Disciples of Jesus.

Deconversion Processes in Adolescence—The Role of Parental and Peer Factors

The phenomenon of abandonment of faith, which in psychology is referred to as deconversion, is observed today. Deconversion is particularly widespread in young people. In this paper we examine the parents’ religiosity, parents’ care, and social support as potential predictors of deconversion in adolescents. Specifically, we aimed to analyse whether or not parents’ religiousness, individual differences in childrens’ attachment to their parents, and received support from family, friends, and significant others differentiate adolescents in deconversion processes. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 232 adolescents in a cross-sectional study, which applied three scales. The Adolescent Deconversion Scale, Parental Bonding Instrument, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. The results showed that adolescents having both caring and religious parents are less prone to abandon faith and to moral criticism than those having caring but not religious parents or those having religious but not caring parents. The low social support group was more likely to abandon faith and moral criticism than moderate or high social support groups. Regression analyses revealed that deconversion in adolescence is negatively predicted by the mother’s care and friends’ support.

Advocacy discourse in Surat An-Naml: A literary study: الخطاب الدعوي في سورة النمل: دراسة أدبية

The research aims to identify the artistic representation in the advocacy discourse, especially the one that came from the Prophet’s guidance in Surat An-Naml, as it carries the sensory significance represented by the spiritual education of fidelity and the kinship. And the moral significance is in finding the right path to the righteous truth to the moral depiction of human values ​​of praise and thanksgiving to God, Lord of the Worlds. The study followed the analytical descriptive method which is based on mentioning the Qur’anic verse and showing its artistic pictorial features. The results revealed that imagining is the preferred tool to express the standard of moral criticism to highlight the realism of the spiritual and human values ​​of the Qur’anic stories in the light of Surat An-Naml. The study recommends the establishment of comprehensive research in the field of the propagandistic rhetorical miracles of the Holy Qur’an that deals with the verses from a rhetorical perspective of the miraculous claim and directing scholars to study its structures and clarify its secrets.