Modern Ethics Research Articles

Проблема происхождения моральных норм: социально-вычислительный и процессуальный подходы

The article compares two approaches to the problem of the origin of moral norms – computational and processual. The first one is critically analyzed by the example of I.F. Mikhailov’s computational interpretation of morality and corre­sponding analysis of the origin of moral norms. The second one is demonstrated by analyzing the stages of the formation of the Golden Rule by the means of a method of rudimentary normative content conceptual explication. The au­thor argues that any nomogenetic consideration in ethics, assumes a certain con­cept of morality, its nature, and the content of the norms under study as its methodological basis. This is often overlooked in particular scientific studies of morality, with the result that moral scientists are unwittingly constrained by mundane or “folk” ideas of morality and are unable to trace the specificity of moral phenomena in comparison to phenomena that are similar in generic characteristics but different in specific (for example, the peculiarity of moral norms compared with legal, administrative, or norms of courtesy and public de­cency). The normative structure of modern morality is heterogeneous: along with the norms formed spontaneously, in the process of long-term cultural and histori­cal development, there are norms formulated projectively for the needs relevant to particular practices (such are the norms of professional, corporate, organiza­tional ethics), hence the processes of formation of natural and artificial norms are fundamentally different, which one should take into account when approaching to theoretical reconstruction of nomogenesis in morality.

The Modern Moral Order

The Modern Moral Order

Contemporary Business Practices of the Ru (Confucian) Ethic of “Three Guides and Five Constant Virtues (三綱五常)” in Asia and Beyond

What can remain unchanged while the Ru tradition (Confucianism) is continually passed down generationally and passed on geographically to non-Chinese Asian countries and beyond? Does the answer to this question hinted by the tradition itself, viz., the ethic of Three Guides and Five Constant Virtues, still work in contemporary society? As intrigued by these fundamental questions on Ruism, scholars have debated on the nature of the ethic and its adaptability to the contemporary world. One side of scholars condemned it as an outdated, premodern ethic of power which urges unconditional obedience to hierarchy, while another side championed it as a modern ethic which aims to strengthen the autonomy of each individual in reciprocal relationships. While presenting two cases of Ru business practice, viz., Shibusawa Eiichi in Meiji Japan and Peter Drucker in the contemporary U.S., the article treats the controversial ethic as a hypothesis, and assesses it using an empirical method to reinforce views of scholars who have furnished a favorable interpretation of the ethic.

Rethinking informed consent in the age of behavioural sciences and relational autonomy

• Many cognitive biases influence medical decision making in patients and clinicians. • Cognitive biases and relational autonomy challenge today's informed consent . • Informed consent must be adapted to strengthen patients’ autonomous decision making. Informed consent is one of the cornerstones of modern medicine, clinical ethics, and biomedical research. However, emerging evidence in behavioural sciences and relational accounts of autonomy in clinical ethics have highlighted biases and constructs that may challenge informed consent. In this paper, we examine these findings and explore ways forward to ensure the integrity of informed medical decision making. Cognitive biases affecting patients and clinicians were reviewed in relation to their influence on the cognitive abilities traditionally considered fundamental to informed decision making required for consent: understanding, appreciation and reasoning. The way these findings resonate with criticisms advanced by proponents of relational autonomy was explored. For patients and clinicians alike, perceiving risks, interpreting probabilities and projecting oneself into the future are influenced by many biases, including loss aversion, underweighting of small probabilities and optimistic bias. These biases directly impact informed decision making by affecting the cognitive processes of understanding, appreciation, and reasoning. In clinical ethics, growing interest in relational accounts of autonomy have highlighted how people are socially embedded, and how patients’ identities and preferences are forged through important social and relational influences. In all, evidence from the behavioural sciences offers support for relational accounts of autonomy and ways forward to improve current practices of informed consent. Integrating the empirical evidence from behavioural sciences and theoretical elements of relational autonomy compels us to adapt current practices of informed consent. To ensure the integrity of informed medical decision making, the process must further consider the inherent contextual and relational elements that shape how persons consider risks and make decisions.

What is morality?

In “Modern Moral Philosophy,” Anscombe argued that the moral vocabulary does not correspond to any concept in Aristotelian ethics, that it derives from a confused response to the ethics of divine command, and that it is literally meaningless. This essay contends that Anscombe was wrong. Morality corresponds to Aristotle’s general sense of “justice,” which is complete virtue in relation to others. But Anscombe’s question remains: what is it for an action to be morally wrong, not merely something one should not do? The answer is not that wrongness warrants blame or that an action is wrong when it wrongs another person, but that an action is morally wrong when it is something one should not do that one has no right to do. In the absence of rights, Anscombe’s question has no answer.

Xunzi’s Ritual Model and Modern Moral Education

While the early Confucians were largely content to maintain the rituals of ancient kings as the core of moral education in their time, it is not obvious that contemporary humans could, or should, draw from the particulars of such a tradition. Indeed, even if one takes ritual seriously as a tool for cultivation, there remains a question of how to design moral education programs incorporating ritual. This essay examines impediments faced by a ritualized approach to moral education, how they might be overcome, and how a ritual method could be developed in modernity. I contend that a Confucian notion of ritual, particularly as elaborated in the Xunzi, is both compatible with modern moral education and capable of making a distinct contribution to moral education in terms of how rituals can be used to structure and inculcate a shared climate of respect and humaneness both in- and outside the classroom. Specifically, the ritual education method includes emphases on inculcating moral fluency via symbolic practices and distinctions, training and appropriately associating promoral dispositions, enhancing moral imagination, and developing awareness of other minds. The model is thus a multifaceted approach to moral education through (meta)cognitive development.

Me, You, Us: Essays by George Sher

Reviewed by: Me, You, Us: Essays by George Sher Brendan Sweetman SHER, George. Me, You, Us: Essays. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. viii + 202 pp. Cloth. $82.00 This book brings together the author’s writings concerning topics in metaethics, moral psychology, the nature of the self, and related issues connected to economic inequality, punishment, autonomy, and dominance. Eight of the essays have been previously published and are here supplemented with an additional four, all revolving around central moral issues considered both from the point of view of the individual person and in terms of society (hence, the odd title!). Sher’s starting point is the subjective nature of the individual who exists in a social world of other individuals, each with their own center of subjectivity. The author tells us that he is going against the dominant outlook today in analytic philosophy, which is to conceptualize normative issues in ethics and political and social thinking in terms of collectivities, relationships, and social meanings rather than from the perspective of the interests of individual persons. This dominant trend also emphasizes ideas current in analytic philosophy: autonomy and the attempt to place nondomination at the center of political thought, reflecting an increasing desire to approach many moral issues by means of social and political considerations. These considerations gave rise to the field of social epistemology. In opposition to these trends, Sher argues that humans are in fact primarily isolated creatures, and he suggests that the fundamental moral units are individual centers of embodied subjectivity. Morality must start from here, and it follows, according to Sher, that our good cannot be relational—that an isolated subject cannot be an essentially political or [End Page 638] social animal. Of course it does not follow that social goods such as love, friendship, social justice, and other relational interests are of no value, but only that they get their value from some fact about individual centers of consciousness. Several of the early essays address the question of how much weight we should attach to our own interests when they (inevitably) conflict with those of others. More specifically, how might we justify taking others’ interests into account, while still according more weight to our own interests, an initial concern that naturally arises out of Sher’s general approach. This raises a further key question: Why do we think that all people have equal moral standing? Sher acknowledges the difficulty of justifying the value of equality in recent analytic philosophy (especially, we should add, given its reductionist and nihilist trends, which accord a defining role for physicalism and chance in explaining what comes to exist). He argues that it is the fact that each of us has a complete center of consciousness or subjectivity that is not a matter of degree nor discoverable by empirical observation that is the basis for our justification of moral equality. This argument is preferable, he believes, to the more common view that it is some feature or property that human beings all have to an equal degree (such as rationality) that can become the basis for equality. We should note that this latter view has run into all sorts of difficulties in modern ethics and is the reason analytic philosophers have struggled with trying to place any limits to their defenses of practices such as physician-assisted suicide and abortion, and with regard to the moral status of animals. Nevertheless, it is not clear that Sher’s view is robust enough to help us here and is perhaps yet another reminder that a purely naturalistic view inevitably struggles with the question of how to justify human equality (rather than simply assuming it as a foundational moral truth). Other essays turn to the popular view that what is wrong with inequalities in society is not that the poor have limited options or are forced to live miserable, constricted lives but that their lack of economic power and social status prevents them from interacting with others on equal terms. Sher argues that none of the potentially relevant normative considerations (that is, the badness of being dominated, the requirement that our political arrangements be justifiable to all who live under them) can justify...

Modern Assisted Reproductive Technologies and Bioethics in the Islamic Context

ABSTRACT During the last few decades, infertility has been discussed as a socio-cultural and medical dilemma. Infertile couples attempt to overcome this problem, including using assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). Similar to other groups, Muslims struggle with various aspects of infertility and its treatments, trying to reconcile the use of ARTs with the regulations in respect of the socio-cultural, legal, ethical, economic, and political factors of their community. Religion usually plays a significant role in the governance of medically assisted reproduction. This paper describes the Islamic intellectuals' permissive and restrictive opinions on modern ARTs and ethics in the Islamic context.

Компьютерная этика и киберэтика в судебно-экспертной деятельности

The article deals with ethical issues related to the process of informatization of forensic expert activity. In recent years in connection with the development of computer technology scientists and philosophers began to talk about new directions in the teaching of morality. Computer ethical and cyber-ethical topics are especially relevant both for forensic science and for forensic expertology, since these areas of science and practice are closely related to the use of information technology. The author analyzes the connection of modern teachings on morality with the methodology of forensic expert activity and the competence of an expert. Also through the prism of cyberethics and computer ethics, the article highlights the problems of expert responsibility, information assessment and Internet security. It is concluded that it is necessary to introduce the provisions of modern computer ethics into the structure of the ethics of a forensic expert.

Lutherische Ethik der ‘Geselligkeit’

Abstract Though sociability was not a guiding principle of early modern Lutheran ethics, it was not simply rejected by theologians in an indiscriminate manner. The following article outlines basic tenets of the 17th century Lutheran discussion of sociability in the framework of the adiaphora doctrine. The evaluation of phenomena like dance and theatre were strongly influenced by ‘confessional competition’. In demarcation to both ‘Calvinism’ and ‘Pietism’, Lutheran theologians stressed the positive function of dance and theatre, but also of gambling, for conviviality. Thus, in addition to the demand for the regulation of sociability by the government and the Church, the insight of an inherent rationale of early modern sociability gradually emerged.

Leadership and Character(s): Behavioral Business Ethics in ‘War and Peace’

Leo Tolstoy was on to behavioral ethics before there was such as a thing as behavioral ethics. Three scenes from his magnum opus, War and Peace, demonstrate that Tolstoy diagnosed some of the same problems that occupy modern behavioral ethics: confirmation bias, slippery-slope reasoning, and illusions of control. However, whereas modern behavioral ethics has done more to diagnose problems than to prescribe solutions, Tolstoy’s theories of moral psychology and leadership provide direction for human moral self-cultivation. This analysis of War and Peace also suggests that literary fiction can depict worlds at least as fertile as the real world for studying business ethics. Building upon this example, in an age and field which seems too often to prioritize scientific wisdom over that of the humanities, I speculate about how literary fiction can expand our research into more diverse actors and worlds of modern capitalism.

Authoritarianism and anonymity

The Scandal in Academia [32] [33] [34] [35] is an extended fictional case-study intended for use as a teaching and discussion aid for educational practitioners looking to introduce elements of computer ethics into their curricula. Inspired by Epstein [17] [18] it is a full-cycle scenario involving many individuals which touches upon the complexity and interrelations of modern computer ethics. It has been trailed and evaluated as a teaching tool by the authors [36] and with multiple groups since then. However its utility as a general resource is limited without the academic context that supports deeper investigation of the material. It is to address this issue that the authors offer this commentary on the Scandal, with a focus on the ninth and tenth newspaper items presented within. Specifically these are Culture of Fear and Nepotism at University and Witch-Hunts at the University - IT Crackdown Causes Criticisms.

The Development Model for School Administrators the office of the Basic Education Commission in Thailand 4.0

This research aimed to 1) to study the elements of the development model for school administrators of the Office of the Basic Education Commission in Thailand 4.0 2) to develop the model of the school administrators of the Office of the Basic Education Commission in Thailand. Land 4.0 and 3) assess the appropriateness of the development of the model for the administrators of the Office of the Basic Education Commission in Thailand 4.0 using a combined approach. There are 4 steps of research: 1) study documents and related research. With the administration of educational institutions of the Office of the Basic Education Commission in Thailand 4.02) Develop a model for administrators of school administrators of the Office of the Basic Education Commission in Thailand 4.0 with Delphi techniques from management experts to excellence 19 persons 3) analyzed the elements of the development pattern of the administrators of the Office of the Basic Education Commission in Thailand 4.0 by analyzing the elements; The statistics used for data analysis were percentage, range, quartile, mean, standard deviation and elemental analysis.
 Research findings
 1.The study of the administrators of the Office of the Basic Education Commission in Thailand 4.0 found that it consisted of 5 important components: Characteristics of self-development of modern leadership, modern management development skills, roles, duties, morality, ethics and competencies of school administrators of the Office of the Basic Education Commission in Thailand 4.0 2.Development of the model for school administrators of the Office of the Basic Education Commission in Thailand 4.0 found that there are 5 main components: leadership, vision, morality, ethics, knowledge, competence and information and technology. 3. The level of suitability of the development of the model for the school administrators of the Office of the Basic Education Commission in Thailand 4.0 overall and the aspects are very good.

Methodologies to attain Graduate Attributes at Class Level

Traditional teaching methodologies cover only 4 Graduate Attributes (GAs). These are GA1, GA2, GA3 and GA4. Remaining 8 Graduate Attributes will be accomplished with the new methods. In this work, activities based on active, cooperative, inductive, project, and emotional based learning methodologies are proposed. Proposed activities are designed by considering cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains of the blooms taxonomy. These activities are implemented at class level. In detail procedure to implement these methodologies in each course is presented. Hence, each course is mapped with more number Graduate Attributes. These methodologies include activities like the interactive sessions, group based assignments, case based assignments, and mini project in every course. Graduate Attributes like modern tool usage, individual/team work, communication, ethics, project management, and lifelong learning are better mapped with these new methodologies. Further, evaluation methods also proposed in this work. Experiments are performed on two classes of 60 students each. One class is taught by traditional teaching methods. Second class is taught by the proposed methodologies at course level. Performance of students in higher order thinking and lower order thinking is also assessed. Experimental results indicate that higher order thinking among students is improved. Hence, critical thinking is improved. Further, each course is mapped to 12 Graduate Attributes. Hence, possibility of attaining more Graduate Attributes is improved. Practice of proposed methodologies at class level improves the student�s attendance.

The three pillars of applied farm animal welfare

There is an evident difference in the implementation level of animal welfare (AW) across the societies and countries worldwide. Although multiple factors contribute to these differences, we can summarize them into a three pillar concept, the three aspects of applied farm AW. The objective of this review is to analyse applied AW on farms from the ethical, economic and animal health aspects. Modern ethics emphasizes biocentrism against anthropocentrism, the modern ethical concept of bioethics. Additionally, beside the differences among the major ethical concepts, there is a consensus that AW deserves a respectful place. An animal?s economic value is not only limited by its material value determined by the inputs and outputs. Thus, rather than being simply considered as a ?stock-good? machine, animals are valued as a sentient beings with ?added value?, which has an impact on the final product price. Animal health and welfare are interconnected and are based on the impact of AW on health and vice versa. The implementation of higher welfare standards to farm animals is only possible if AW is accepted as part of the health of the animal. The applicability of this concept is presented through the European Union AW legislation, which is based on public opinion, economy and animal health. As a conclusion, applied AW is possible only at the level at which the three pillars are equally balanced, and the initiatives in this field should work and be focused on ethics, economics and health.

Ethics and humanities education in the era of global processes

The article shows the importance of teaching ethics for the development of humanitarian education, as well as reveals the problematic issues of contemporary ethical knowledge. The authors consider the issue of the influence of digital technologies on remote communication of people, analyzing in this regard the network communications. It is shown that they correspond to morality, in which the communication of people is supposed to be unlimited by formal institutions, and is characterized by a broad discourse. The used methodology is based on the ethics of discourse, works on virtue ethics, modern brain research, neurophilosophy, and evolutionary ethics. Besides, the authors show the importance of virtue ethics and demonstrate that neurophilosophy and evolutionary ethics are unable to explain the entire variety of human behavior, in particular, to explain why a person is able to set himself supertasks. The article analyzes the development specifics of global processes that often cause the transformation of moral behavior motives. The novelty of the research consists in demonstrating the combination of ethical (humanitarian) and natural science knowledge, which corresponds to the development stage of contemporary science, which is characterized as post-nonclassical.

Braucht die Moralphilosophie den Begriff der Verpflichtung? Über Anscombes Kritik an der Moralphilosophie der Moderne

Abstract. In her much debated article Modern Moral Philosophy Elizabeth Anscombe is known to argue that we are best advised to abandon the concept of moral obligation from moral discourse. This paper offers a step by step analysis of her argument against the concept of moral obligation by considering all of her relevant writings in moral philosophy and action theory. In doing so, it discusses her critical account of morality which turns out to be based on a non-homogeneous theory of practical normativity that has fundamental roots in Modern Moral Philosophy. Finally, it appears that Anscombe’s arguments against central concepts of modern moral philosophy show inner inconsistencies and weaknesses that give also reason to criticize her general philosophical position.

Morality Development and Its Influence on Emotion, Attitudes, and Decision Making

While morality research spans over decades, few papers have explored the evolution of the field, and even fewer have sought to synthesize current research. This paper seeks to fill in these gaps. This review explores how the construct of morality relates to human social behavior. We examine the development of morality by considering evidence for biological and social influences. We review Western morality theories and research techniques and include the strengths and criticisms of modern morality research methods. We conclude the paper with consideration of the social, political, and environmental impacts on moral-based emotion and decision making.

Money's Mutation of the Modern Moral Mind: The Simmel Hypothesis and the Cultural Evolution of WEIRDness

Money's Mutation of the Modern Moral Mind: The Simmel Hypothesis and the Cultural Evolution of WEIRDness

Understanding Ethics and Compliance

This article provides a big-picture overview of the field of ethics and compliance, paying particular attention to the role and value of collaborating with human resources to achieving effective ethics and compliance programs. I hope this article will be useful to students of ethics and compliance, current and aspiring ethics and compliance practitioners, and professors who teach in the area. The article begins by exploring the historical milestones of ethics and compliance to establish the context and legal foundation of modern ethics and compliance practice. We go on to discuss the role of ethics and compliance teams in today’s companies, and the interplay of ethics and compliance, the general counsel’s office, and the human resources department. We then explore the critical function of the code of conduct in an effective ethics and compliance program, from which point we examine the importance of training and role modeling to achieving an ethical culture. We conclude by discussing internal investigations and whistleblowers. At every stop along the way, we look at the critical role of human resources and other key stakeholders in achieving effective ethics and compliance programs.