Measuring Impartial Beneficence: A Kantian Perspective on the Oxford Utilitarianism Scale

To capture genuine utilitarian tendencies, (Kahane et al., Psychological Review 125:131, 2018) developed the Oxford Utilitarianism Scale (OUS) based on two subscales, which measure the commitment to impartial beneficence and the willingness to cause harm for the greater good. In this article, I argue that the impartial beneficence subscale, which breaks ground with previous research on utilitarian moral psychology, does not distinctively measure utilitarian moral judgment. I argue that Kantian ethics captures the all-encompassing impartial concern for the well-being of all human beings. The Oxford Utilitarianism Scale draws, in fact, a point of division that places Kantian and utilitarian theories on the same track. I suggest that the impartial beneficence subscale needs to be significantly revised in order to capture distinctively utilitarian judgments. Additionally, I propose that psychological research should focus on exploring multiple sources of the phenomenon of impartial beneficence without categorizing it as exclusively utilitarian.

Consult Your Heart

In this article, I explore the authority of the heart (qalb) as a potential locus for the individual moral knowledge and normativity in Islamic ethics. To do so, I discuss the two ḥadīths that ostensibly suggest one’s “self” as a source of moral judgment. These ḥadīths raise renewed questions about the sources of moral judgment, the nature of moral judgment and the ethical capacity of the “self” (conscience)—“consult your heart and consult your self …”; “righteousness is good conduct, and sin is that which rankles in your chest and which you would hate for other people to look upon.” There are rich debates in the Islamic tradition on the place and authority of the bāṭin (inward) in generating moral knowledge, which correspond to contemporary discourses in Western ethics on the place of conscience in the moral formation of the individual. In this article, I argue that although Islamic legal tradition as a discipline has focused on qualified external actions of individuals and the ijtihād (independent legal reasoning) of mujtahids (jurists), it did not ignore the authority of the bāṭin for moral assessment and the ijtihād of common individuals. I propose that the inward dimension has always occupied an important space within the interdisciplinary field of Islamic ethics but has been overshadowed by the overarching theological disputes between the Muʿtazilīs and Ashʿarīs over the sources of knowledge. The article starts by exploring the relevant aḥādīth (reports) and their interpretation in ḥadīth commentaries, followed by an analysis of discussions in the fields of Islamic jurisprudence and Sufism.

THE INFLUENCE OF MORAL JUDGMENT ON PHYSICIANS' PRESCRIPTION BEHAVIOUR

Pharmaceutical promotion towards physicians’ prescription behaviour is strongly interrelated. Identifying and addressing the ethical challenges in physicians’ prescription behaviour to increase the ethical predisposition of prescribing medicines is prioritized in global health and development plans. Hence, the importance of ethics in the professionalism of healthcare practitioners is now a growing concern. The main objective of this research is to investigate the influence of moral judgment on physicians' prescription behaviour. A survey has been conducted among 152 medical practitioners from private healthcare facilities in the metropolitan area of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor states of Malaysia. The principal component analysis method in EFA and structural equation modelling technique in CFA has been used to analyze the data and validate the model. The study found that physicians’ moral equity factor has a significant and positive influence on physicians’ prescription behaviour whereas their relativism and contractualism factors were not significant. The empirical evidence obtained from this study would make significant contributions to advancing the current knowledge of ethical prescription behaviour. Recommendations to physicians for more ethical prescription practices have been discussed at the end of this paper.

Assessing Moral Judgment Maturity Using the Sociomoral Reflection Measure – Short Form Objective

The Sociomoral Reflection Measure – Short Form Objective (SRM-SFO) aims to assess the reasoning and valuing components of moral judgment. A new index for measuring moral reasoning is introduced. The first study assessed construct validity by examining the structure and invariance of moral reasoning and moral value evaluation in community adolescents and adults from The Netherlands ( N = 1,583). Factor analyses supported the unidimensionality of both components. Measurement invariance was found across age groups, gender, and educational levels. Convergent validity was supported by positive relationships between moral reasoning and age in males and between moral reasoning and higher educational levels. Divergent validity was supported by the weak relationship of both components with social desirability and their negative relationship with self-centered orientation and self-reported antisocial/delinquent behavior. The second study included incarcerated juvenile delinquents ( N = 246). Measurement invariance was found for both components across delinquency groups. Furthermore, community participants reporting no antisocial/delinquent behavior showed higher levels on both components than community participants reporting antisocial/delinquent behavior and juvenile delinquents. The SRM-SFO provides acceptable to good psychometric properties for assessing the reasoning and valuing components of moral judgment. Its practical benefits support its use in large-scale research from young adolescence onward.