Exploring a Moral Landscape: Genetic Science and Ethics

This project draws on scholarship of feminist and womanist scholars, and on results of interviews with scientists currently involved in molecular genetics. With reference to Margaret Urban Walker's “practices of moral responsibility,” the social practices of molecular geneticists are exphred, and strategies identified through which scientists negotiate their moral responsibilities. The implications of this work for scientists and for feminists are discussed.     

When Values and Behavior Conflict: Moral Pluralism and Intrapersonal Moral Hypocrisy

The authors review the various ways moral hypocrisy has been defined and operationalized by social psychologists, concentrating on three general types: moral duplicity, moral double standards, and moral weakness. While most approaches have treated moral hypocrisy as an interpersonal phenomenon, requiring public claims, preaching (versus practicing), or judgments of others (versus oneself), this paper also considers intrapersonal moral hypocrisy – that is, conflicts between values and behavior that may exist even in the absence of public pronouncements or judgments. Current attempts to understand and combat intrapersonal moral hypocrisy are aided by moral pluralism, the idea that there are many different moral values, which may come into conflict both between and within individuals. Examples are given to illustrate how taking into account individual differences in values can help to reduce moral hypocrisy. The authors close by considering the possibility that in a pluralistic world, reducing intrapersonal moral hypocrisy might not always be a normatively desired end goal.     

We Value What Values Us: The Appeal of Identity-Affirming Science

Members of the public (Study 1; n =  184) and university students (Study 2; n =  101) evaluated a piece of research and indicated their support for its continuation. The research findings were held constant, but the methods that revealed those findings were attributed to either neuroscience or social science, and the conclusions based on those findings were biased either in favor of men or in favor of women. Study 1 revealed that participants were more positive about research that affirmed their gender identity and that was based on neuroscience rather than social science. Study 2 found this pattern to be apparent in more specialist samples. Indeed, participants with some scientific training were more influenced by research that affirmed the reader's gender identity. Participants with less scientific training, in comparison, were more influenced by the type of science described when making judgments about the value of the research. Contrary to popular claims, this suggests that scientific knowledge alone is no protection against the effects of bias on research evaluation. Implications for the practice and popularization of science are discussed.     

Mapping Contemporary Europe's Moral and Religious Pluralist Landscape: An Analysis Based on the Most Recent European Values Study Data

We explore the less prominent and often neglected issues of religious and moral pluralism in contemporary European society. Using the survey data from the most recent European Values Study (EVS), the patterns of religious and moral pluralism are investigated. Analyses of the previous EVS data demonstrated that Europe is not homogeneous. European countries differ not only in levels of economic development, but also in cultural heritages, languages, religious and ideological traditions, and educational and political systems. Variety in the degrees to which European societies are religiously and morally pluralistic was expected. Several hypotheses were developed to explain this variety. Our analyses do not support most of the generally accepted hypotheses.     

弱势群体判断对不同价值语义启动下道德判断的调节效应研究

通过行为实验探讨了公平正义和人文关怀这两种基本道德价值的语义启动对涉及弱势群体的道德两难问题判断的影响。研究结果表明,不同道德价值语义启动对道德判断有显著影响,具体表现为：在公平正义启动状态下,人们的道德判断不会对弱势者有明显的道德宽容偏向。当个体处于恻隐关怀启动状态时则会出现明显的道德判断弱势者效应,即对弱势群体的道德判断存在显著的宽容偏向。进一步的检验表明弱势群体判断在道德价值语义启动与道德判断中起着显著的调节作用。本研究不仅从实证的角度证实了道德价值语境在道德判断中的重要性。同时文章还指出在面对重大社会负性事件时,政府、社会媒体、学术界应该呈现怎样的道德价值语境是一个既具有突出现实性和重要理论性的问题。     

当代部分青年伦理认同、取向及其成因的解读

近十年来一些全国性的大型调查所获得的数据表明:在一定的社会文化环境的影响下,在传统文化心理的积淀中,当代部分青年的伦理认同陷入了实用功利的陷阱,其伦理取向则尚未走出传统的樊篱。     

莱茵霍尔德·尼布尔的基督教现实主义道德观

莱因霍尔德·尼布尔是20世纪在美国乃至西方最著名和颇具影响的基督教神学家.他坚持原罪论,并将基督教伦理思想广泛应用于社会问题及政治问题的研究,从而形成了系统并具有现代精神的基督教应用伦理学(即基督教现实主义伦理学),在现代宗教伦理学的推广方面做出了独特的贡献.他所倡导的现实主义伦理学影响了一代神学家和政治家,后来更是成为冷战时期美国对外政策的哲学依据.本文考察了尼布尔的原罪论及其与理想主义的分歧,以及尼布尔现实主义道德观的基本内容及其影响.     

The Rationality of Ultimate Concern: Moral Exemplars,Theological Ethics,and the Science of Moral Cognition

This paper argues that consideration of moral exemplars may provide a means for integrating insights across philosophical ethics, theological ethics, and the scientific study of moral cognition. Key to this endeavor is an understanding of the relation of cognition and emotion in ethical decision-making, a relation that is usually understood to be oppositional but which in proper circumstances may be understood to be quite the opposite. Indeed, a distinctive feature of moral exemplarity may consist in the ability to properly integrate the emotions into the moral life, and reference to and imitation of exemplars may involve a referencing and imitating of the emotions of the exemplar.     

A Short List of Universal Moral Values

There may be virtual worldwide consensus on a few universal moral values like the Golden Rule. In this article, the authors argue that diversity and universality can coexist within the human community. Toward that goal, they construct a short list of universal moral values. Validation of these values is based on nomination by their frequent citation in previously published lists and endorsement by most of the major world religions and well‐known secular organizations (i.e., the United Nations). Implications for counseling are discussed. There is a universal moral law written on the human heart. (Pope John Paul II, as cited by Moody, 1995, p. 82)     

Empirically Informed Moral Theory: A Sketch of the Landscape

This introduction to the special issue on empirically informed moral theory sketches the more important contributions to the field in the past several years. Attention is paid to experimental philosophy, the work of philosophers like Harman and Doris, and that of psychologists like Haidt and Hauser.     

马基雅维里道德观的再认识

在对马基雅维里道德观的评价上,学界历来存在着误解和分歧.马基雅维里思想中的道德观部分固然有缺陷,但据此把它指责为道德败坏和邪恶的"马基雅维里主义",则是一种建立在误解基础上的偏见.本文依据对马基雅维里赖以形成其道德观的时代背景、自身经历和其著作的综合研究,尝试厘清这种误解和偏见,就马氏的具有开创意义的现实主义道德观进行再认识.     

Diverging Perceptions of Personal Moral Values and the Values of One's Religious Group

A popular notion in many religions is that less pious individuals are also less moral. We sought to test the self-described moral values of religious and nonreligious individuals under the framework of Moral Foundations Theory. In Study 1, we found that atheists differ from Christians in some moral domains. We also found evidence that Christians’ self-ratings are consistently lower than what they perceive to be the moral values of other Christians. This finding contradicts previous findings that suggest that Christians may inflate their positive characteristics relative to their peers in other domains. In Studies 2 and 3, we tested several alternative explanations for this finding. Preliminary evidence suggests that Christians rate their moral values lower in comparison to Christian exemplars such as religious leaders, and not from a sense of humility. In contrast, atheists may not have exemplars for such a comparison.