Moral Opinions Research Articles

Experimentally induced changes in moral opinions and reasoning.

Experimentally induced changes in moral opinions and reasoning.

Objectivity in Conduct

There has of late been a revival of interest in the problem of practical reason. One of the causes of this revival has been, I think, a reaction against the radical subjectivism to which the emotive theory seemed to lead. Philosophers have wished to show that the method of linguistic analysis can account for that kind of objectivity, whatever kind that might be, which is possessed by our moral opinions, criticisms, etc. The question in what this objectivity consists has, however, remained obscure and recent writing has failed to distinguish at least two quite distinct issues. I hope to show what these are and that they are distinct.

Elihu Hubbard Smith and The New York Friendly Club, 1795–1798

In the year 1798 even an ardent Federalist could be vexed at the grossly inaccurate picture of America to be found in British periodicals. One young Federalist who was more annoyed than most was Elihu Hubbard Smith, a New York physician and literary man and erstwhile Hartford Wit. On his own initiative, Smith wrote a series of brief biographies of the Wits which he sent to John Aikin, editor of the Monthly Magazine and British Register. In an accompanying letter he pointed out to Aikin that his magazine not only ignorantly misrepresented America to the British public but also taught many young Americans to see their country in a false and unfavorable light. He offered the biographical sketches as a step toward correcting the situation and also proposed that he organize his friends into a corps of correspondents to ensure Mr. Aikin's progressive enlightenment. Of these friends he wrote: There exists in this city, a small association of men, who are connected by mutual esteem, & habits of unrestricted communication. They are of different professions and occupation; of various religious or moral opinions; & tho' they coincide in the great outlines of political faith, they estimate very variously many of the political transactions of the men who have, from time to time directed the councils of the nation. This diversity of sentiment, however, as it has never affected their friendship, has made them more active in investigation; & tho' they may have formed different judgments concerning facts, has led them to a general concurrence in the facts themselves.

ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS IN THE CONTROL OF POLLUTION OF STREAMS

THE PROBLEMS attending growth of population have been frequently stressed from biological and economic standpoints. Not so often, however, has the layman or the scientist recognized the importance of increasing numbers, with consequent industrial expansion, in their effect upon the public health and welfare. As water supply resources approach closer and closer in contact with domestic and industrial waste discharges, difficulties increase in preventing and remedying potential and actual health hazards. If relief from these conditions were to be found solely in legislation, accurately drafted and courageously administered, the solution would be quite simple. But legal restriction rarely is synonymous with elimination of problem, unless an intelligent and sympathetic public opinion promotes action and stands watch over its fulfillment. At the present date, laws on these questions are varied in number and purpose and perhaps they always should be to meet varying local conditions. Administrative notions are many colored, reflected upon facets oriented by political, economic and moral forces and opinions. Technical solutions, on the contrary, stand alone as clarified. The missing motivating force is probably largely popular understanding and cooperation. Where administrative, technical and legal problems are so intertwined as in this situation, future solutions would probably result from joint consideration of each of the controlling factors. The object of the symposium which follows was to point out these interrelations, to present the complexity of the problem, to suggest solutions and to indicate trends of administrative adaptation of engineering facts. The findings well justify the attempt of the Public Health Administration and Public Health Engineering Sections. They are by no means ultimate, but they point the way to further effort. AIBEL WOLMAN