Ethical Criticism Research Articles

The value attitude of a person to their psychological health: approaches to the definition

The article is devoted to identification of the main characteristics that constitute the concept “value attitude of a person to their psychological health” that was conducted on the basis of the analysis of domestic and foreign literature. Firstly, the characteristic “health” was highlighted which is a state of the body characterised by internal comfort providing various functions of vital activity, creating mental, social and physical well-being that forms the basis of life quality. Secondly, the authors defined the characteristic “psychological health” as a psychological state of internal well-being of a person which depends on the individual-personal characteristics of a human, on their views and attitudes, on the degree of satisfaction of their needs and implementation of their own life plans. It is also seen as the ability of a person to withstand various stresses, changes in life and the ability to recover after that. Thirdly, the characteristic “value” was outlined. It is ideological orientation of the individual which is formed by their ideas of ideals, moral standards of behaviour in everyday life and which determines the personal meaning. Fourthly, the characteristic “attitude” was also studied. It is a conscious, selective, experience-based psychological connection of a person with reality which is expressed in actions, reactions and experiences and is formed in the process of activity. The final characteristic of the considered concept was the “value attitude”. It is defined as a one-sided relationship between a subject and an object when the subject assess the objects of reality according to their certain moral criteria. Thus, on the basis of the analysis of domestic and foreign psychological and pedagogical approaches, the authors have formulated the definition of the concept “value attitude of a person to their psychological health”.

Nietzsche and the Significance of Genealogy

Nietzsche and the Significance of Genealogy

Reconstructing Paul Tillich's Ethics of Grace

This paper reconstructs Tillichian grace, analyzing its existential and ethical dimensions beyond traditional supernatural interpretations. It explores the historical lineage of Tillich's work, drawing parallels between ancient and medieval discourses on grace and Tillich's existential theology, with a particular emphasis on the theme of existential estrangement and its implications for moral development. In section one, I analyze Augustine's critique of Greek and Roman ethics, noting how his interpretations of sin and grace sought to address ethical, and not merely narrowly Christian theological, concerns. The paper then examines Martin Luther's shift towards a more personal apprehension of grace, setting the stage for Tillich's complex and nuanced understanding of justification. The strengths and ambiguities of Tillich's approach, along with its practical implications, are then critically evaluated. In conclusion, I advocate for the relevance of Tillich's conception of grace in modern secular ethical discourse, arguing that its emphasis on ethical intersubjectivity and the courage to embrace existential uncertainties provides a compassionate framework for addressing moral questions in our own time.

Wellbeing and collective grievances among farmers: The case of Flanders, Belgium

Media coverage and policy at both national and EU level is increasingly paying attention to how farming populations in multiple countries in Europe are facing problems in terms of wellbeing. Similar attention is also being paid to this issue in Flanders (Belgium), although research data on this problem is lacking. The present study fills this gap by investigating what type of stressors farmers are experiencing in their daily activities. Through qualitative interviews (15) and focus group discussions (9), reaching 81 Flemish farmers, 2 categories of stressors are identified as negatively impacting on farmers wellbeing. The first category encompasses regulations and administrative burdens which are understood to be increasingly strict and complex, adding to workload and reducing the autonomy of the farmer. A second category relates to financial insecurity, including points such as anxieties as to the overall future of the farm enterprise and price volatility. These stressors and their direct impact can also be retrieved in other countries.In addition to these findings, this article will argue that these stressors are inextricably tied to perceptions by Flemish farmers about a changing socio-political climate that is understood to be increasingly anti-farming. Throughout the individual and group interviews on stress and wellbeing, a discourse emerges about a lack of societal respect towards farming in which farmers express increasingly feeling alienated from society. Hence, these individual stress factors cannot be detached from a set of collective grievances about the place of farmers as a professional group in the larger societal fabric. The point on regulations and administrative burdens is put in a framework wherein farmers indicate increasingly being misunderstood and disrespected. A specific symbol of contention in this regard are so-called ‘green regulations’ centred around biodiversity, animal welfare, climate … The issue of financial insecurity is tied to a larger moral critique wherein society supposedly no longer wishes to pay a fair price for honest labour and healthy food products.

Moral persuasion for value-laden objections to human papillomavirus vaccination

The martial art of jiu jitsu capitalizes on the strength of a sparring partner by redirecting their momentum. Jiu jitsu persuasion similarly redirects the concerns motivating an objection in a manner that undermines the objection. This method of persuasion effectively addresses criticisms that motivate vaccine hesitancy, including moral criticisms. Critics argue that human papillomavirus vaccination causes young women to become more promiscuous. Evidence undermines this objection, but such evidence fails to persuade many objectors because of countervailing moral concerns regarding promiscuity. Healthcare professionals, therefore, need to consider supplementing evidence with moral arguments against the objection, using a framework that appeals to the core values motivating vaccine objections. A jiu jitsu model of persuasion is one such framework. By employing a jiu jitsu model healthcare professionals can facilitate collaborative, normative discussion that persuades more objectors and fulfills healthcare professionals’ obligations with respect to patient care vis-à-vis vaccination.

Analysis of Alison Moore’s The Lighthouse from the Perspective of Ethical Literary Criticism

The Lighthouse is an excellent contemporary novel that tells the family tragedies of two generations which involve numerous individuals and families. After being shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize, it has been noticed by many researchers and scholars from home and abroad. Starting from the perspective of ethical literary criticism, this paper intends to have a detailed analysis of the ethical issues existing in The Lighthouse through the method of close reading. This paper also attempts to have an insight into the moral and ethical problems in modern families, or the problems between contemporary people, trying to analyze the main characters’ self-developments of morality and the author’s ethical values from the discussion of the main characters’ ethical choices, the construction of ethical identities and the human and human relationship in this novel.

Beyond phase-in: assessing impacts on disinformation of the EU Digital Services Act

AbstractThis work proposes a comprehensive research agenda to empirically evaluate the real-world impacts of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) on combating online disinformation. It provides background on the DSA’s context, mechanisms, timeline, and expected effects on platforms to situate the need for rigorous impact assessment. A detailed legal, technical, psychological, behavioral and ethical critique reveals meaningful gaps in the DSA requiring ongoing regulatory refinement and oversight. Most critically, the paper puts forth an encompassing framework spanning computational analytics, interviews, ethnography, surveys, discourse analysis and mixed methods to rigorously assess the DSA’s multi-dimensional effects on complex factors enabling disinformation proliferation. Priorities include evaluating notice-and-takedown efficacy, advertising transparency improvements, risk assessment outcomes, oversight integration, and procedural shifts in platform governance. Coordinated efforts between researchers, regulators and platforms are needed to address methodological challenges around isolating DSA impacts amidst an evolving EU regulatory landscape, constrained data access from platforms, and difficulties generalizing findings across the sociotechnical diversity of platforms and national contexts in EU Member States.

A Phronetic Ethics of Securitization

Abstract Intervening in recent debates on normativity in securitization theory, I draw on Aristotle’s notion of phronesis and Morgenthau’s formulation of prudence to articulate an ethical theory that takes seriously the idea that securitization is a deeply intersubjective process. First, I critique Rita Floyd's extant “just securitization theory,” which develops universal moral criteria akin to those of just war theory. While insightful, I argue that both her approach to the study of securitization as an empirical phenomenon and to moral theory are flawed. Then, I develop a novel theory by articulating how securitizing actors ought to exercise phronesis as a mode of ethical reasoning rather than a set of rules to follow. Securitizing actors exercise phronesis when they continuously deliberate about the ends of their actions, consider potential long-term consequences, utilize both abstract knowledge and experience, engage in critical self-reflection, and practice restraint. Throughout the paper, I redeploy the “universal” just securitization concepts of just cause and proportionality as rhetorical devices to help stimulate phronetic judgement.

Alkaline hydrolysis and respect for the dead: an ethical critique

ABSTRACT Alkaline hydrolysis is an increasingly popular method of disposing of human corpses, which involves dissolving them into a solution of 95% water and 5% alkali, producing some bone residue and a liquid waste that can be flushed into the sewer system or otherwise hygienically disposed of. Favoured particularly by environmentalists for its perceived ecological advantages over traditional methods of inhumation and cremation, alkaline hydrolysis has been charged by some critics with being insufficiently respectful of the human corpse, and by implication the living human being whose body it once was. Following a discussion of the idea of respect for the dead and its cultural variability, it is argued that alkaline hydrolysis breaches no fundamental principles of respect for the deceased or their remains and that worries on this score are based on misunderstanding or prejudice. The question is raised whether alkaline hydrolysis might nevertheless be considered less respectful to the dead than traditional methods of burial and cremation. Three prima facie reasons in support of this claim are weighed and rejected. It is concluded that there are no sound objections based on considerations of human dignity to the adoption of alkaline hydrolysis as a disposal method for human bodies.

Cerita Dari Hutan Teso Nelo: Ekokritik dalam Novel Rahasia Pelangi

The novel is a medium that inspires and motivates readers to change and act more responsibly towards nature. This research aims to explore environmental phenomena and the author's ethical criticism. This research applies a qualitative approach with descriptive data presentation to explore and understand the representation of forest environmental issues in the novel Rahasia Pelangi by Riawani Elyta and Shabrina WS. The main data in this research is the text of the novel Rahasia Pelangi. Garrard's ecocritical approach Data analysis was carried out using the help of NVivo software which displays processed data in the form of percentage coverage and graphs through the Explore feature. To ensure validity and reliability, this research adopts a triangulation procedure, namely by comparing the findings with relevant previous studies and other ecocritical theories. The research findings are that the author narrates ecological themes. The narrative on the theme of "Disaster" is followed by the phenomenon of destruction of the "Wilderness." The contribution of the research is to provide awareness of environmental conservation for readers. The results of this study are a means for teachers and lecturers to provide literacy teaching materials to students and college students. Future research is to examine novels from other authors that voice environmental issues.

Literary-social Interpretations of the ‘Stagnation’ Period in 20th Century Uzbek Literature

The period from the 1960s to the 1980s under Brezhnev is stamped in history, both Soviet and Uzbek, as “stagnation.” Particularly for Uzbekistan, this period is known for such stigmatized events as the “cotton” or “Uzbek” scandal – the investigation into Uzbek First Party Secretary Sharaf Rashidov (1917-1983) for misrepresenting cotton harvest results during his twenty-four-year tenure – and the Afghan war (1979-1989). The experience of striving to save the nation from the aggressive system and stereotypes of society, from the "values" of slavery and subordination, is reflected in some examples of 20th-century Uzbek literature. The most prominent figures in XX Century’s Uzbek literary history, Said Ahmad (1920-2007) in his novel Silence (Jimjitlik, 1988) and O‘tkir Hoshimov (1941-2013) in Lives Passed in Dream (Tushda kechgan umrlar, 1992) fell apart from the literature written as the Soviet Union describes the events of this period through a prism of moral monikers. Their understanding of their place in the world has always been through their connection to the nation. Social anxiety for them is inextricably linked to artistic anxiety and vice versa. Writers took it upon themselves to unmask the sins associated with this period, such as “two-facedness” (qiyofasizlik), bribery, fraud, cruelty, and bloodthirstiness (in reference to the Afghan war). The novels focusing on the “stagnation” period played an important role in transforming these moral criticisms of Soviet rule into criticisms of Soviet rule as colonial exploitation and serve as an attempt to unmask the horrors and misdeeds behind Soviet officialdom that have long gone unnoticed. In this paper, I will examine some of those moral constructions and how they framed the period in the minds of post-Soviet Uzbeks. The literary interpretations of the problems in stagnation will be analyzed in the historical, cultural, political and literary context. I hope this paper contributes to the research carried out on Central Asian studies, including Uzbek Literature Literary history, which is known very little worldwide.

Haunting the Margins: Excavating EU Migrants as the ‘Social Ghosts’ of Our Time

Using the spectral as a conceptual metaphor, we explore narratives within Sweden’s welfare institutions and policy discourses surrounding vulnerable EU citizens. We aim to provide a new understanding of vulnerable EU citizens as the social ghosts of our time by exploring how the concept of the social ghost and hauntology can be used to perform ethical critique of social injustice. By excavating examples from already gathered material, we explore the unseen within the already seen to critically examine how vulnerable EU citizens are constructed in social welfare narratives. We argue that the terminology of vulnerable EU citizens not only is constructed as uncanny and abject but also as social ghosts, denied a social and political identity and forced to haunt the margins of societal life. Moreover, we argue that the Swedish state becomes a site for necropolitical power, enabling but also perpetuating lingering violent effects on Roma people.

Māori atheism: a decolonising project?

ABSTRACT New Zealand census data points to a pattern of religious change – a growing sector of the Māori community are disaffiliating from Christianity at roughly the same rate as the ‘no religion’ category is expanding. Drawing on 16 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with Māori who do not believe in god(s), we explore the contours of atheism and how it is experienced and articulated in their specific cultural location. Our analysis shows that Māori atheism is plural and often politically charged. Religion is commonly viewed as a colonial tool for the oppression of Māori people/culture, against which atheism stands as a decolonising project. Aside from this, the participants’ operationalisation of intellectual doubt and other moral criticisms, including religious hypocrisy, religious exclusivism and religious bigotry, were found to be consistent with the narratives of atheists elsewhere.

Citizen silence: Missed opportunities in citizen science

Abstract Citizen science is personal. Participation is contingent on the citizens’ connection to a topic or to interpersonal relationships meaningful to them. But from the peer-reviewed literature, scientists appear to have an acquisitive data-centered relationship with citizens. This has spurred ethical and pragmatic criticisms of extractive relationships with citizen scientists. We suggest five practical steps to shift citizen-science research from extractive to relational, reorienting the research process and providing reciprocal benefits to researchers and citizen scientists. By virtue of their interests and experience within their local environments, citizen scientists have expertise that, if engaged, can improve research methods and product design decisions. To boost the value of scientific outputs to society and participants, citizen-science research teams should rethink how they engage and value volunteers.

Immoral Artistry?

This paper uses detailed art criticism to ground a distinctive take on debates about the interaction of moral and aesthetic value. Immoralists claim that moral flaws can make artworks aesthetically better than they would otherwise be. I argue that whether or not immoralism is true, immoralists have not provided compelling characterizations of strategies that might constitute this kind of “immoral artistry.” The main exception is found in the work of A. W. Eaton. I critique Eaton’s perspective by way of sustained interpretive-philosophical discussion of The Wire and especially The Sopranos. The discussion has implications for value interaction debates, conceptualizations of the “rough hero” genre, theories of appropriate response to fictions, and more applied debates about the moral criticism of film and television.

Value Conflict and Personal Choice in The Scarlet Letter from the Perspective of Ethical Literary Criticism

Nathaniel Hawthorne was the preeminent American Romantic writer of the 19th century. The Scarlet Letter, as Hawthorne’s classic work, has been praised by most critics. Hawthorne paid attention to the ethical problems of Hester and Dimmesdale and gave a comprehensive depiction of their ethical choices after they had violated the Puritan ethical norms. This paper intends to use ethical literary criticism proposed by Professor Nie Zhenzhao, based on ethical dilemma and ethical choice, within the ethical backdrop of New England, to analyze ethical conflicts and ethical choices of the protagonists in the novel. Ultimately, it seeks to warn people the importance of complying with the ethical norms of the society. Exploring the ethical and moral values embedded in The Scarlet Letter will enhance the domestic study of Hawthorne’s works and better realize the didactic function of literature.

Research on All-round Education in Ancient Book Theory

Traditional Chinese literary and artistic criticism usually unifies moral standards and artistic standards. This criticism emphasizes the consistency of human and artistic style, closely combines art and life, and evaluates artistic works with moral standards as an important aspect of artistic standards. Like literature and art, calligraphy is closely related to morality. In ancient calligraphy criticism, the personality and morality of calligraphers are usually regarded as an important standard to judge the achievement of calligraphy. Therefore, there have been sayings such as "the book is the person" and "the book is the mind painting" in China since ancient times. Therefore, the art of calligraphy can be called a moral activity, and calligraphy criticism can also be called a moral criticism. Ancient China has a long history and a long time span. Social life and cultural trends in different historical periods have a profound impact on the emergence, development and change of artistic functions. As a special spiritual production, art is to meet people's aesthetic needs as the main purpose, while taking into account other values as the auxiliary purpose. This paper studies the function of all-round education of calligraphy art and its influence and value on the present calligraphy.

Why Make Atlas Dance? Colonial Utopia that Persists in Contemporary Robotics

This paper addresses the colonialist values at the foundation of Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot Atlas and contemporary robotics, generally, through an analysis of its dance video ‘Do You Love Me?’. This paper focuses on the concepts of ‘extractivism’ and ‘recognition’ to reveal how colonialist logic guides the human-robot relationship. I argue that Atlas is a new, posthuman colonial subject that has emerged in contemporary society and that, despite not having a sense of self and thus dodging ethical criticisms, robots such as Atlas display the succession and replication of colonial logic and practices. In other words, the desire for a colonial utopia—where we humans construct and rule the world based on the oppression and extraction of less-than-human others—haunts the robot that dances for your love. This paper thus problematizes the prevalence of colonialism in robotics and calls for reflection on the development of today’s robotics deeper than the symptoms of racism, sexism, and capitalism. Furthermore, I demonstrate how extraction as a dispossessing, dehumanizing force, and recognition as framing of false identity are two major mechanisms of colonialism that work closely together. Through the two tactics, colonialism not only serves capitalism but also deceptively obscures its existence.

Historical Meaning and the Care of the Soul: Ethical Reflections on the War in Ukraine with Edith Stein and Jan Patočka

ABSTRACT Amidst the human tragedy represented by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ideological and historical justifications for the conflict as they have been framed by Russian president Vladimir Putin themselves call for a philosophical response and ethical critique. Putin’s political theological justification for the war, grounded in the commonalities of language, historical affinity, and ecclesial unity, which he posits constitute Ukraine and Russia as one people and justifies the imposition of Russian imperial authority over the Ukrainian state, is philosophically problematic and ultimately totalitarian. In contrast, the phenomenological philosophies of Edith Stein and Jan Patočka, whose political philosophies were shaped in spiritual resistance to similar ethnic and ideologically driven imperialisms of the twentieth century, offer resources for understanding and critiquing the world-historical interpretations of the meaning of civilization, peoplehood, and national destiny which drive Putin’s foreign policy, and which have important ethical and political implications far beyond the Ukraine/Russia conflict.

Beneficial effects of communicating intentions when delivering moral criticism: Cognitive and neural responses

People often do not accept criticism on their morality, especially when delivered by outgroup members. In two preregistered studies, we investigated whether people become more receptive to such negative feedback when feedback senders communicate their intention to help. Participants received negative feedback from ostensible others on their selfish (rather than altruistic) decisions in a donation task. We manipulated the identity of a feedback sender (ingroup vs. outgroup) and the intention that they provided for giving feedback. A sender either did not communicate any intentions, indicated the intention to help the feedback receiver improve, or communicated the intention to show moral superiority. We measured participants’ self-reported responses to the feedback (Study 1, N = 44) and additionally recorded an EEG in Study 2 (N = 34). Results showed that when no intentions were communicated, participants assumed worse intentions from outgroup senders than ingroup senders (Study 1). However, group membership had no significant effect once feedback senders made their intentions explicit. Moreover, across studies, when feedback senders communicated their intention to help, participants perceived feedback as less unfair compared with when senders tried to convey their moral superiority. Complementing these results, exploratory event-related potential results of Study 2 suggested that communicating the intention to help reduced participants’ attentional vigilance toward negative feedback messages on their morality (i.e., decreased P200 amplitudes). These results demonstrate the beneficial effects of communicating the intention to help when one tries to encourage others’ moral growth through criticism.