Moral Rationalism Research Articles

The brand behind the curtain: decoupling, recoupling and moral conflict in social media

Purpose Social media platforms have matured into significant arenas for moral conflict and often intense confrontation between brands and their consumers. This research aims to scrutinize the strategic development of a fresh brand entity deliberately detached from its morally compromised corporate parent, intended to reshape public perceptions and elude regulatory scrutiny. Design/methodology/approach Promoted as a center for transformative dialogue and innovation, Mission Winnow by Philip Morris is a novel example of a brand creating an entirely separate brand entity to provide sponsorship, and to associate itself with new brand values. This study employs a multisited netnography through which the posts and conversations on Mission Winnow’s platform and website hub are captured and interpreted, as well as the branded content and the free flows of consumers’ conversations generated around the brand on social media. Findings Findings reveal a broad interchange of moral controversy, acceptance and opposition discourses on social media. When consumers’ acceptance narratives gain traction, consumers extend their support toward the new brand entity, employing strategies that echo moral rationalization and decoupling. When resistance narratives dominate, consumers consciously draw connections between the decoupled brand and the parent brand’s immoral behavior. Originality/value This study expands upon prior research into brand activism and consumers’ moral reasoning toward controversial brands, linking the notion of brand decoupling to brand activism discourse and introducing key underexplored aspects like the power of imagery, linguistic creativity and nostalgia. Moreover, it presents significant implications for a more nuanced understanding of the important interrelationship of brand decoupling and recoupling on social media.

Kantian Naturalism

ABSTRACT I offer a qualified defence of Kant’s natural teleological argument, that is, his inference from the (un)naturalness of an act to its (im)morality. Though I reject many of Kant’s conclusions, I think the form of argument he uses to support these conclusions is not as wrong-headed as it might at first appear. I consider and answer two objections: first, that the argument is inconsistent with Kant’s moral rationalism; and second, that the argument is inconsistent with post-Kantian developments in science. I argue that both objections rest on a common mistake, namely, the assumption that the account of (human) nature on which Kant’s argument relies is theoretical. On the contrary, the relevant account is practical: informed by science, but not determined by it. Once we appreciate the practical character of Kant’s naturalism, we can see not only that Kant can be a naturalist and a rationalist, but contemporary Kantians can be as well.

The Humanity of Faith: Kierkegaard’s Secularization of Christianity

The nature and practice of Christianity is a major, if not the primary, topic in Kierkegaard’s authorship. What it means to live a Christian life is a persistent topic in many of his major works, and yet, he spends most of his authorship criticizing traditional ways of practicing Christianity. While his critique of institutionalized Christianity and merciless unmasking of the hypocrisy of self-proclaimed Christians is rather clear, namely that they are not actually Christian, it is more difficult to get a clear idea of Kierkegaard’s alternative. What is a true and sincere Christian life for Kierkegaard? The argument of this article is that Kierkegaard’s famous existential approach to Christianity amounts to a secularization of Christianity and as such can be seen as a critical development of and not a rejection of the Enlightenment critique of religion. The article uses Kant as an advocate of the Enlightenment critique of religion that Kierkegaard inherits and develops critically, and after having examined Kierkegaard’s existential dialectics, an outline of Kant’s transcendental approach is, presented against which Kierkegaard’s existential alternative is examined in more detail. Kierkegaard’s existential approach is radical with its insistence on “that single individual” and on the existential challenges of human freedom that Kant banned from his analysis of both morality and faith. While Kant presents us with the transcendental possibility of faith, Kierkegaard is concerned with the existential reality of faith. It is argued that Kierkegaard’s existential analysis of faith helps us to find the connection between radical individual choice and the rational morality that is not always evident in Enlightenment—and especially Kantian—accounts of morality.

Křivda a odpor : konstrukce alternativní modernity a mobilizace amerických konzervativních věřících

This article explores much debated contemporary development in the contestation of the dominant, liberal interpretation of modernity by conservative Christians in the United States through counter hegemonic discourse that is deployed in the political arena and facilitates broader cultural struggle. The examination combines the analysis of discourse from the extensive corpus of data produced by five elite actors in the American religious and political milieu and its interplay with the socioeconomic factors of their constituency on the one hand and the institutional and historical context of accounts. Following in the footsteps of critical sociology of religion, emphasis was placed on processes through which the actors establish a claim for power and legitimize the application of moral rationality as the different path to modern society. Employment of discursive instruments in form of myths, narratives, and negative representations tied to specific religious language, is not only showing the permeability of the church-state separation in supposedly secular political arrangements. More importantly, it is unrevealing the authoritative, mobilizational power of the religious matrix of emotionally motivating meanings and identity-making narratives in face of shortcomings and crises of the hegemonic socio-political constellation. In this manner, it serves as a tool to challenge established interpretations of commitments to freedom and equality, or in many instances reinterprets them to legitimize policy entailed in the notion of collective morality. However, this considerable engagement also creates points of contention in society and in religious formations, which leads to their fragmentation between different interpretations of such commitments.

РУССКИЙ СИБИРЯК В НЕСОВМЕСТИМОЙ СОВМЕСТИМОСТИ ЗАПАДА И ВОСТОКА

The history of “Russian Eurasia” represents a variant of the formation of a socio-cultural community of Russian Siberians in the process of adaptation of the population to the challenges of the factors of the new environment. The natural, social, ethnocultural characteristics of the Siberian region were transformed under the influence of factors of Russian material and spiritual culture. At the same time, within the culture of the first Russian generations of Siberia and in the consciousness of its bearers, changes in conformity with the environment took place according to the feedback principle of small impulses of “micromutations”. During the XVII–XVIII centuries the results of the mutual adaptation of the society of Russian old-timers and the environment was the formation of a new “place of development”, sub-ethnic identity, self-awareness and character. Mentality and traditions in the process of cultural adaptation in the 18th–19th centuries are fixed in cultural traditions in the recombination of mutations that underwent natural selection at the level of genetic programs and the structure of ethnic constants. The society of old-timers continuously socialized new settlers into their midst. The stage-by-stage dynamics of adaptation contained stages of material, social and psychological “getting used to” them in the community of Russian old-timers. The process of one and a half centuries of adaptation to an extreme environment transformed the traditional irrational, sensory-emotional “worldview” into the rational, pragmatic psychology of “western man.” A process in which rational “thought gave birth” to stereotypes of an active, pragmatic transformer of the world. At the same time, in the value attitudes of the Orthodox-pagan worldview of the world, the attitudes of conscientiousness, humility, sympathy, mercy, and compassion increased compensatoryly among the old-timers. These value factors, according to Russian and generally Eastern traditions, were determined by the concept of “soul”. In the postulates of Russian culture, this factor is reflected in the saying “The soul gives birth to character.”Hence, the harsh realities of physical adaptation of the old-timers formed in them external behavioral rationality, the origins of psychological attitudes go back to Slavic-Russian ethnic spirituality. As a result of the ethnopsychological analysis, the author of the paper made an innovative conclusion: the incompatibility of the civilizational poles of rationality and spirituality was overcome by the formation of the quality of moral rationality in the character of the Russian Siberian.

Demoeconomics: the interconnection of water resources and demoethical values

Object: Application of conceptual analysis within the framework of the concept of demoeconomics to study the relationship of water resources with the values of “Demoethics” as a tool for society sustainable development. Methods: This work uses a systematic approach to research, which includes a wide variety of techniques, such as the method of logical synthesis, goal setting, goal decomposition, etc.
 Findings: The implementation of the demoeconomics concept, based on the demoethics values in the context of “spirituality and morality”, “rationality”, “responsibility”, “justice” and “security” contributes to the effective provision of rational use of water resources and basic needs of the population. The results of the Concept are aimed at achieving ethical rationality. Harmonizing with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), they not only promote economic growth and meet the needs of society, but also create the preconditions for reducing socio-economic inequality, increasing economic responsibility and respect for cultural and spiritual values.
 Conclusions: The sustainability of ethical rationality requires the transformation of the values of members of society when using natural resources based on the concept of demo-economics, based on the values of demo-ethics in the context of “spirituality and morality”, “responsibility”, “justice”, “rationality” and “security”, which can provide a balance between economic, social and environmental needs of humanity, to the manifestation of moral behavior in any life situation, contributing to the sustainability of the quality of life of members of society and the competitiveness of the region.

Exploring the Alternatives to the Male-Breadwinner Model – The Implications for Social Policy Study

Abstract This article begins by discussing some of the main approaches that have emerged to gender and family policy, before proceeding to discuss more modern trends. It begins by discussing institutional approaches, such as the male-breadwinner model, defamilialisation, degenderisation. Then it discusses cultural approaches, such as the national ideals of care, gendered moral rationalities, and Hakim’s preference theory. Then this article continues by briefly discussing attempts to broaden the discussion by bringing in children (including through the capabilities approach) and by adding an intersectional perspective.

Operationalizing Lasswell’s call for clarification of value goals: an equity-based approach to normative public policy analysis

In 1951, Harold Lasswell defined the ability to clarify value goals as integral to a policy analyst’s job. But graduate education in public policy analysis has paid insufficient attention to the skills needed to investigate and clarify value disputes. In turn, practicing policy analysts don’t have ready access to a set of methods for normative analysis that serves Lasswell’s vision of a contextualized, holistic, and interdisciplinary policy science. I start by describing calls for more emphasis on social equity in policy analysis and explore the complementary relationship of empirical, fact-based analysis and normative, value-driven analysis. I then propose seven competencies that policy analysts should be expected to master. They need to understand how normative issues arise in and adjacent to the classical model of policy analysis. They need to master a vocabulary for normative analysis and understand how humans make moral judgments, recognizing the distinction between moral rationalism and moral intuitionism. To engage in moral rationalism, practitioners need to be able to use the tools of analytic political philosophy. When it comes to moral intuitionism, they need to recognize the emotion-driven foundations of moral judgement and personal values. Finally, policy analysts also need to know where to find the values that are relevant to their analysis. Mastery of these competencies will allow analysts to better serve what Laswell describes as the intelligence needs of policymakers.

Fairness, Hierarchy, and Moral Rationalization, or What's Wrong With Paradise Lost?

Literature and Moral Feeling argued that ethics is best understood as a constraint on egocentric self-interest. That constraint is specified variously by groups or individuals who set parameters differently within common ethical principles, and who use a range of emotion-guided narrative genres to imagine and evaluate possible actions. Though it covers many ethical concerns (collectively termed “morality”), this account leaves out fairness (alternatively, justice). The following essay seeks to make up for that deficit. Framing its analysis by reference to a well-known problem in Milton's Paradise Lost, it distinguishes two systems of ethical response organized around first- and third-person perspectives. Like the first-person concerns of morality, third person concerns of justice are specified by setting parameters within common principles. In treating these principles and parameters, the essay articulates cognitive and affective components of third-person ethical evaluation. These, then, help to resolve the problem with Milton's poem. That resolution, in turn, suggests further complications in the account of ethical evaluation.

Ethics of psychotherapy rationing: A review of ethical and regulatory documents in Canadian professional psychology.

Ethics of psychotherapy rationing: A review of ethical and regulatory documents in Canadian professional psychology.

On Moral Legitimacy of the Normative Reconstruction of Subject Behavior in Post-pandemic Era

The enlightening significance of contemporary and modern biopolitics’ appearance in COVID-19 pandemic lies in Life’s appeal of both the fear of death and the fear of been dominated. Therefore, the authority and its agency are responsible for the moral promise of individual safety which follows the logic of survival and free development which follows the logic of human beings’ development. The value ranking of the above two parts in different social contexts constitute the moral legitimacy basis when the authority formulates the policy on the normative reconstruction of subject behavior. In this respect, the Post-pandemic Era means the reverse of value ranking in the state of emergency, meanwhile, the normal and regulation of subject behavior need to be reconstructed, and then the moral rationality and legitimacy need to be simultaneously and theoretically illustrated. The relational thinking based on commensalism, rather than the reductionism thinking based on individualistic-atomic theory, will help to recognize the internal connection among the individual, the other and the community. Then the illustration of moral rationality which is constructed for the social temporary order in a state of emergency will be provided, and a probable path to deal the dilemma of the contemporary biopolitics will finally be proposed.

Supplemental Material for Ethics of Psychotherapy Rationing: A Review of Ethical and Regulatory Documents in Canadian Professional Psychology

Supplemental Material for Ethics of Psychotherapy Rationing: A Review of Ethical and Regulatory Documents in Canadian Professional Psychology

Reproducing differential racialisation: social triage in migrant mental health services in England

Abstract In England, coverage for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a health condition that disproportionately affects forced migrants, is universal, in principle provided free of charge to all. Yet, multiple informal access barriers typically arise and informal systems of social triage may emerge. Using intersectional analysis, this study asks what political and moral rationalities inform social triage in the NHS. It is particularly attentive to how and why a supposedly universal service reproduces differential racialisation, in which multiple and co-existing populations are stratified and ranked as more or less belonging to a nation. Fieldwork was conducted in two waves, in 2015-2016 and in 2019-2021. It included six months of participant observation in an NGO; 21 semi-structured interviews with health professionals across 16 different NHS and NGO service providers, purposively sampled until saturation was reached; six interviews with mental health commissioners and national policymakers; and analysis of grey literature. Transcripts and fieldnotes were analysed inductively to identify themes using NvivoR1. Results were validated by interviewees. Despite being covered, undocumented migrants and asylum seekers were systematically excluded from NHS PTSD services, through social triage. People with refugee status were prioritised. Mental health care providers consciously and subconsciously reproduced differential racialisation, which generated health inequality. This was facilitated by: austerity; omitting immigration status in measurement of health inequality; securitisation of mental health services and minoritised Muslim populations; and bifurcated activism in which the forced migrant sector was disconnected from established struggles to combat racism in mental health care. Policies extending coverage to undocumented migrants and asylum seekers must be accompanied by extra monitoring, as well as financial, political and social support to service providers. Key messages • Health professionals informally, but systematically, reproduce differential racialisation in the rationing of health care through practices such as obfuscation and silencing critique. • Informal systems of social triage erode universal health coverage. This is exacerbated in contexts of austerity, where health professionals use their discretion to ration limited resources.

The Views of Saadia Gaon and al-Qāḍī Abd al-Jabbār on God's Justice and Their Relevance to Dialogue among Civilizations

The surge in scholarly fervor across the Arab world following the Hellenistic resurgence instigated shifts in religious thought concerning theodicy. Saadia Gaon and al-Qāḍī Abd al-Jabbār, representing Jewish and Islamic scholars respectively, exemplify this evolving trend. This study endeavors to delve into Gaon and al-Qāḍī Abd al-Jabbār's perspectives on divine justice and its implications for human agency. Employing a qualitative approach with content analysis as the analytical tool, this research reveals a convergence of ideas between Gaon and al-Qāḍī regarding the manifestation of divine justice through human autonomy. This autonomy operates within the framework of revealed restrictions transmitted to the messenger of God. These limitations establish a moral framework delineating choices of good and evil, ultimately entrusted to human discretion guided by reason. The primacy of reason underscores moral rationality, guiding individuals towards virtuous conduct. Within the realm of human freedom, diverse actions unfold, contributing to cultural evolution and the advancement of civilization. Moral rationality emerges as a pivotal tool in religious comprehension, fostering dialogue between Abrahamic faiths and facilitating the pursuit of a more cohesive global society.

Moral Sense in Different Senses

ABSTRACT To understand the internal structure of moral positions and the nature of moral disagreements, it would be useful to have a “moral sense” model of our different types of moral sensitivity, from our relatively spontaneous friendliness to our appreciation for traditional community norms, ideal ethical norms, and spiritual appeals to ultimate concern. After the first round of modern moral sense theory in Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, and Edwards, most discussions of the moral sense concept have centered on general theses about moral value (objective or subjective, rational or emotional) without attending to this complexity. Even though the familiar positions in these discussions are not reconcilable on the plane of ethical theory, they need not be seen as simply antagonistic. Working with clearly differentiated senses of both “moral” and “sense,” this article refashions “moral sense theory” as a way of placing the insights of the classic moral sense theories, ethical rationalism, and a distinctly spiritual sensibility in a conceptually stable and empirically more discriminating order. The article also suggests strengthening the realist premise of moral sensing by invoking the model of a game player’s operational sense of how things are going in pursuit of a game’s objectives.

Does moving to paid work make me a better mum? Mismatches between political and social ideologies of ‘good motherhood’ and that of lone mothers in the UK

The current design of UK public policy and mainstream political and social discourse has consistently equated paid work with good citizenship and desirable parenting. The article presents findings from a recent qualitative study that explores how lone mothers with different moral rationalities judge themselves before and after making a transition from welfare (and being full-time carers) to paid work. The findings suggest that the design of public policy and related discourses worked well with the moral rationalities of some lone mothers who believed that paid work made them better mothers. However, it left others with moral values on direct care behind, as they suffered from physical and emotional exhaustion and feelings of guilt in paid work. The article highlights how dominant ideologies reinforce the pre-existing hierarchy of paid work and care, with the latter being viewed as deserving of less acknowledgement.

An Analysis on the Nature of Morality and Its Social Projections in Durkheim's Sociology

Durkheim, one of the pioneering representatives of the sociological tradition, placed religion and morality at the center of his studies throughout his professional life. Therefore, it would not be wrong to call Durkheim's sociology the sociology of morality. It is important to examine Durkheim's intense interest in morality, his purpose, and implications in order to understand his understanding of morality and his relationship with sociology. Also, this study has not remained indifferent to this interest, and has made it the subject of analyzing the theoretical and practical dimensions of his understanding of morality. Durkheim could not control but focus on the issue of religion. Because morality, which has an important place in the field of social regulations and is one of the key concepts of Durkheim's sociology, largely depends on the reference of religion and is positioned parallel to religion. To understanding Durkheim's sociology does not seem possible without understanding the value he gives to subject of the morality. Durkheim examined an abstract issue such as morality and made it the subject of sociology, which is a modern discipline. On the one hand, Durkheim was influenced by Kant's rational morality, which was free from theological considerations, and on the other hand, he adopted Aristotle's 'ethics', which he called a practical science based on action. The importance of this the study is that Durkheim's theoretical and practical evaluation of the issue of morality is analyzed on the basis of the social reflections of morality and its relationship with religion and society. Durkheim's most characteristic contribution to the sociology of religion is his acceptance of religion as the most important social phenomenon in terms of its effect on collective consciousness and its relation to morality, and his view of society as the basis of social phenomena. According to him, among social phenomena, morality is a social reality, and this reality is not the reality of abstract theories and ideas, but the reality of morality in action. This study aims to analyze the nature of morality in Durkheim's sociology, its necessity, source, continuity, reality, validity, and social manifestations. Moreover, it is aimed to make evaluations and analysis about his sociology and moral understanding as a result of this examination. Within the scope of this study, all of Durkheim's books on morality, which are the accessible in Turkish and English books, especially were examined. The study is presented within the framework of a comparative method by considering the causality and cause-effect relationship between concepts and phenomena. Durkheim, one of the pioneers of the positivist understanding in sociology, is in favor of a rational and secular morality. He struggled to free morality from the dominance of religion and made it the tool of sociology to give it freedom and adapt it to its own age. He turned a phenomenon with abstract, subjective metaphysical aspects into an object of science on a concrete objective rational ground. He used sociology, which he cared enough to call the science of morality, to identify and enforce moral rules. He is a conservative moralist who attaches great importance to social solidarity and integration. He prefers the believers of society to the believers of God. The extreme importance and value he attributed to society is considered sociologism. Durkheimian morality is an ideal secular morality that should be taught to all citizens and substituted as the rules of 'religion', which he calls 'society'. Durkheim attempted to dislocate the relationship between the individual and morality, society and morality, religion and morality, and the organic link in these relationships in rational and secular understanding.

Inclusion is in the Eye of the Beholder: A Relational Analysis of the Role of Gendered Moral Rationalities in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s economic objectives outlined in Vision 2030 have led to a significant increase in women’s participation in the workforce. By applying a relational lens on inclusion theories, we offer insights from women’s experiences of actively negotiating their inclusion in response to societal and organisational contexts as part of the first generation to enter the workforce. Our analysis of 56 interviews with Saudi Arabian working women reveals how women negotiate tensions between labour market participation and societal gender ideals. Applying the concept of gendered moral rationalities to capture the complexity of the interplay between women’s gender roles and work roles, we identified three orientations: traditionalists, pragmatists and trailblazers. Drawing from our findings, we emphasise the necessity for current theories of workplace inclusion to extend beyond organisational efforts and focus on ways individuals actively negotiate workplace inclusion in the broader societal context.

Tanzimat Döneminde Türk-Osmanlı Müzisyenlerinin Sürüklenmesi: Dilencilerden Serbest İşçilere

ABSTRACT After exploring the study of ney teachers and their sonic spirituality in Istanbul from an ethnographic approach, I have seen many of my interlocutors these days dwelling in a conundrum in which most of them see themselves as living links of previous social orders, somehow lost and regained during the present. The closure of dervish lodges during the early days of the Turkish Republic, as much as the historic restoration and reopening of some of these venues in recent decades, are often presented as outcomes of a social transformation caused by a given moral rationality embedded within the new institutions of an emergent nation. From this point of view, individuals are seen in a distorted way as related –or opposed– to these institutions, thus, flattening their own dimension and the ways in which their sedimented co-constitution as individuals have emerged before 1924. Beyond the debate about the authenticity of the so-called Sufi music, or whether there are “real dervishes” in today’s Istanbul or not, this article looks back at the historical period in which tekkes and Sufi lodges were banned and closed to suggest that this closure opened an emergent form of labor that transformed the subjectivity of Turk-Ottoman instructors during the early twentieth century. Like an old watch that is repaired and rearranged to vindicate the present moment (Castrillón 2021), caretakers of Tasavvuf sonic repertoires are unavoidably embedded in larger systems of tension and movement that require constant tuning and interpretation.

Moral Foundations of Power and State in Teachings of Ibn al-Azraq

The article deals with the main ideas of the political philosophy of Abu Abdallah Ibn al-Azraq al-Garnati (1427-1491), a well-known Muslim statesman, supreme judge of Granada, lawyer, diplomat, supporter of Arab Muslim peripatetism, a student of the outstanding thinker of the Muslim Middle Ages Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406). In the history of the political philosophy of the Muslim East, a number of major transformations in the development of the Arab Caliphate from the Medina state of the prophet to the Sultanate in the Abbasid period should be noted, which were reflected in the development of the theory of the Arab-Muslim state (caliphate). The main problem of the theory of the caliphate was connected with the question of the relationship between power and authority in the context of the moral foundations of the state. The creative heritage of Ibn al-Azraq is mainly known for his work in the genre of adab ("mirrors of princes") “Miracles on the way, or the Nature of dominion”. The treatise became a classic of the political philosophy of the Muslim Middle Ages, in which, under the influence of Aristotelian ideas, a special place was given to the moral foundations of power and the state, that is, ethics was considered as a political science. In the form of instructive parables, the rulers and heirs to the throne were explained the basics of state administration as part of their studies and education. His doctrine of the virtues can be viewed as ethical rationalism with a belief in the moral perfection of people in power and subjects of the state. Since morals are largely acquired and a person can control them, the task of purifying his own morals and curing them is entrusted to him. In addition, accordingly, it is possible and necessary to cultivate virtues in rulers, since the well-being of the state and the ummah depends on their morals. The moral foundations of power determine the strength of political authority.