Moral Categories Research Articles

Designing the model of professional internal and extra-organizational ethics organization of heads and vice presidents of education districts in Tehran province

Background and purpose: One of the main concerns of efficient managers at different levels is how to create suitable platforms for working human factors to work with a sense of responsibility and full commitment to the issues of society and their profession and to observe the ethical principles governing their jobs and professions. Therefore, the current research aimed to design an extra-organizational professional ethics model for Tehran's deputy heads and vice presidents of education districts. Methodology: The research method was a qualitative combination using the grounded theory method and the structural equation model using a quantitative method. The research population consisted of vice presidents and presidents of education districts in Tehran, 30 people were selected in the qualitative section, and 130 people were selected in the quantitative section from vice presidents and presidents of 22 education districts in Tehran. The research tools were semi-structured interviews and researcher-made questionnaires to measure extra-organizational professional ethics. The data were collected in the qualitative part by the grounded theory method and then analyzed by the structural equation model test in Lisrel software. Results: The results of the exploratory analysis yielded the following factors. Three core categories of professional ethics, moral (normative) and moral knowledge; Four cases of causal conditions include: organizational strategies, training, management factors, and resources; Two cases of the phenomenon's contexts; two strategies of institutionalization and evaluation; Two intervening factors are structural factors and organizational procedures and regulations; And a consequence that is the development of individual and organizational professional ethics. Conclusion: The analysis of the relationship path between the variables showed that all the communication paths were significant, and only the path of unnecessary regulations on evaluation and organizational culture on evaluation was not significant. Finally, the tested model showed a good fit in terms of validity.

Прощение как встреча и как прощание: философско-антропологический анализ

Due to the way people, culture, value orientations of the current generation are changing, the moral and moral grounds for the formation of a socio-cultural background, the purpose of the study is to study the need to preserve traditional humanistic values in the information society era. At the same time, the main categories of ethics (following society) are undergoing global transformations. As a consequence, the result of the work is the assumption of the need to recognize the importance of traditional moral and moral pillars of personality development, in particular the importance of forgiveness as one of the markers of moral education of a person for the possible preservation of individual selfhood, since it is in the process of communication that a person is able to discover his true nature, or essence, thanks to the opportunity to make a moral choice between forgiveness or by unforgiveness, thus revealing oneself to the present for the other or in relation to the other.

Developing a conceptual framework for identifying the ethical repercussions of artificial intelligence: A mixed method analysis

Given that the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) ethics is novel, and many studies are emerging to uncover AI’s ethical challenges, the current study aims to analyse and visualise the research patterns and influential elements in this field. This paper analyses 1,646 Scopus-indexed publications using bibliometric analysis and cluster content analysis. To classify the most prominent elements and delineate the intellectual framework as well as the emerging patterns and gaps, we utilised keyword co-occurrence analysis and bibliographic coupling analysis and network visualisation of authors, countries, sources, documents and institutions. In particular, we detected nine major applications of AI in which ethics of AI is highly discussed, 24 ethical categories and 66 ethical concerns. Using the VOSviewer software, we also identified the general ethical concerns with the greatest total link strength regardless of their cluster associations. Then, focusing on the most recent articles (2020–21), we performed a cluster content analysis of the identified topic clusters and ethical concerns. This analysis guided us in detecting literature gaps and prospective topics and in developing a conceptual framework to illustrate a comprehensive image of ethical AI research trends. This study will assist policymakers, regulators, developers, engineers and researchers in better understanding AI’s ethical challenges and identifying the most pressing concerns that need to be tackled.

ТРАНСФОРМУЮЧІ ФАКТОРИ ЕКОНОМІЧНОГО РОЗВИТКУ

Goal. The purpose of the article is to highlight the factors of economic development that contribute to the transformation of social relations, including spiritual, ethical, mental. Method. To achieve this goal, the article used general scientific methods of formal logic, which allow to establish a connection between the categories of ethics, psyche, consciousness, instincts, mentality; analysis and synthesis for comparison. The method of dialectics is used in the work, in particular the method of scientific abstraction, which allows to identify the connection between the passion of society, the spiritual drivers of development with the energy aimed at the economy; methods of analysis and synthesis are used in the study of the human psyche and mentality as drivers of economic development of society; methods of historical and logical provide an opportunity to trace the emergence of the revolutionary foundations of economic transformation of society. Results. The study of the potential of socio-economic processes due to the passion of Ukrainian society, the peculiarities of its spiritual, ethical, mental qualities, today acquires special significance. The rise of social activity and innovation can to some extent solve the problem of conflict of interest, on the one hand, between the elite, bureaucracy and the population, which is mostly illegitimately enriched, on the other - between active socio-political masses. not only did not satisfy their interests, but also lost their social status. Scientific novelty. Based on the study of noneconomic factors of economic development, a conclusion was made about the relationship between social activity and the satisfaction of individual and social interests; shown that the revolutionary transformation of society carries on the one hand new aspects of economic development, and on the other destroys the morality of mankind, destroys the basis of its planned gradual evolutionary development Practical significance. The article presents the influence of transforming factors, namely mental, spiritual, mental, ethical on economic development in terms of human behavior

Pedagogical Conditions of Formation of Moral Feelings in Children of Senior Preschool and Primary School Age

The article objectifies the problem of formation of moral feelings in children of senior preschool and primary school age. The author's definition of the concept of moral feelings is offered “moral feelings of children of senior preschool and primary school age we consider to be emotional attitudes to the behavior of others and to their own, which reflect social morality, moral traditions, the real attitude of people to each other”. The main types of moral feelings that should be formed in children at the stage of senior preschool and primary school age are outlined. These include feelings of truth, trust, justice, empathy, kindness, commitment, dignity, friendship and camaraderie, fear, shame, guilt, conscience, altruism, responsibility, duty, success (failure), and civic feelings. Theoretical analysis of scientific and pedagogical literature showed that at the present stage of development of Ukrainian society scientists have paid insufficient attention to the development of theoretical and experimental model of moral feelings of preschoolers and primary school students, did not study the pedagogical conditions of their formation. The article highlights theoretical substantiation and development of pedagogical conditions for the formation of moral feelings in older preschool children. Here the researchers mean deepening and expanding children's knowledge and ideas about moral and ethical categories and their characteristics; emotional saturation of the content of tasks aimed at stimulating the manifestations of children's moral feelings in interaction with the social environment; acquisition by children of moral experience by involvement in various kinds of activity (game, educational-cognitive, pictorial, communicative, estimation-orientation, charitable, socially useful); maintaining a positive emotional state of each child; systematic diagnosis and correction of negative experiences. Various forms and methods were used for their implementation: reading and discussion of fiction and fairy tales, staging, puppet theatrical performances, fairy-tale game technologies and psychological technologies, ethical conversations, moral choice situations, building classes on the methodology of "philosophy for children", ethical training, various games, exercises, project and volunteer activities. Among the pedagogical conditions for the formation of moral feelings of junior students are identified: sufficient comprehension of moral knowledge, norms and rules of conduct by children of primary school age; development of the emotional sphere as a basis for the inclusion of students in educational and cognitive and diverse extracurricular activities, which is based on the principles of personality-oriented approach; gradual process of education of moral feelings of moral schoolchildren with systematic diagnosis and correction of negative experience. Their implementation is ensured by the propaedeutic course "Steps to Responsibility" and the club of extracurricular reading of children's works "Grammar of Morality".

Pesan Dakwah Gus Murobbi Binnur di Channel Youtube Persada TV PPSD


 
 The focus of the problem in this research is What are Gus Murobbi Binnur's Da'wah Messages on the Persada TV PPSD YouTube Channel March 2021 Edition which contains Aqidah, Sharia and Akhlaq. This study uses descriptive qualitative research methods. obtained through the results of observations, observations (observations), interviews (interviews) and documentation. As well as using content analysis techniques to analyze the data. The presentation of data from this study uses a content analysis format with the aim of describing, summarizing what is on the record of the Persada TV PPSD YouTube Channel. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that what is the message of Gus Murobbi Binnur's Da'wah on the Persada TV PPSD YouTube Channel March 2021 Edition. It can be concluded into three categories, namely the creed of the da'wah message conveyed by Gus Murobbi Binnur in the category of creed, more about the true nature of the case. is the destiny of Allah SWT, as well as explaining about all trials that come from Allah SWT. Da'wah messages in the moral category In the moral category, Gus Murobbi Binnur explains moral values to himself, to fellow humans and to God. When there is a dispute, do not blame each other, because we should not blame the High Priest. When a servant asks for worldly matters, he will not be rich, but on the contrary, he will be poor with many trials. Da'wah messages in the sharia category In this category, Gus Murobbi Binnur mostly gives da'wah messages in the form of suggestions to be more careful with the current media such as tiktok, which if used incorrectly will result in a jariyyah sin. Then he advised to stay away from video calls with the opposite sex who is not a mahrom, because it is like meeting face to face in Islam is prohibited, and he advised to stay away from such things.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Managing moral category implications of former drug addiction

This project examines how meanings of drug addiction are negotiated through analysis of situated social actions in a telephone conversation. This paper uses interactional analysis to show how a former heroin user’s identity is constructed and moralized in the process of providing accounts through descriptions of drug addiction and its consequences. This case shows how social actions in interpersonal conversation provide insights into judgment and addiction, and how participants manage the complex moral hierarchies associated with drug use and drug user identities. The analysis contributes to enriching an area of empirical research that needs more data and more attention to interaction, while also contributing to theories of categorization, normalization, stigma, and morality of drug addiction.

An Ideal President’s Personality: Understanding the Expectations of Russian Citizens

ABSTRACT Little is currently known about how voters arrive at their vision of an ideal president. Along with an ideal president’s traits, this study examines the domains Russian voters draw upon when formulating these expectations. 20 in-depth interviews allowed an initial list of qualities that fall into broad categories of leadership effectiveness, morality, qualifications, and sociability. The domains from which voters derive their expectations include comparative, contextual, functional sources, and leadership style domain. Furthermore, 450 interviews examined the commonness of personality expectations in a quantitative sample. The respondents were more likely to discuss specific leadership traits than social skills or qualifications.

Care ethics framework for midwifery practice: A scoping review.

Background: As a normative theory, care ethics has become widely theorized and accepted. However, there remains a lack of clarity in relation to its use in practice, and a care ethics framework for practice. Maternity care is fraught with ethical issues and care ethics may provide an avenue to enhance ethical sensitivity.Aim: The purpose of this scoping review is to determine how care ethics is used amongst health professions, and to collate the information in data charts to create a care ethics framework and definition for midwifery practice.Method: The scoping review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) and Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) recommendations. The search was applied to the databases CINAHL, MEDLINE, PschInfo and Pubmed which were searched in September 2019 and again in July 2021. The inclusion criteria were guided by the mnemonic for search terms: Participants, Concept, and Context (PCC) and included variations of health care professionals, care ethics and utilization. The search was limited to qualitative studies published in English between 2010 and 2021. A data extraction tool was used to extract and synthesize data into categories. The articles were screened for eligibility by title, abstract and full text review, by two independent reviewers.Ethical Considerations: The scoping review was guided by ethical conduct respecting authorship and referencing sources.Results: Twelve of the initially identified 129 studies were included in the scoping review. Data synthesis yielded four categories of care ethics use by health professionals: relationship, context, attention to power and caring practices. In combination, the evidence forms a framework for care ethics use in midwifery practice.Conclusion: Care ethics use by health professionals enhances ethical sensitivity. A framework and definition for care ethics for midwifery practice is proposed. This review will be of interest to midwives and other health practitioners seeking to enhance ethical sensitivity.

Trust as a moral category in operational investigative activities

The subject of the study is the psychological characteristics of the individual, their content and features. The object of the study is the interpersonal relationships that arise between an employee of an operational unit and a citizen in the process of establishing trust. The author examines in detail such aspects of the topic as the emergence and strengthening of neural connections, the peculiarities of the manifestation of a sense of trust and its importance for solving the tasks that face operational investigative activities. The importance of establishing trusting relationships in the process of obtaining the necessary information by the operative and the person of interest to him is noted. Particular attention is paid to the establishment and maintenance of psychological contact between an operative and an object of operational interest, as well as techniques for manipulating the interlocutor using neuro-linguistic programming techniques. The main conclusions of the study are: trust as a moral category is used by operational officers to solve the tasks of operational investigative activities; the foundation of sincere communication and mutual understanding of two personalities is a sense of trust; for the emergence of trusting relationships, it is of great importance to establish and maintain psychological contact in the process of communication between an operative and a citizen by modeling mutual interests and mutual understanding. In the course of establishing trust, neural connections arise. Neurolinguistic programming techniques allow you to establish psychological contact between an operative and a person of interest to him. Neurotechnics are also used to achieve and strengthen trusting relationships.

Вербализация соматики: параязык благодарности (по данным корпусной лингвистики)

The article is devoted to the study of paralinguistic means of expressing gratitude. The purpose of the article is to establish the place of body language in a number of sign languages when expressing gratitude and to describe the verbalization of its acoustic and somatic signs. The work used the methods of semantic, component, contextual and conceptual analysis, with the help of which the means of verbal embodiment of paralanguage signs of gratitude were investigated. The material for the research was the data of the National Corpus of the Russian Language. It is established that gratitude as an ethical category and moral feeling, along with verbal, also receives its bodily expression and is a semiotic phenomenon – a sign, the expression plan of which is also formed by “body language” – facial expressions and gestures, physiological manifestations, as well as behavioral acts. Paralinguistic means of expressing gratitude in a situation of real communication most often accompany verbal expressions of gratitude. Gratitude as a moral feeling is universal, but the means of its expression are specific and to a large extent ethnoculturally determined. Acoustic symbolic means of expressing gratitude are non-articulated voluntary and involuntary sounds: intonation and timbre of the voice, crying, sobbing, laughing, screaming, grunting, singing and applause. The paralanguage of gratitude in the field of kinetics is represented by facial expressions, gestures, body movements, physiological reactions and ritualized actions. Body signs of gratitude in the paralanguage of everyday communication are nonspecific: they are mostly signs of manifestation of love, sympathy, respect and reverence, interpreted as signs of gratitude exclusively situationally, and the semiotic system of sign language of everyday communication is secondary and only complements the primary, sound system. In mind and in language, gratitude exists in indissoluble unity with ingratitude, where it opposes both “simple ingratitude” – indifference, and “black ingratitude”, where indifference is replaced by hostility. The zero form of expression also extends to the kinetics of “simple ingratitude”, which is marked by the absence of any paralinguistic signs of positive emotional manifestations, while “black ingratitude” is also expressed by bodily signs of hostility.

Relationship between the idea of fairness and the principles of justice as a basic condition for the functioning of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine

The article highlights the relationship between the idea of fairness and the principles of justice as a basic condition for the functioning of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. It is pointed out that the entire legal system in the world, declarative-formal or real, is based on the idea of fairness, and accordingly, all judicial bodies, including the Constitutional Court of Ukraine are called to serve this idea. Since the main task of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is to guarantee the supremacy of the Constitution as the Basic Law of the state throughout Ukraine, the basic principles on which the justice system develops and operates are determined by the Constitution of Ukraine. To ensure and protect them by the Basic Law, the only body of constitutional jurisdiction, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, is empowered to exercise judicial constitutional control over legislation, international law and other bylaws. The paper reveals the relationship between the idea of fairness, which is not formally defined in the constitutional norms, and the principles that serve the purpose of justice, which is protected by a single body of constitutional jurisdiction of Ukraine. It is also presumed that the principle of fairness plays an important role when there are gaps in the legislation; when judges need to apply not the analogy of law but the analogy of law. Fairness is also a moral category. Accordingly, the resolution of the dispute depends on the moral qualities of the judge, his legal culture and legal awareness, awareness of their responsibility to the parties. Conclusions are offered that the principles of justice are the basic preconditions, the intellectual and spiritual basis that serve to embody the idea of fairness. In turn, the principles are a tool to ensure it on the basis of their actual application and interaction. And in terms of the relationship of the idea of fairness with the principles of justice as a basic condition for the functioning of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, it should be emphasized that although the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is not part of the judiciary, its procedural activities should be based on principles of justice should be implemented in close connection with the idea of fairness in order to implement it in public relations.

On the possibility of non-standard measurement of personality value orientations

As the title implies the article deals with the process of measurement of personality value orientations. This particular problem is especially acute during the COVID-19 and thus needs non-standard solutions. The article makes a point on what value orientations are, providing examples from history, philosophy, psychology and law to prove the point. Modern science is not possible without measurement and the article demonstrates standards from different perspectives. Article provides the analysis of values, their role in society and an explanation of how do they form, it mentions that most human values, deeds and goal need to be evaluated. There is a comparison, the relationship of our own desires, instinctive desires, with a system of prohibitions, restrictions, social norms, ideals of society with a certain system of behavior formed in our imagination under the influence of social and cultural relations. The emphasis is placed on the importance of using non-standard measurement and on that moral and structural categories cannot have a single quantitative standard, because they function as a measure. Article gives a perspective on how are the values formed and denoted the type of non-standard measurement. Due to changes of society the value system is changing, so a certain system of values that has developed in a person under the influence of society, its traditions, prohibitions, norms of behavior, socially significant events, etc., should refer to the non-standard measurement.

Ethical Criticism and There Will Be Blood: Autonomism, Moralism, and Immoralist Perspectives

The article explores the role played by moral categories in the assessment of an artwork’s overall aesthetic value. By means of close analysis of Paul Thomas There Will Be Blood, the work maintains an immoralist approach, where an artwork’s unethical attitude may yield cognitive gain to its receiver—or perhaps unsettle their moral compass in an unusual, pleasant way. There Will Be Blood is considered a cinematic masterwork; yet, the viewing experience is complicated by the film’s greedy and self-obsessed protagonist, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis). The article scrutinizes the film’s most notable sequence—the explosion of the oil derrick—to formulate an aesthetic evaluation that manages to assess, simultaneously, formal and moral aspects.

The content of the concept of «spiritual and moral values» in the humanitarian knowledge of Germany

Introduction. Spiritual and moral values play an essential role in the formation of the younger person's personality. Therefore, their scientific development occupies an important place in the theory of pedagogy and implies the need for special research in the field of philosophy, axiology and a number of other sciences. The purpose of the article is to generalize the views of leading German scientists of the XIX-XX centuries who dealt with the problem of axiology, including in relation to pedagogy. Materials and methods. The leading research methods are the analysis of scientific literature, mainly in German, comparative and historical methods, and the axiological approach, which allowed us to identify valuable content in the theoretical works of German authors. Results. German axiology occupies a special place in the development of the doctrine of social and pedagogical values. It was German scientists who first developed the main approaches to the doctrine of values, which were then developed by axiologists of a number of other countries. The views of the leading philosophers-axiologists of Germany of the XIX-XX centuries are presented. Immanuel Kant was the first to turn to the study of the concept of "value". Rudolf-Hermann Lotze introduced the concept of "value" into science as an aesthetic and ethical category. The founders of the Baden School of Philosophy Wilhelm Windelband and Heinrich Rickert gave the first scientifically grounded interpretation of such cardinal concepts of axiology as evaluation, value, classification and hierarchy of values. Engelbert Gutwanger singled out such a feature in the concept of value as its orientation for the good or, conversely, against man and society. Fritz-Joachim von Rintelen divided values into personal and non-personal, and the personal sphere, in his opinion, rose above the non-personal; in other words, the interests of the individual were higher than the interests of society. Theodor Steinbuchel believed that moral values obliged and bound a person, and were perceived by him as a duty to society. The doctrine of values was further developed in the pedagogy of culture, represented by the names of Edward Spranger, Theodor Litt and Georg Michael Kershensteiner, who considered values in inseparable connection with education and culture. Conclusions. The scientific novelty of the study consists in a meaningful analysis of the views of a number of German scientists and philosophers. Currently, these views are actively used by the Russian theory of pedagogy as one of the methodological foundations. We put the following meaning into the concept of spiritual and moral values: these are socially approved and transmitted from generation to generation samples of culture and moral norms, personally significant, and regulating the behavior of a person, imprinted in the moral appearance of a person, in cultural patterns of life and intergenerational interaction, in educational relations, in pedagogical theories and methods of pedagogical activity and behavior. The main conclusion is that in order for the value orientations to be viable, and to be accepted by educators and students, it′s necessary that they correspond to the current life values of the younger generation and the progressive development of society as a whole.

The choices we make: Ethical challenges in trauma surgery

BackgroundEthical issues in trauma surgery are commonplace but scarcely studied. We aim to characterize the ethical dilemmas trauma surgeons encounter in clinical practice and describe perceptions about the ability to manage these dilemmas and strategies they use to address them. MethodsMembers of a U.S. trauma society were electronically surveyed on handling ethically challenging scenarios. The survey instrument was developed using published ethics literature and iterative cognitive interviews. Domains included perceived frequency of encountering and self-efficacy of managing ethical situations in trauma surgery. Common situations were defined as those encountered monthly or weekly. Ethical problems were categorized within 7 larger categories: general ethics, autonomy, communication, justice, end-of-life, conflict, and other. Descriptive analyses were performed; group comparisons were analyzed using analysis of variance. ResultsOf 1,748 surveyed, 548 responded (30.6%) and 154 (28%) were female. Most were White, under 55 years age, had completed fellowship training, and were practicing at a level I or II trauma center. The most encountered ethical categories were generic ethics and communication (79%). Issues involving conflict were least frequent (21%). Respondents felt most uncomfortable with autonomy topics. Respondents with high self-efficacy in handling ethical situations were older, in practice ≥15 years, served on an ethics committee, and/or frequently experienced ethical challenges. ConclusionMost trauma surgeons regularly encounter ethical challenges, especially those related to communication. Trauma surgeons encounter ethical issues involving conflict least often, and lowest self-efficacy scores with issues involving autonomy. Experienced trauma surgeons reported higher self-efficacy scores in managing ethical issues. Future work should examine how self-efficacy translates to observed behavior, and how trauma surgeons build and enhance their ethical skillsets in the care of the injured patient.

Intricacies of Moral Geographies of Land Restitution in Estonia

This article employs moral geographies in analysing the land restitution process and outcome. Moral geographies investigate how abstract values, deliberations and judgements are translated into everyday life and, consequently, to landscape. The dynamics of moral geographies are analysed by transdisciplinary research methods using mainly qualitative data, such as documents, media and literature, but also spatial and statistical data. Land restitution in Estonia had its start in 1991, instigated by the heat of national reawakening, aiming to reverse the past 50 years of Soviet ‘wrongdoings’. This task proved to be not so straightforward. The initial heydays got entangled not only in all subsequent matters of practicalities, but also with social and spatial justice. To date, land reform has been completed on 99% of Estonia’s territory. For over 30 years, the land restitution has been shaped by global changes as well as local particularities and, in the process, moral ideas have been transformed. Thus, though landscape reflects moral categories and ideology, these two are interdependent: landscape can, in turn, mould moral ideals in certain ways.

“Mutual Assistance” and “Assistance” as a Legal Category and a Principle for the Exercise of Family Rights

Introduction. Traditionally mutual assistance and assistance was considered as moral and ethical categories. The study proposes a different vision of mutual assistance and assistance as legal categories, the principle of exercising family rights and fulfilling duties. Goals and Objectives of the Study: to identify the legal nature of mutual assistance and assistance in family legal relations, based on the work of specialists in various fields of law, examining regulatory legal acts of both international and domestic levels, in which the category of assistance, care, support, care, service, cooperation, in for the exercise of family rights; the ways of implementing the criterion-principle of mutual assistance and assistance in exercising family rights and fulfilling obligations have been identified. Methodological Basis: analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, argumentation, generalization, historical, comparative legal analysis. Results: mutual assistance and assistance as legal categories and the principle of the implementation of family law are detailed in the norms of family law, are a detail of the principle of humanity (Article 5 of the RF IC), are interconnected with other principles of the exercise of family rights, differ in content from the principle of cooperation in civil law, the family-legal nature of guardianship carried out by family members is highlighted, a number of useful conclusions are drawn for the development of the science of family law and law enforcement. Conclusions: Proposals have been made for the development of Russian legislation in a direction conducive to the development of the institution of the family and its viability.

Moral Assessments and Legal Categories

In this chapter, I examine the discussion around the rational and moral basis for legal categories in postclassical Imāmī Twelver Shīʿī legal theory. The debate was pushed forward by the Akhbārī movement in the 17th century CE; they proposed a novel position concerning the rational basis for the law in which reason can determine certain moral aspects of an action (e.g., a good action can be recognised by reason, and its performance attracts praise), but not legal elements (e.g., that the performance of a good action deserves a reward beyond praise). This leaves, for them, the Lawgiver (that is, God) to connect the moral aspects of an act with its legal consequences (that is punishment for a morally bad action and reward for a morally good action); that causal connection cannot be made by reason alone. Based on these findings, I conclude that Akhbārī moral theory, often read along literalist lines, showcases an adherence to the Muʿtazilī-derived framework common to the Imāmī Twelver Shīʿī theology and law generally, whilst also reserving ultimate legal authority to God.

Against the ‘science of populism’: grammatical analysis of studies on populism in Italy

ABSTRACT In recent years, the study of populism has attracted considerable attention in the social sciences. However, this has highlighted certain inherent contradictions in the academic study of politics, which struggles between neutrality and value judgments. Shifting attention away from the representational content toward the actual usage of the term ‘populist’, the essay shows how part of the abundant academic literature on populism fails to address the problem of value judgment effectively. Despite its purported refusal to pathologize, academic analysis employs the term more often than not as a way to label new political parties or movements in terms of deviancy. It thus supports the political aim of incumbents who would like to dismiss such parties/movements as defective political actors. Taking the Italian literature on populism as a case study, we show not only how the moral connotation implicit in ‘populism’ is not neutralized in academic study but also how it constitutes a strategic aspect of the analysis. Our essay shows how ‘populism’ as a moral category allows, on the one hand, the collection in a single category of all the diverse actors emerging in contemporary politics and, on the other hand, the provision of an overall interpretation of these actors.