Moral Beliefs Research Articles

Recalibrating evolutionary debunking

AbstractEvolutionary debunking arguments purport to show that, if moral realism is true, all of our moral beliefs are unjustified. In this paper, I respond to two of the most enduring objections that have been raised against these arguments. The first objection claims that evolutionary debunking arguments are self‐undermining, because they cannot be formulated without invoking epistemic principles, and epistemic principles are just as vulnerable to debunking as our moral beliefs. I argue that this objection suffers from several defects, the most serious of which is that it has the unpalatable consequence that we should never revise our moral beliefs in response to evidence that our capacity for normative cognition is globally impaired. The second objection, which comes to us from Katia Vavova, claims that evolutionary debunking arguments are doomed to fail, because they attempt to show that our moral beliefs are unreliable without making any assumptions about the nature of morality, and this is impossible. I argue, to the contrary, that the etiological higher‐order evidence cited by debunking arguments can give us good reason to think that our moral beliefs are unreliable, even if we make no assumptions about what morality is like.

Acceptance and the ethics of belief

Acceptance and the ethics of belief

Strengthening Character Education Based on Online Learning for University Students Pasca Covid-19

This study aimed to strengthen character education based on online learning for university students pasca covid-19. This study applied the qualitative research. This study was carried out at Universitas Bosowa students and lecturers. Results of study showed that character education is implemented pasca Covid-19 epidemic utilizing a distance learning approach (online), which was internet-based. The incorporation of character education based on online learning has an impact on attributes like religiosity, honesty, tolerance, discipline, hard work, creativity, independence, democracy, curiosity, national spirit, peace-loving, social obligation, and responsibility. Character education based on online learning can have an impact on how children develop their moral beliefs, integrity, critical thinking, independence, participation in other activities, and responsibility. It can be concluded that a distant learning method (online) was used to implement character education under the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although there are some technical issues with using this system, and overall it can be used successfully.

Is Shame Morally Relevant to Ecological Ethics?

In recent years, we have seen a resurgence of the topic of shame in philosophy and moral philosophy. The paper analyses shame as a moral emotion in contemporary moral-philosophical and environmental discourse. Questions are articulated, in which different contexts shame has already been studied and which of them appear to be crucial for ethics and applied ethics? In the article, the author addresses the concept of environmental shame by Sarah E. Fredericks (2021) and considers the questions: is/can shame be ethically relevant for the cultivation of our attitudes in relation to the environment? Is Shame morally relevant to Ecological Ethics? Can the experience of shame affect our moral judgement, decision-making and action regarding the man-nature relationship? Despite the differences in the understanding of shame as a self-conscious emotion or as a social emotion, in the paper the author argues that environmental shame can have an important preventive function as well as a transformative power for the cultivation of our moral beliefs and attitudes.

Social and moral psychology of COVID-19 across 69 countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all domains of human life, including the economic and social fabric of societies. One of the central strategies for managing public health throughout the pandemic has been through persuasive messaging and collective behaviour change. To help scholars better understand the social and moral psychology behind public health behaviour, we present a dataset comprising of 51,404 individuals from 69 countries. This dataset was collected for the International Collaboration on Social & Moral Psychology of COVID-19 project (ICSMP COVID-19). This social science survey invited participants around the world to complete a series of moral and psychological measures and public health attitudes about COVID-19 during an early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (between April and June 2020). The survey included seven broad categories of questions: COVID-19 beliefs and compliance behaviours; identity and social attitudes; ideology; health and well-being; moral beliefs and motivation; personality traits; and demographic variables. We report both raw and cleaned data, along with all survey materials, data visualisations, and psychometric evaluations of key variables.

Peran Solidaritas Pada Pada Masyarakat Multikultural Dalam Proses Perdagangan di Wilayah Gunung Pangilun Kota Padang

Social solidarity shows a sense of solidarity that pays attention to a situation in individual or group relationships based on shared moral feelings and beliefs. The purpose of this study was to analyze the role of solidarity in a multicultural society for street vendors in the Gunung Pangilun area, Padang city. This study uses a qualitative approach by observing objects. The method of data collection was observation and interviews with several street vendors in the Gunung Pangilun area. The results of this stidy indicate that the solidarity of street vendors on Gunung Pangilun can be seen when they interact, they still maintain friendships even though they are both competing in selling their wares. The way they help each other in selling, such as exchanging money to return buyers’ money and having mutual trust in one another.

Moral distress in midwifery practice: A Delphi study

BackgroundMoral distress is a psychological concept that describes the harm associated with actions or inactions that oppose an individuals’ moral beliefs. Moral distress is linked to moral compromise in the workplace that may negatively impact mental wellbeing. Current tools available to assess moral distress are not specific for the Australian health care system or midwifery practice. AimThe aim of this study was to develop a list of situational and outcome statements associated with moral compromise and levels of moral distress in midwifery to inform the development of a tool to measure levels of moral distress in midwives. MethodsThis e-Delphi study was the third stage of a sequential exploratory mixed-methods study. Using an online strategy, three iterative rounds of e-Delphi were collected and analysed for consensus on situations leading to moral distress and the associated psychological outcomes. FindingsTwenty participants contributed across the three rounds. Consensus was met in 40 morally compromising situation statements. The highest level of consensus related to excessive workloads and the associated negative impact of this on women and families. Consensus on outcomes following exposure to morally distressing situations led to the development of a continuum scale from moral frustration to moral injury. Discussion/conclusionThis is the first study to use a consensus method to establish different levels of moral compromise, frustration, distress, and injury in midwifery practice. The findings of this study contribute to a growing body of literature that supports the concept of moral distress occurring across a continuum.

ETHICS AND INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR

The author stresses the importance of the fact that people who intend to work for different companies have to be aware of the company value system which they have comply with. Unfortunately, some of these values may not be congruent with the employee’s personal moral beliefs and ethics and this fact can create real problems to companies. The article discusses some of the factors that might influence individual behaviour in an organization and suggests that a way of avoiding these kinds of problems is to provide adequate training in applied ethics for both employers and employees.

Do Moral Beliefs Motivate Action?

Do moral beliefs motivate action? To answer this question, extant arguments have considered hypothetical cases of association (dissociation) between agents' moral beliefs and actions. In this paper, I argue that this approach can be improved by studying people's actual moral beliefs and actions using empirical research methods. I present three new studies showing that, when the stakes are high, associations between participants' moral beliefs and actions are actually explained by co-occurring but independent moral emotions. These findings suggest that moral beliefs themselves have little or no motivational force, supporting the Humean picture of moral motivation.

Remembering Herbert Gutman's Work, Culture, and Society Fifty Years On

Remembering Herbert Gutman's <i>Work, Culture, and Society</i> Fifty Years On

The ongoing conservative turn in the American Catholic priesthood

Surveys of Catholic priests in the United States dating back to the 1980s have shown that newer priests—and the priesthood in the aggregate—are becoming more conservative on moral, ecclesial, political, and theological issues. The present study examined whether this long-observed conservative shift has continued up to the present day using data from two surveys of Catholic priests: a 2002 Los Angeles Times survey of priests and the 2020–2021 Survey of American Catholic Priests, which largely replicated the former. Comparisons of means across surveys and analyses based on decade of ordination both revealed that Catholic priests in the United States are increasingly conservative on issues of moral belief, attitudes concerning who should and should not qualify for ordination, as well as politics and theology. Regression models demonstrated that having been ordained more recently was consistently associated with holding more conservative beliefs, net of other factors. More religiously observant priests, captured by frequency of praying the Divine Office, were more likely to be conservative on every question asked. The major exception to the conservative shift are priests self-reporting as entirely homosexual, who tend to be more liberal than heterosexual priests on a range of topics.

PATENTABILITY OF HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS IN INDIA

The hESC research with recent developments has become one of the most desirable research fields for the scientist. The reason behind such an approach is basically the great potential to treat and cure the human race of very incurable diseases. Countries around the world have amended their policies with regards to stem cells in such a way as to enhance the advantage as the stem cell market is a trillion-dollar market. The research procedure involving patentable invention is time-consuming and requires many expenses, so the investor is always keener to know if they will get any monetary benefit. Though the medical field promises about importance of stem cell and biotechnological research, there are concerns in some countries, such as India, about potential policy implications that would affect the patenting innovations in this industry. As India lacks a coherent legislative policy regarding stem cell patenting, it is creating more confusion for research in stem cell research. Often, researchers do not want to be involved in the said research because India lacks any specific laws in said fields apart from so-called guidelines provided in 2017 with an amendment to Drug and Cosmetic Act in 2019. Patent laws play a vital role in industrial advancement, thus helping a country's economy. To enter the race of development, countries worldwide have developed their patent laws so that they achieve maximum benefits out of it. In India, with patent laws, moral, cultural and religious beliefs also play a vital role in granting a patent, specifically in the Human Embryonic Stem Cell patent. The Article discusses topics that a researcher must be familiar with when discussing patentability issues. A few of these topics include the morality debate, stem cell and biotechnological research, and Stem cell research's patentability. Additionally, this Article identifies the discrepancies between the laws governing stem cell research within India.

Moral knowledge and the existence of god

In this essay, I argue that, all else being equal, theism is more probable than naturalism on the assumption that human beings are able to arrive at a body of moral knowledge that is largely accurate and complete. I put forth this thesis on grounds that, if naturalism is true, the explanation of the content of our moral intuitions terminates either in biological-evolutionary processes or in social conventions adopted for pragmatic reasons; that, if this is so, our moral intuitions were selected for their utility, not their truth; and that, if our moral intuitions were so selected, they are probably false. I defend the argument against three objections: first, that the argument amounts to a generic skeptical challenge; second, that ethical naturalism explains how our moral intuitions could have been selected for their truth; and third, that there is a pre-established harmony between the utility of moral beliefs and their truth-values.

Moral Distress in Oncology: A Descriptive Study of Healthcare Professionals.

The oncology setting is characterized by various complexities, and healthcare professionals may experience stressful conditions associated with ethical decisions during daily clinical practice. Moral distress (MD) is a condition of distress that is generated when an individual would like to take action in line with their ethical beliefs but in conflict with the healthcare facility's customs and/or organization. This study aims to describe the MD of oncology health professionals in different care settings. Descriptive quantitative study was conducted in the Operating Units of the Istituti Fisioterapici Ospitalieri in Rome between January and March 2022. The investigated sample consisted of the medical and nursing staff on duty at the facility, who were given a questionnaire through a web survey. Besides a brief sociodemographic form, the MD Scale-Revised questionnaire was used for data collection. The sample consisted of nurses (51%) and physicians (49%), predominantly working in surgeries (48%), and having 20-30 years of service (30%). MD was higher among healthcare professionals, in medicine than that ing in corporate organizations, surgeries, or outpatient clinics (p = 0.007). It was not related to the profession (p = 0.163), gender (p = 0.103), or years of service (p = 0.610). This paper outlines the prevalence of MD in care settings and describes its relationship with profession, gender, and seniority. There is no patient care without the care of health professionals: knowing and fighting MD improves the safety of the treatments provided and the quality perceived by patients.

Анализ зарубежных подходов к изучению правового сознания

The duration of the process of formation of legal values and legal behavior of an individual emphasizes the importance of taking into account attitudes mediated by national traditions, religious ideas, value-semantic orientations in the study of the level of legal consciousness. In our opinion, also for a comprehensive study of the individual legal consciousness of the individual, and in general, in the analytical assessment of the study of the category of legal consciousness, it is worth considering not only the dynamics of professional self-determination, but also belonging to the profession, including adherence to all those moral and ethical beliefs and principles associated with her. Such a multidimensional, complementary approach will allow taking into account the professional features of legal awareness, can contribute to a more complete picture of the understanding of the mechanisms of reflection of legal reality, applicable both to the sphere of one professional community and society. The advantage of the article is the disclosure of the main key points of development of the study of legal consciousness of foreign researchers.

Morally injurious events among aid workers: examining the indirect effect of negative cognitions and self-care in associations with mental health indicators.

Potentially morally injurious events (PMIE) are events that violate one's deeply held moral values or beliefs, and that have the potential to create significant inner conflict and psychological distress. PMIE have been recognized as an important psychological risk factor in many high-risk occupational groups. However, no study to date has investigated how PMIE relate to the mental health of aid workers. Furthermore, little is known about the mechanisms by which PMIE might be associated with mental health indicators. Participants were 243 aid workers (72% female; M age = 39.31) who had completed at least one aid assignment (M = 8.17). They completed an online questionnaire about their PMIE, trauma history, and mental health. A structural equation model was constructed to examine the roles of negative cognitions and subsequent self-care behaviors in the relationship between PMIE and PTSD symptoms, depression symptoms, and posttraumatic growth, above and beyond the contribution of potentially traumatic events. Within the model, the indirect effect through negative cognitions fully accounted for the associations between PMIE and symptoms of PTSD and depression. For the association between PMIE and posttraumatic growth, two indirect effects emerged: the first through negative cognitions and subsequent self-care and, the second, through self-care alone. This study highlighted PMIE as a novel psychological risk factor for aid workers and pointed to two possible mechanisms by which these events may lead to PTSD, depression, and posttraumatic growth. This study adds to the current understanding of how high-risk occupational groups adapt psychologically to PMIE.

Household food waste in domestic gatherings – the negotiation between social and moral duties

PurposeThe paper investigates household food waste at domestic gatherings. It explains how surplus food and food waste are generated, managed and disposed of at gatherings hosted in homes. It reveals how hosts negotiate their social duties to be generous and moral duties to avoid food waste.Design/methodology/approachTwenty-eight in-depth interviews were conducted with female, Saudi citizens and analyzed thematically using Braun and Clarke's approach. Goffman's theoretical concepts were deployed later in the analysis process to expose the complex nature of hospitality practices.FindingsIt reveals two main insights. First, the hosts' social duties involve staging the dinner table in line with hospitality norms. Such a staging almost always results in large amounts of surplus, but is necessary to manage guests' impressions and avoid criticism. Second, the enactment of moral and religious beliefs helps to divert surplus food away from waste toward charitable giving and, thence, to other forms of consumption. The findings reveal the social and moral purposes that surplus food serves; it enables people to be generous and charitable.Practical implicationsSuch insights provide guidance to practitioners by revealing how providing mechanisms for people to enact their existing moral beliefs can keep surplus food away from the waste stream.Originality/valueIt contributes to the limited food waste literature on domestic gatherings and moral and religious beliefs. Also, using Goffman's concepts adds depth to such an under-theorized area and a new lens to look at food waste-related practices as they are embedded within social interactions.

Investigating consumer ethical beliefs: role of moral philosophies and personality traits

PurposeThis research looks at the main effect of individuals’ moral philosophies, idealism and relativism, and its impact on the four dimensions of the consumer ethics beliefs – active benefit, passive benefit, no harm and doing good. The moderating impact of two dominant personalities – Machiavellianism and narcissism – was also analyzed. Based on Hunt–Vitell theory of ethics, this study aims to propose that there is a positive and significant impact of more relativistic and less idealistic moral philosophies on the decreased consumer ethical perceptions and that the narcissistic/Machiavellian personality traits drive that effect.Design/methodology/approachA total of 497 survey respondents were recruited via an online platform. All respondents were asked to answer questions, which were divided into four major parts. The first part consisted of scales related to both moral philosophies, the second part had both dark personality scales, the third part questioned about their consumer ethical beliefs and the final part was related to consumer demographics.FindingsRelativists had higher scores in three consumer unethical belief dimensions. Idealists were not supportive of the active and passive illegal activities, as did their positive relation with doing good aspect of the ethical beliefs. Machiavellians strengthen the positive relativism relationship. The idealistic relation of narcissists, compared to relativistic relation, is stronger on unethical decision-making for consumers.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the current knowledge of individual’s moral philosophies and their impact on consumer ethical beliefs. It further demonstrates how the dark personalities of narcissism and Machiavellianism drive the relationship.

Study on the Factors Affecting the Effect of Practical Teaching of Chinese Moral Court

With the development of society, the role of moral and legal education in primary and secondary schools is becoming more and more important. Primary and secondary school stage is an important stage for students to grow up and learn. During this period, their own ideas and cognitive concepts have not yet been fully formed. Therefore, strengthening their moral and legal education is conducive to helping students develop their interest in learning, stimulating their enthusiasm, and shaping their moral concepts and beliefs. In order to lay a good foundation for the future growth of students, the following is a brief analysis of the classroom teaching of morality and rule of law in primary schools.

The Will to Nothingness: An Essay on Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morality

<i>The Will to Nothingness: An Essay on Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morality</i>