Moral Doctrine Research Articles

Housing Limitarianism: What’s Wrong with Owning Excess Homes?

ABSTRACT There is a growing contention in the Housing Justice movement from activists, theorists, and politicians that not only should everyone have enough housing, but there is something wrong with having too much of it. This paper provides a framework to articulate and defend efforts to create housing wealth ceilings. Building on the work of Ingrid Robeyns, it develops the moral and political doctrine of housing limitarianism. This doctrine asserts it is morally wrong to have too much housing while others, human or animal, do not have enough, and that governments ought to limit the excessive acquisition/consumption of housing by individuals and corporations. I employ the Rawlsian ideal of property-owning democracy to argue for the dispersal of homeownership throughout society. Lastly, I discuss how housing justice can ethically negotiate the apparent conflict between increasing the supply of affordable housing and the preservation of natural habitat for wildlife.

A Look at the Perception of Human and Civilizations in Friedrich Nietzsche’s Work Antichrist

Considering the perception lik a abilty to see, hear or become aware, in this research, focused upon a subject that has left a great mark on the world-wide literature and opened the door to great debates. This subject is mentioned in Nietzsche's famous work, ANTICHRIST. of man and person its nature of development your obstacles and this your obstacles How will be surpassed over One attempt to do has been studied. Same in time human being One individual and society One Part of its aspect civilization to be able to create in front of philosophical, religious, and political of your obstacle’s detection and this your determination to the reader reflection has been made. The main theme of this study while real politics and social of development According to Nietzsche, how it should be done was expressed. A pivotal aspect of Nietzsche’s analysis lies in the contradictory nature of the modern individual's consciousness and ignorance. Despite the allure of advancement, Nietzsche scrutinizes modernity’s superficial enlightenment, championing increased awareness and resilience against societal shortcomings. Nietzche challenges traditional notions of virtue, advocating for a shift away from rigid moral doctrines towards innate instincts and personal growth. Nietzsche’s discourse extends beyond mere criticism, promoting education, primal instincts, and nuanced comprehension of human development. Rejecting simplistic hierarchical frameworks, he attributes human advancement to intrinsic impulses rather than societal constructs. At the core of Nietzsche’s argument lies the concept of instinctual power, crucial for both societal progress and individual fulfillment. The study elucidates Nietzsche’s condemnation of compassion as an impediment to progress, echoing Aristotle’s insights. Nietzsche advocates for an unyielding stance against barriers hindering societal evolution, urging individuals to embrace self-esteem, self-affection, and autonomy. Nietzsche’s "Antichrist" provides profound reflections on humanity’s trajectory, urging a departure from dogmatic beliefs towards instinct-driven growth. The research underscores Nietzsche’s vision of a civilization harmonized with nature, liberated from societal constraints, and driven by individual integrity and primal instincts.

Friedrich Nietzsche’s Philosophy of Nihilism in the Posthumous Fragments (1885–1888)

This article highlights the main principles of the Nietzschean view of nihilism. The analysis is focused on considering nihilism as a special approach to examination of the modern world. Nietzsche is positioning himself not only as a theorist or an investigator of cultural and anthropological symptoms of decadence, but also speaks as a prophet or a visionary. The article traces how Nietzsche gradually comes to the problem of dangerous nihilism. Already in his first significant work devoted to Greek tragedy he traces the tendencies of the decline of Western culture. Later on, the philosopher demonstrates that the origins of nihilism go back to the doctrine of true and false worlds in Platonism and this particular idea is the basis of the Christian moral doctrine. Nietzsche continues, as a result of the spread of the Judeo-Christian worldview, the ideals of hatred, resentment, bad conscience, and guilt are established, based on which the physical world is devalued. Therefore, the weakest forms of life are justified. This has a suggestive influence on all domains of culture: philosophy, science, art, literature, etc. Finally, a man turns into a possessor of the will to nonbeing. Nietzsche exposes different types of this nihilistic movement. His words ‘death of God’ become a figure of human loss of values that provided a person with meaning, purpose, and integrity. A tired and exhausted human being is disposed to pessimism as a symptom of nihilism. In Western society, substitutes for God—progress or collective happiness—are invented to save the situation. In contrast to this, Nietzsche’s active nihilism, which opposes passive nihilism—indifference and weakness that indicates trivial joys instead of the will to power—will be able to change the condition.

The myth of Russia in “Dialogues of the Dead” by Mikhail Muraviev

This article focuses on the processes of development and change in the philosophical and rhetorical genre of “Dialogues...” in Russian literature of the last quarter of the 18th century. A given phenomenon goes back as far as the heritage of ancient thinkers; for instance, “Parallel Lives” by Plutarch was relevant to Russian writers of the years 1700-1800. Initially, under new conditions, the national writers were mostly interested in this genre by reason of the general problems of knowledge distribution as a metaphysical beginning of existence (A. Belobotsky, V. Tatitshev). By the last quarter of the 18th century, a key aspect of consideration had been shifted to the issues of a new personal education and the state and moral doctrine of Russia. Mikhail Muraviev (1757 - 1807) was a famous Russian literary man and enlightener, the founder of sentimentalism and pre-romanticism in national literary culture, a philosopher and historian. In the years 1780-1790, on a personal invitation of Empress Catherine the Second, he taught moral philosophy and history to her grandchildren – tsesareviches Alexander and Constantine. It was the period when “Dialogues of the Dead” were contemplated as part of the writer’s teaching activities. M. Muraviev’s central goal was to show two key ideas: the development of Russia in Modern Period and the development of a new educated person.Using a well-known allusion technique, the writer chose symbolic figures of the world history and culture, transferred two contrasting characters to one period of time and turned them into interlocutors, holding a discussion. Moreover, Russian public figures of different epochs could meet both the leaders of the world historical and cultural process and each other. So far, “Dialogues of the Dead” by M. Muraviev have been studied fragmentarily in scientific research. The researchers’ attention has been focused mainly on the range of sources used by the writer, as well as on some language features, style and general moral ideas of the outstanding Russian enlightener. According to our hypothesis, the original “myth of Russia” is in the centre of this work. The distinguishing features of this phenomenon are: firstly, the synthesis of various spheres of socio-cultural life, from policy to literary culture; secondly, a clear correlation of “the state glory” phenomenon with conceptions of the internal moral creed both of the ruler of the state and every man in the country.

A preliminary epistemological ″human ecology″ framework for understanding the limits of bioethics.

This article tries to set up the epistemological bases of the science of ″human ecology″. This term has started to be used as a synonymous of morality, especially in the Catholic moral social doctrine that used for the first time to justify its marriage prospectives. We look at both terms together (human plus ecology) and we propose that human ecology should be a discipline that in the first time study human behavior and population (objective) using the postulates of the science of ecology (method) and then, once a conceptual framework for social sciences disciplines such as bioethics can be settle, could be used as a way to support or not moral postulates in the name of ecology. We conclude by defining which should be the methods of knowledge acquisition, the limits and the validity of what should be considered ″Human ecology″, that is to say, the ecology of the humans.

Seeking Ourselves in the Strange: Self-Knowledge in the Nietzsche’s Genealogy

In the nuanced tapestry of Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morality, the exploration of self-knowledge emerges as a central, yet subtly presented, theme. This paper delves into the profound depths of this theme, uncovering the intricacies and challenges inherent in Nietzsche’s portrayal of the self’s quest. Nietzsche’s work not only critically deconstructs the fallacies entrenched in conventional self-awareness but also charts an unorthodox path toward a more authentic understanding of the self. Embarking on this intellectual journey, the paper scrutinizes the notable juxtaposition found between the first and second sections of the Genealogy’s preface, shedding light on the intricate relationship between moral constructs and self-realization. It then interprets the profound ramifications of Nietzsche’s assertion, particularly in the preface’s first section, that true self-knowledge is perennially shrouded in unfamiliarity. This study meticulously examines key terminologies such as ‘sought’, contextualized within Nietzsche’s broader philosophical oeuvre, to trace the implicit, yet profound, pathway to self-knowledge that Nietzsche advocates. Ultimately, this exploration asserts that Nietzsche’s Genealogy extends beyond merely exposing the inadequacies of conventional moral doctrines. It emphatically champions a perpetual pursuit of openness and an exploratory spirit in the odyssey towards self-discovery. This process involves embracing the unfamiliar and courageously engaging with the ebb and flow of one’s existential reality, as part of the continual quest to understand and define the self.

Kościół katolicki w kazaniach Jakuba Wujka. Uwagi wstępne

This article is a preliminary reconnaissance of Jakub Wujek’s presentation in his Lesser Postylla sermons of the Catholic Church and the truths of faith he preached. This reconnaissance confirms that the circumstances of the creation of Wujek’s Lesser Postylla, its genesis, strongly influenced the content of the work. For the universal, Catholic Church was almost always presented by the Jesuit preacher in confrontation with the image of the criticised dissenters. Notably, the picture of the true Church as presented by Wujek in his sermons is fully in line with the doctrine of this religion. Undoubtedly, the picture of the Church painted almost five centuries ago is still valid, as confirmed by confronting Wujek’s remarks with the contemporary version of the official interpretation of the Catholic Church’s doctrine of faith and morals, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, compiled in the second half of the 20th century after the Second Vatican Council.

Overlapping consensus in pluralist societies: simulating Rawlsian full reflective equilibrium

The fact of reasonable pluralism in liberal democracies threatens the stability of such societies. John Rawls proposed a solution to this problem: The different comprehensive moral doctrines endorsed by the citizens overlap on a shared political conception of justice, e.g. his justice as fairness. Optimally, accepting the political conception is for each citizen individually justified by the method of wide reflective equilibrium. If this holds, society is in full reflective equilibrium. Rawls does not in detail investigate the conditions under which a full reflective equilibrium is possible or likely. This paper outlines a new strategy for addressing this open question by using the formal model of reflective equilibrium recently developed by Beisbart et al. First, it is argued that a bounded rationality perspective is appropriate which requires certain changes in the model. Second, the paper rephrases the open question about Rawlsian full reflective equilibrium in terms of the model. The question is narrowed down by focusing on the inferential connections between comprehensive doctrines and political conception. Rawls himself makes a demanding assumption about which connections are necessary for a full reflective equilibrium. Third, the paper presents a simulation study design that is focused on simplicity. The results are discussed, they fit with Rawls’s assumption. However, because of the strong idealisations, they provide a useful benchmark rather than a final answer. The paper presents suggestions for more elaborate study designs.

Supererogation as a Bridge between Moral Doctrines: Developing a Comprehensive Account of Morality

Supererogation as a Bridge between Moral Doctrines: Developing a Comprehensive Account of Morality

Liberty, Utilitarian Morality and Sustainable Development

State’s progress is dependent upon its political and socio-economic development which is tantamount to an increasingly adverse impact on climate. These adverse impacts on climate not only endangers our life but also our future generations, resulting in political and socio-economic instability. These irrational and rampant developments of any state require a systematic strategic principle. Following such a principle, a state can be progressive in a real sense by gaining political and socio-economic development while simultaneously maintaining sustainability. In this paper, through examining J. S. Mill’s doctrine of liberty and utilitarian morality, a valiant attempt has been made to resolve the problem of the free individual within the social whole by including sustainable development as a part of the progressive accomplishment of well-being.

Constitutional morality in South Africa: Is it the missing link?

The Constitution of South Africa is lauded worldwide for its progressiveness. This paean status notwithstanding, there is an increasing sense that the Constitution’s transformative ideals are gradually slipping out of reach. Inequality persists, while corruption and poverty are increasingly crippling the country. There is no gainsaying that a constitution thrives on its black letter and its spirit. The Constitution of South Africa recognises this truism by expressly providing for certain values, some of which are explicit, while others are implicit. One value that is not explicit in the values laid down in s 1 of the Constitution, and has not featured prominently in the jurisprudence of the superior courts in South Africa, is the doctrine of constitutional morality. The doctrine broadly imposes a moral obligation to comply with the totality of the ethos of the Constitution. The animating question that this article seeks to investigate is whether the doctrine of constitutional morality is missing between the Constitution and the realisation of its lofty transformative ideals. Based on an emergent paradigm of critical constitutionalism in South Africa, the article hypothesises that the ideals of transformation will be attained when those to whom the constitution applies feel the innate moral obligation to comply with the totality of its ethos.

Confucianism and Public Political Discussion

Abstract What role, if any, should Confucianism play in the politics of our time? In some of my previous works, I claimed that modern liberal states should not seek to promote Confucian values on the basis of their intrinsic merits. Yet, drawing insights from Joseph Chan’s moderate state perfectionism and John Rawls’s wide view of public political culture, I proposed the “wide view of moderate perfectionism.” According to this view, in public political discussion, citizens should be allowed to deliberate whether and how Confucianism, among other reasonable moral doctrines, can make positive contributions to their social and political thinking and public policymaking, provided that certain conditions are met. This view has been criticized by some scholars, in particular Zhuoyao Li. Li argues that the practice of the wide view of moderate perfectionism would inevitably harm civility. In this article, I clarify and develop the wide view, and respond to Li’s criticisms.

НЕОСТОЇЦИЗМ ЯК НАПРЯМОК ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКОЇ ФІЛОСОФСЬКОЇ КУЛЬТУРИ РАННЬОМОДЕРНОГО ПЕРІОДУ

The article reviews the emergence and development of neostoicism as a philosophical movement of the 16th–17th centuries. The main content of the ideo-logical content of the creativity of representatives of this direction is considered. The main content of the philosophy of Neo-Stoicism was the synthesis of the Christian creed and moral doctrine with the ideological heritage of the ancient Stoics. In the center of the philosophical doctrine of Neostoicism is the image of a Christian sage who steadfastly resists earthly temptations and blows of fortune. The impact of Neo-Stoicism on contemporary philosophical culture and the fur-ther development of philosophical teachings of the European tradition are ana-lyzed. A conclusion is made about the moral and practical orientation of the philosophical heritage of Neo-Stoicism. Key words: history of philosophy, European philosophy, early modern peri-od, neostoicism.

Thomas Hobbes and the Paradoxes of Early Modern Thinking

The object of this work is the philosophy of T. Hobbes in its integrity and unity of its main parts, including logic, the so-called "first philosophy", physics, the doctrine of man, the doctrine of morality, politics and law. The subject is the internal connection of the concept of the Leviathan state with the theory of cognition and ontology in the context of a number of problems of modern epistemology, philosophy and the history of science and the history of philosophy of Modern times. Methodologically, the work is based on a comparative historical approach, hermeneutic analysis of sources, as well as general scientific methods of analogy, generalization, abstraction, systematization, and others. Results of the study: 1) T. Hobbes is not so much an experimental theorist as a popularizer of science, confident that such popularization in itself can both lead a person to the truth and help solve a number of socio-political problems; 2) Hobbes' attitude radically breaks with a number of provisions of both the philosophy of nature and socio-in the political philosophy of Antiquity, translating the aporicity of the latter into paradoxicity and, as a consequence, antinomianism; 3) T. Hobbes discovers the logically abstract world of science as an analytical-synthetic transformation of the everyday world given in sensation, while the first necessarily generates something third - a world that exists by itself, an unknowable world; this makes him to strictly approach the definitions of the boundaries of knowledge — God, soul, morality and law; 4) the concept of Leviathan solves the problem of the mutual transition of the universal and the individual in a very typical way for early Modern times — through the fundamental paradox of the interaction of the abstract scientific world of science and the "objective" world itself opposed to it; this paradox is one of essential features of philosophy and science of early modern times.

Christian churches and social welfare in secular times: How goal congruence shapes religious involvement in morality-based social services

AbstractWe study the extent and nature of Christian engagement in morality policy implementation by means of a comparative case study in Germany. In particular, we observe that the nature of engagement varies between unconnected and corresponding types of activities, and we explain this variation with the policy-specific goal congruence between religious organizations (ROs) and the state. Goal congruence, in turn, can be linked to Catholic and Protestant moral doctrines that tell us about ROs' position on morality issues. The study contributes to the literature on faith-based welfare by highlighting the role of moral doctrines as drivers of ROs' social engagement.

Liberal democracy and the search for political stability

Liberal political philosophers are beginning to seriously consider the prospects of democratic instability alongside the question of justice. This chapter explores how a recent development in liberal political theory, political liberalism, frames the problem of social stability. Political liberals think reasonable pluralism is the natural outcome of free and open democratic institutions. The permanent existence of diverse yet reasonable moral and religious comprehensive doctrines create theoretical and practical problems for liberalism. A theoretically coherent liberalism must find normative reasons all can endorse even though everyone grounds their reasons on radically different conceptions of the moral good. A practically stable liberalism must show how a society whose members tend naturally toward moral division can nonetheless share the same normative political conception of justice. Solving both problems in ways consistent with liberal political values is difficult because the permanent existence of reasonable pluralism creates two formulations of the problem of stability. This chapter characterizes the two problems in terms of a positive and negative formulations. It traces the progress political liberals make toward resolving the positive formulation. It also explains how the solution to the positive formulation of the problem of liberal stability simultaneously provides a solution to the theoretical problem of liberal coherency. However, the chapter also argues that the negative formulation of the problem of liberal stability remains unresolved. A key task for liberal theorists in the twenty-first century is resolving the negative formulation of the problem of stability, for without a solution, the ‘rule of law’ remains vulnerable to attacks from those willing to use the ‘will of the people’ against it.

B. Bolzano’s doctrine of the highest principle of morality

The purpose of the article is to analyze B. Bolzano’s doctrine of the highest moral law. To achieve this goal, the following tasks are solved: the variants of justification of the supreme moral law proposed by Bolzano are investigated; the context in which Bolzano’s ethical views were formed is clarified; finally, the Bolzano’s doctrine is compared with Kant’s theory of the categorical imperative. The methods of rational reconstruction and historical-philosophical comparisons are used. The article consists of six sections. The first section talks about the role that the doctrine of the highest moral principle played in the philosophy of Bolzano. In the second section, two possible formulations of the supreme moral law are proposed and two variants of the justification of these formulations found in the works of Bolzano are examined — “subjective” and “objective” justification. The third section clarifies the context: it talks about the influence of Bohemian Josephism on the philosophy of Bolzano, two ethical teachings are considered separately: the practical ethics of K. H. Seibt and the moral theology of A. Zippe. The fourth section deals with Bolzano’s criticism of some aspects of the ethical teachings of the Enlightenment: Bolzano believed that hedonism could not be the cornerstone of the doctrine of morals, and he found the moral theologians’ conception of the status of practical truths incorrect. The fifth section gives the assessment that Bolzano gave to Kant’s ethics, and also analyzes separately the reasons why Bolzano criticized Kant’s formulations of the categorical imperative. Finally, the sixth section clarifies some of the theses of the ethical theory of Bolzano, and also shows that the Bolzanian version of utilitarianism is able to cope with some of the problems of Kantian ethics.

Rawls’s Political Liberalism from an Emergentist Perspective

John Rawls’s political liberalism is supported and better understood via Michael Polanyi’s tacit and emergent structures. Rawls claims the political is “freestanding” and “neutral” relative to comprehensive moral doctrines and metaphysical assumptions. Polanyian critics of Rawls empha­size the personal nature of our political commitments and Polanyi’s metaphysical realism. They also claim tacit knowing makes Rawls’s “veil of ignorance” impossible. However, as an emergent social order, political liberalism is a joint comprehension of a plurality of competing traditions that operates as an upper-level control in a dual control system; it supports yet constrains individuals in traditions so they may mutually flourish under its umbrella. Emergent levels have their own rules of organization and hence possess a rationality that can function independently and neutrally relative to its subsidiaries and so is freestanding, as Rawls claims. Still, since this level is constituted by overlapping consensus and is not a modus vivendi, there is indeed personal commitment to political values, as Polanyi affirms. This continuity makes it difficult to disambiguate one’s comprehensive ethical understanding from one’s political understanding. But, as with counterfactual hypotheses in science, Polanyi could endorse the artifice of the veil. By occluding politically irrelevant facts we better access this shared level, and tacit convictions about political justice become explicit.

Political Liberalism and Reasonable Disagreement

On the standard version of political liberalism, the exercise of political power is legitimate only if it is justifiable to all reasonable persons. Correspondingly, reasonable disagreement about the moral doctrines underlying a law makes that law not justifiable to all reasonable persons. In this paper, I argue that political liberals are committed to understanding reasonable disagreement as being rational, rather than praiseworthy disagreement between morally reasonable person because other conceptions of reasonableness commit them to an incoherent triad of claims.

Skovoroda`s images and motives in the works of Hanna Barvinok

The task of our article is to consider Skovoroda’s images and motives, in particular heart and happiness, in the works of Oleksandra Bilozers’ka-Kulish. Discourse analysis seems to be an appropriate method of research, since it allows us to build a chain of texts on one topic and find out the peculiarities of its detection at each stage, taking into the current contexts. This approach is quite productive and relevant for modern literary criticism, as it allows us to confirm or refute conclusions about the stadiality of Ukrainian literature, the continuity of the literary process, the sources of creativity of a particular author, etc. The article discusses the images and motives of the stories of Hanna Barvinok, which are key in the philosophical concept of Hrygoriy Skovoroda. This is the image of the heart and the motive of happiness. The works of Hanna Barvinok are studied in a broad literary and cultural context, which includes the works of M. Kovalyns`kyy, H. Danylevs`kyy, P. Kulish, M. Sumtsov, D. Bagaliy and others. The author of the article came to the conclusion that in the second half of the nineteenth century, the perception of the figure of H. Skovoroda in the Ukrainian cultural space acquired certain features: he became known as the author of philosophical and literary works. His live was an example of his moral and philosophical doctrine. He represented the Ukrainian man with his image. There are various images of happy people in the works of Hanna Barvinok. These are those who live with God and according to His rules, and those who have a favorite work, and those who had an experience a high feeling of love. The heroes of the works of this author are emotional, mostly with traditional concepts of human happiness. It should be noted that really happy are those characters who combine Christian commandments in their behavior and are guided by their heart. The heart is the main means of character formation and an indicator of the picture of their world in the texts of Hanna Barvinok. And this just corresponded to the teachings of H. Skovoroda.