The Pervasive Impact of Ignorance

Norm violations have been demonstrated to impact a wide range of seemingly non-normative judgments. Among other things, when agents' actions violate prescriptive norms they tend to be seen as having done those actions more freely, as having acted more intentionally, as being more of a cause of subsequent outcomes, and even as being less happy. The explanation of this effect continues to be debated, with some researchers appealing to features of actions that violate norms, and other researchers emphasising the importance of agents' mental states when acting. Here, we report the results of two large-scale experiments that replicate and extend twelve of the studies that originally demonstrated the pervasive impact of norm violations. In each case, we build on the pre-existing experimental paradigms to additionally manipulate whether the agents knew that they were violating a norm while holding fixed the action done. We find evidence for a pervasive impact of ignorance: the impact of norm violations on non-normative judgments depends largely on the agent knowing that they were violating a norm when acting. Moreover, we find evidence that the reduction in the impact of normality is underpinned by people's counterfactual reasoning: people are less likely to consider an alternative to the agent’s action if the agent is ignorant. We situate our findings in the wider debate around the role of normality in people's reasoning.

Eco-efficiency Modeling in the Production of Alcohol Based on Data Envelopment Analysis

Economic growth can be assessed through industrial development. However, problems arise regarding the discharge of waste into lakes or rivers, leading to biodiversity loss and endangering human health. A study conducted in the UK stated that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were the largest contributor to waste and pollution. This was because they ignored the regulations governing environmental management. As happened in the Bekonang alcohol industry center, the waste from the alcohol production process polluted the Bengawan Solo tributary as the Water Supply Corporation (WSC). In order to overcome these problems, we need a measurement that can increase production efficiency. Eco-efficiency is a concept that combines efficiency and economy based on efficiency principles. The different models are proposed to measure the eco-efficiency of production, namely with a weighting system that aggregates environmental results. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) enables aggregation without the need for subjective or normative judgments about weights. Although DEA does not require subjective or normative judgments, weight restrictions can be incorporated into the framework. The purpose of this study was to determine the eco-efficiency of the Bekonang alcohol production process using the economic results of the production process and the environmental impact assessed through a life cycle assessment (LCA). There were three products, namely 30% alcohol for consumption, 90% alcohol for medical purposes, and hand sanitizer. The environmental impact was assessed from a life cycle assessment, while the economic assessment was determined by calculating the net profit for each product at a capacity of 100 liters/day. Economic assessment can be divided into two perspectives, namely the Social Perspective (SP) and Company Perspective (CP). From the modeling results, the most eco-efficient production process was hand sanitizer with an eco-efficiency value of 1.ABSTRAKPertumbuhan ekonomi dapat dinilai melalui perkembangan industri, tetapi masalah muncul terkait pembuangan limbah ke danau atau sungai yang menyebabkan hilangnya keanekaragaman hayati yang membahayakan kesehatan manusia. Penelitian yang dilakukan di Inggris menyatakan, jika penyumbang limbah dan polusi terbesar adalah dari usaha kecil menengah (UKM), karena mereka mengabaikan peraturan yang mengatur tentang pengelolaan lingkungan. Seperti yang terjadi di sentra industri alkohol Bekonang, limbah hasil proses produksi alkohol mencemari anak sungai Bengawan Solo sebagai suplai air PDAM. Untuk mengatasi masalah tersebut diperlukan suatu pengukuran yang dapat meningkatkan efisiensi produksi. Eko-efisiensi merupakan konsep yang menggabungkan efisiensi dan ekonomi berdasarkan prinsip efisiensi. Model yang berbeda diusulkan untuk mengukur eko-efisiensi pada suatu produksi, yaitu dengan sistem pembobotan yang mengagregasi hasil lingkungan. Analisis data envelopment analysis (DEA) memungkinkan agregasi tanpa membutuhkan penilaian subjektif atau normatif pada bobot. Meskipun DEA tidak memerlukan penilaian subjektif atau normatif, pembatasan bobot dapat dimasukkan ke dalam kerangka kerja. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui nilai eko-efisiensi proses produksi alkohol Bekonang, menggunakan hasil ekonomi dari proses produksi dan dampak lingkungan, yang dinilai melalui life cycle assessment (LCA).Terdapat tiga produk yang dianalisi, alkohol 30% untuk konsumsi; alkohol 90% untuk keperluan medis; dan hand sanitizer. Dari hasil pemodelan yang telah dilakukan, proses produksi yang paling eko-efisien adalah hand sanitizer dengan nilai eko-efisiensi adalah 1.

How “is” shapes “ought” for folk-biological concepts

Knowing which features are frequent among a biological kind (e.g., that most zebras have stripes) shapes people’s representations of what category members are like (e.g., that typical zebras have stripes) and normative judgments about what they ought to be like (e.g., that zebras should have stripes). In the current work, we ask if people’s inclination to explain why features are frequent is a key mechanism through which what “is” shapes beliefs about what “ought” to be. Across four studies (N = 591), we find that frequent features are often explained by appeal to feature function (e.g., that stripes are for camouflage), that functional explanations in turn shape judgments of typicality, and that functional explanations and typicality both predict normative judgments that category members ought to have functional features. We also identify the causal assumptions that license inferences from feature frequency and function, as well as the nature of the normative inferences that are drawn: by specifying an instrumental goal (e.g., camouflage), functional explanations establish a basis for normative evaluation. These findings shed light on how and why our representations of how the natural world is shape our judgments of how it ought to be.

Wherein is the concept of disease normative? From weak normativity to value-conscious naturalism

In this paper we focus on some new normativist positions and compare them with traditional ones. In so doing, we claim that if normative judgments are involved in determining whether a condition is a disease only in the sense identified by new normativisms, then disease is normative only in a weak sense, which must be distinguished from the strong sense advocated by traditional normativisms. Specifically, we argue that weak and strong normativity are different to the point that one ‘normativist’ label ceases to be appropriate for the whole range of positions. If values and norms are not explicit components of the concept of disease, but only intervene in other explanatory roles, then the concept of disease is no more value-laden than many other scientific concepts, or even any other scientific concept. We call the newly identified position “value-conscious naturalism” about disease, and point to some of its theoretical and practical advantages.

Akrasia and Epistemic Impurism

This essay provides a novel argument for impurism, the view that certain non-truth-relevant factors can make a difference to a belief's epistemic standing. I argue that purists, unlike impurists, are forced to claim that certain ‘high-stakes’ cases rationally require agents to be akratic. Akrasia is one of the paradigmatic forms of irrationality. So purists, in virtue of calling akrasia rationally mandatory in a range of cases with no obvious precedent, take on a serious theoretical cost. By focusing on akrasia, and on the nature of the normative judgments involved therein, impurists gain a powerful new way to frame a core challenge for purism. They also gain insight about the way in which impurism is true: my argument motivates the claim that there is moral encroachment in epistemology.

Is It Rational to Be Moral?

Why should all rational agents be moral? This is one ancient and challenging question about moral motivation. But there is another perhaps more tractable question about moral motivation. Why as a matter of fact are most of us motivated by moral considerations? What is it about the kind of creature I am that inclines me to be moral? Moral judgments (e.g. that it’s right to give to a certain charity) seem to be directly motivating. This chapter argues that even non-moral normative judgments often are directly motivating. A primary form of rule representation automatically carries with it motivation force.

Normative Disagreements and Choice of Legal Concepts .

The paper provides a commentary on the theses of the German jurist Lorenz Kähler on the formation of legal concepts. The author eliminates truth-characterization of normative judgments because there are no justification for these judgments. However, if we consider normative judgments as one of the factors in the choice of legal concepts in the formation of a legal text, then the subjects who find themselves in a situation of disagreement on any of the concepts should refer to the normative facts (values, reasons, and obligations). Therefore, by allowing this type of disagreement, we implicitly accept normative realism as true. The author did not indicate what a normative anti-realist should refer to in controversial situations. Since Lorenz Kähler himself is anti-realistic about normative facts, his position is either contradictory or not good elaborated for understanding.

Ultrasound Viewers’ Attribution of Moral Status to Fetal Humans: A Case for Presumptive Rationality

As several studies, along with a book and movie depicting the true story of a former clinic director, have recently brought to the public’s attention, fetal ultrasound images dramatically impact some viewers’ normative judgments: a small but non-negligible proportion of viewers attribute increased moral status to fetal humans and even form the belief that abortion is impermissible. I consider three types of psychological explanation for a viewer’s shift in beliefs: (1) increased bonding or empathy, (2) various forms of cognitive bias, and (3) type of cognitive processing involved. I consider the normative implications of each explanation, arguing that in each case the viewer’s judgment is presumptively rational.

Sacrificing Oneself or Another: The Difference Between Prescriptive and Normative Judgments in Moral Evaluation

When asked whether to sacrifice oneself or another person to save others, one might think that people would consider sacrificing themselves rather than someone else as the right and appropriate course of action—thus showing an other-serving bias. So far however, most studies found instances of a self-serving bias—people say they would rather sacrifice others. In three experiments using trolley-like dilemmas, we tested whether an other-serving bias might appear as a function of judgment type. That is, participants were asked to make a prescriptive judgment (whether the described action should or should not be done) or a normative judgment (whether the action is right or wrong). We found that participants exhibited an other-serving bias only when asked whether self- or other-sacrifice is wrong. That is, when the judgment was normative and in a negative frame (in contrast to the positive frame asking whether the sacrifice is right). Otherwise, participants tended to exhibit a self-serving bias; that is, they approved sacrificing others more. The results underscore the importance of question wording and suggest that some effects on moral judgment might depend on the type of judgment.