Well-Being and Moral Constraints: A Modified Subjectivist Account

Philosophia - In this paper, I argue that a modified version of well-being subjectivism can avoid the standard, yet unintuitive, conclusion that morally horrible acts may contribute to an...     

Solidarity and Social Moral Rules

The value of solidarity, which is exemplified in noble groups like the Civil Rights Movement along with more mundane teams, families and marriages, is distinctive in part because people are in solidarity over, for or with regard to something, such as common sympathies, interests, values, etc. I use this special feature of solidarity to resolve a longstanding puzzle about enacted social moral rules, which is, aren’t these things just heuristics, rules of thumb or means of coordination that we ‘fetishize’ or ‘worship’ if we stubbornly insist on sticking to them when we can do more good by breaking them? I argue that when we are in a certain kind of solidarity with others, united by social moral rules that we have established among ourselves, the rules we have developed and maintain are a constitutive part of our solidary relationships with one another; and it is part of being in this sort of solidarity with our comrades that we are presumptively required to follow the social moral rules that join us together. Those in the Polish Revolution, for example, were bound by informally enforced rules about publicity, free speech and the use of violence, so following their own rules became a way of standing in a valuable sort of solidarity with one another. I explain why we can have non-instrumental reasons to follow the social moral rules that exist in our own society, improve our rules and even sometimes to break the otherwise good rules that help to unite us.     

Moral Risks in Social Work

ABSTRACT Social workers must often decide whether a child, at possible risk from its parents, should be removed from home. Each year some children, left at home, are abused or killed. If the procedures have been duly followed, is a bad result to be put down to incompetence or to bad luck, and, if to the latter, does that cancel moral responsibility? We examine the claim that the case is one of ‘moral luck’ and argue that the system licences greater risk than is morally justified. This is because it embodies conflicting imperatives of welfare and justice. Anyone who becomes a social worker must face a constant risk to moral integrity [1].     

Social Psychology,Moral Character,and Moral Fallibility*

In recent years, there has been considerable debate in the literature concerning the existence of moral character. One lesson we should take away from these debates is that the concept of character, and the role it plays in guiding our actions, is far more complex than most of us initially took it to be. Just as Gilbert Harman, for example, makes a serious mistake in insisting, plain and simply, that there is no such thing as character, defenders of character also make a mistake to the extent that they imply there is no problem raised by the psychological literature for either the concept of character or the nature of character‐based ethics. My hope for this paper is to avoid both of these mistakes by first, exploring exactly what is the concept of character that is so firmly rooted in our philosophical and everyday thinking; and second, exploring the implications of the psychological literature for this appropriately understood concept of character. In so doing, I will come to a resolution that vindicates the existence of character, while at the same time calls attention to the real and serious problem suggested by the psychological evidence. This, we will see, is a problem of moral motivation.     

道德精神的社会资源支持

道德精神是对道德的敬畏、向往和坚守的心理意识和精神态度,培育道德精神离不开社会资源的支持。其中,制度作为最基本的道德是道德的基本保障;文化资源可以为道德的坚守培土;风俗或风气作为社会道德的评判机制有助于道德权威的确立;民族事件是道德精神的集中体现,可以塑造对道德精神的崇高感。     

Statistical Evaluation of Algebraic Constraints for Social Networks

A multirelational social network on a set of individuals may be represented as a collection of binary relations. Compound relations constructed from this collection represent various labeled paths linking individuals in the network. Since many models of interest for social networks can be formulated in terms of orderings among these labeled paths, we consider the problem of evaluating an hypothesized set of orderings, termed algebraic constraints. Each constraint takes the form of an hypothesized inclusion relation for a pair of labeled paths. In this paper, we establish conditions under which sets of such constraints may be regarded as partial algebras. We describe the structure of constraint sets and show that each corresponds to a subset of consistent relation bundles between pairs of individuals. We thereby construct measures of fit for a given constraint set. Then, we show how, in combination with the assumption of various conditional uniform multigraph distributions, these measures lead to a flexible approach to the evaluation of fit of an hypothesized constraint set. Several applications are presented and some possible extensions of the approach are briefly discussed. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Social Constraints on Disclosure and Adjustment to Cancer

This article introduces the concept of social constraints on disclosure, puts it in a theoretical framework, and examines how it can affect adjustment to major life stressors using the exemplar of cancer. Cancer is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. It is often life threatening, disfiguring, and unpredictable; hence, it can undermine people's basic and often positive beliefs and expectations about themselves, their future, and social relationships. For many people with cancer, it is important to come to terms psychologically with the illness – to make sense of or somehow accept the reality of it. People often do this by thinking about different aspects of the disease and its implications for their life, but also through socially processing, or talking about, their cancer-related thoughts, feelings, and concerns with others. When people experience social constraints on their disclosure of cancer-related thoughts and feelings, it can adversely affect how they think and talk about their illness, their coping behaviors, and psychological adjustment. In addition to discussing mechanisms and consequences of social constraints on disclosure, we discuss some of its determinants and future research directions.     

论道德能力

道德能力是一个很重要的概念。罗尔斯就把道德能力作为考察和建构现代社会的逻辑起点和价值支点,以此为基础寻求自由和平等的结合方式,安排社会的基本结构。在这里,道德能力不只是一个道德心理学的概念,更是一个道德哲学的概念。其内涵可以概括为三个层面,即合理的价值观、正义感和仁爱心、自主意识和责任感。一、合理的价值观:道德能力的实质罗尔斯把社会理解为一个公平的合作体系,对参与合作的人提出了特定的要求。他认为,合作者必须具备两种基本的道德能力,一是正义感,即一种能够了解、应用并依正义原则行事的能力;二是善观念,即具有一种…     

道德社会化探析

本文在对道德社会化几种理论进行简要评析的基础上,提出道德社会化的基本内容包括认同道德规范、明晰道德关系、形成道德人格;实现道德社会化的基本途径包括社会的道德教育和个体的道德修养.     

社会医疗保险道德风险博弈与防控措施研究

通过对社会医疗保险道德风险产生原因与特征的探讨,根据不完全信息重复博弈模型对社会医疗保险道德风险进行了系统分析,据此提出了社会医疗保险道德风险的防控措施,以期实现对道德风险的有效防控,提高社会医疗保险基金的安全.     

论道德继承

道德是符合社会之理而维持社会存在的人的行为价值和规范。道德有一般与特殊之分,一般道德的抽象性和特殊道德的具体性决定了二者继承方法的选择,即前者抽象继承,后者批判继承。历史上积累的道德价值和道德规范是道德继承的对象,此对象无论采取何种表述方式,终究可以用语言或者文字的形式表述为一个道德命题。因此,道德继承实质上是对道德命题的继承。道德命题是以善恶价值为内容、对某一道德状况或某一道德要求用逻辑语言所作的判断和陈述。它通常包括形式的或者逻辑的层面和实际的或者经验的层面,前者表征其一般意义,后者表征其特殊意义。理论上,前者采用抽象继承法,后者采用批判继承法,但实际上二者密不可分。因此,现实生活中的道德继承需兼顾两面,即采用一体两面相结合的道德继承模式。     

社会医疗保险道德风险博弈与防控措施研究

通过对社会医疗保险道德风险产生原因与特征的探讨,根据不完全信息重复博弈模型对社会医疗保险道德风险进行了系统分析,据此提出了社会医疗保险道德风险的防控措施,以期实现对道德风险的有效防控,提高社会医疗保险基金的安全。