Dimensions of Moral Agency

Dimensions of Moral Agency

Author: David Boersema

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2014-11-10

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 1443871095

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Dimensions of Moral Agency addresses and exemplifies the multi-dimensionality of modern moral philosophy. The book is a collection of papers originally presented at the Northwest Philosophy Conference in October 2013. The papers encompass a wide variety of topics within moral philosophy, including metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics, and broadly fall within the areas of the nature of moral agency and moral agency as it is played out in particular aspects of people’s lived experiences. The papers include assessments of the contributions of historical figures, such as Aristotle, Epictetus, Confucius, Berkeley, and Descartes, as well as analyses of agency as it relates to individual and social moral issues like mental illness, the ethics of debt, prostitution, eco-consumerism, oppression, and species egalitarianism, among others. Also covered are concerns related to the nature of moral reasoning at the individual and social level, the relevance of love and emotion to moral agency, and moral responsibility and efficacy. Interwoven with these topics and issues are concerns related to what sorts of things are, or could be, moral agents and what constitutes a moral good; the possibility of the existence of moral knowledge or moral facts or moral truth; and what constitutes moral motivation and how that is, or is not, related to questions of moral justification.


Book Synopsis Dimensions of Moral Agency by : David Boersema

Download or read book Dimensions of Moral Agency written by David Boersema and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2014-11-10 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dimensions of Moral Agency addresses and exemplifies the multi-dimensionality of modern moral philosophy. The book is a collection of papers originally presented at the Northwest Philosophy Conference in October 2013. The papers encompass a wide variety of topics within moral philosophy, including metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics, and broadly fall within the areas of the nature of moral agency and moral agency as it is played out in particular aspects of people’s lived experiences. The papers include assessments of the contributions of historical figures, such as Aristotle, Epictetus, Confucius, Berkeley, and Descartes, as well as analyses of agency as it relates to individual and social moral issues like mental illness, the ethics of debt, prostitution, eco-consumerism, oppression, and species egalitarianism, among others. Also covered are concerns related to the nature of moral reasoning at the individual and social level, the relevance of love and emotion to moral agency, and moral responsibility and efficacy. Interwoven with these topics and issues are concerns related to what sorts of things are, or could be, moral agents and what constitutes a moral good; the possibility of the existence of moral knowledge or moral facts or moral truth; and what constitutes moral motivation and how that is, or is not, related to questions of moral justification.


Agency: Moral Identity and Free Will

Agency: Moral Identity and Free Will

Author: David Weissman

Publisher: Open Book Publishers

Published: 2020-04-01

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 1783748788

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

There is agency in all we do: thinking, doing, or making. We invent a tune, play, or use it to celebrate an occasion. Or we make a conceptual leap and ask more abstract questions about the conditions for agency. They include autonomy and self-appraisal, each contested by arguments immersing us in circumstances we don’t control. But can it be true we that have no personal responsibility for all we think and do? Agency: Moral Identity and Free Will proposes that deliberation, choice, and free will emerged within the evolutionary history of animals with a physical advantage: organisms having cell walls or exoskeletons had an internal space within which to protect themselves from external threats or encounters. This defense was both structural and active: such organisms could ignore intrusions or inhibit risky behavior. Their capacities evolved with time: inhibition became the power to deliberate and choose the manner of one’s responses. Hence the ability of humans and some other animals to determine their reactions to problematic situations or to information that alters values and choices. This is free will as a material power, not as the conclusion to a conceptual argument. Having it makes us morally responsible for much we do. It prefigures moral identity. Closely argued but plainly written, Agency: Moral Identity and Free Will speaks for autonomy and responsibility when both are eclipsed by ideas that embed us in history or tradition. Our sense of moral choice and freedom is accurate. We are not altogether the creatures of our circumstances.


Book Synopsis Agency: Moral Identity and Free Will by : David Weissman

Download or read book Agency: Moral Identity and Free Will written by David Weissman and published by Open Book Publishers. This book was released on 2020-04-01 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is agency in all we do: thinking, doing, or making. We invent a tune, play, or use it to celebrate an occasion. Or we make a conceptual leap and ask more abstract questions about the conditions for agency. They include autonomy and self-appraisal, each contested by arguments immersing us in circumstances we don’t control. But can it be true we that have no personal responsibility for all we think and do? Agency: Moral Identity and Free Will proposes that deliberation, choice, and free will emerged within the evolutionary history of animals with a physical advantage: organisms having cell walls or exoskeletons had an internal space within which to protect themselves from external threats or encounters. This defense was both structural and active: such organisms could ignore intrusions or inhibit risky behavior. Their capacities evolved with time: inhibition became the power to deliberate and choose the manner of one’s responses. Hence the ability of humans and some other animals to determine their reactions to problematic situations or to information that alters values and choices. This is free will as a material power, not as the conclusion to a conceptual argument. Having it makes us morally responsible for much we do. It prefigures moral identity. Closely argued but plainly written, Agency: Moral Identity and Free Will speaks for autonomy and responsibility when both are eclipsed by ideas that embed us in history or tradition. Our sense of moral choice and freedom is accurate. We are not altogether the creatures of our circumstances.


Reclaiming Moral Agency

Reclaiming Moral Agency

Author: Stanley B. Cunningham

Publisher: CUA Press

Published: 2008-11

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 0813215404

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the moral philosophy Albert the Great (1200-1280)--the first and only such undertaking in English


Book Synopsis Reclaiming Moral Agency by : Stanley B. Cunningham

Download or read book Reclaiming Moral Agency written by Stanley B. Cunningham and published by CUA Press. This book was released on 2008-11 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the moral philosophy Albert the Great (1200-1280)--the first and only such undertaking in English


Social Dimensions of Moral Responsibility

Social Dimensions of Moral Responsibility

Author: Katrina Hutchison

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0190609613

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The essays in this volume open up reflection on the implications of social inequality for theorizing about moral responsibility. Collectively, they focus attention on the relevance of the social context, and of structural and epistemic injustice, stereotyping and implicit bias, for critically analyzing our moral responsibility practices.


Book Synopsis Social Dimensions of Moral Responsibility by : Katrina Hutchison

Download or read book Social Dimensions of Moral Responsibility written by Katrina Hutchison and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The essays in this volume open up reflection on the implications of social inequality for theorizing about moral responsibility. Collectively, they focus attention on the relevance of the social context, and of structural and epistemic injustice, stereotyping and implicit bias, for critically analyzing our moral responsibility practices.


Portrait of a Moral Agent Teacher

Portrait of a Moral Agent Teacher

Author: Gillian R. Rosenberg

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-06-05

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 1317643542

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Teaching morally and teaching morality are understood as mutually dependent processes necessary for providing moral education, or the communication of messages and lessons on what is right, good and virtuous in a student’s character. This comprehensive and contextualized volume offers anecdotes and experiences on how an elementary schoolteacher envisions, enacts, and reflects on the ethical teaching and learning of her students. By employing a personally developed form of moral education that is not defined by any particular philosophical or theoretical orientation, this volume relates that classroom-based moral education can, therefore, be conceived of and promoted as moral agency. Accentuated by the teacher’s voice to offer the experience of being in the classroom, this volume enables others to transfer relevant practices to their own teaching contexts.


Book Synopsis Portrait of a Moral Agent Teacher by : Gillian R. Rosenberg

Download or read book Portrait of a Moral Agent Teacher written by Gillian R. Rosenberg and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-06-05 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Teaching morally and teaching morality are understood as mutually dependent processes necessary for providing moral education, or the communication of messages and lessons on what is right, good and virtuous in a student’s character. This comprehensive and contextualized volume offers anecdotes and experiences on how an elementary schoolteacher envisions, enacts, and reflects on the ethical teaching and learning of her students. By employing a personally developed form of moral education that is not defined by any particular philosophical or theoretical orientation, this volume relates that classroom-based moral education can, therefore, be conceived of and promoted as moral agency. Accentuated by the teacher’s voice to offer the experience of being in the classroom, this volume enables others to transfer relevant practices to their own teaching contexts.


The Biology and Psychology of Moral Agency

The Biology and Psychology of Moral Agency

Author: William Andrew Rottschaefer

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9780521592659

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Brings findings and theories in biology and psychology to bear on ethics.


Book Synopsis The Biology and Psychology of Moral Agency by : William Andrew Rottschaefer

Download or read book The Biology and Psychology of Moral Agency written by William Andrew Rottschaefer and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brings findings and theories in biology and psychology to bear on ethics.


Social Dimensions of Moral Responsibility

Social Dimensions of Moral Responsibility

Author: Katrina Hutchison

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-03-14

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 0190609621

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

To what extent are we responsible for our actions? Philosophical theorizing about this question has recently taken a social turn, marking a shift in focus from traditional metaphysical concerns about free will and determinism. Recent theories have attended to the interpersonal dynamics at the heart of moral responsibility practices and the role of the moral environment in scaffolding agency. Yet, the implications of social inequality and the role of social power for our moral responsibility practices remains a surprisingly neglected topic. The conception of agency involved in current approaches to moral responsibility is overly idealized, assuming that our practices involve interactions between equally empowered and situated agents. In twelve new essays and a substantial introduction, this volume systematically challenges this assumption, exploring the impact of social factors such as power relationships and hierarchies, paternalism, socially constructed identities, race, gender and class on moral responsibility. Social factors have bearing on the circumstances in which agents act as well as on the person or people in the position to hold that agent accountable for his or her action. Additionally, social factors bear on the parties who pass judgment on the agent. Leading theorists of moral responsibility, including Michael McKenna, Marina Oshana, and Manuel Vargas, consider the implications of oppression and structural inequality for their respective theories. Neil Levy urges the need to refocus our analyses of the epistemic and control conditions for moral responsibility from individual to socially extended agents. Leading theorists of relational autonomy, including Catriona Mackenzie, Natalie Stoljar and Andrea Westlund develop new insights into the topic of moral responsibility. Other contributors bring debates about moral responsibility into dialogue with recent work in feminist philosophy, social epistemology and social psychology on topics such as epistemic injustice and implicit bias. Collectively, the essays in this volume reorient philosophical debates about moral responsibility in important new directions.


Book Synopsis Social Dimensions of Moral Responsibility by : Katrina Hutchison

Download or read book Social Dimensions of Moral Responsibility written by Katrina Hutchison and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-03-14 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To what extent are we responsible for our actions? Philosophical theorizing about this question has recently taken a social turn, marking a shift in focus from traditional metaphysical concerns about free will and determinism. Recent theories have attended to the interpersonal dynamics at the heart of moral responsibility practices and the role of the moral environment in scaffolding agency. Yet, the implications of social inequality and the role of social power for our moral responsibility practices remains a surprisingly neglected topic. The conception of agency involved in current approaches to moral responsibility is overly idealized, assuming that our practices involve interactions between equally empowered and situated agents. In twelve new essays and a substantial introduction, this volume systematically challenges this assumption, exploring the impact of social factors such as power relationships and hierarchies, paternalism, socially constructed identities, race, gender and class on moral responsibility. Social factors have bearing on the circumstances in which agents act as well as on the person or people in the position to hold that agent accountable for his or her action. Additionally, social factors bear on the parties who pass judgment on the agent. Leading theorists of moral responsibility, including Michael McKenna, Marina Oshana, and Manuel Vargas, consider the implications of oppression and structural inequality for their respective theories. Neil Levy urges the need to refocus our analyses of the epistemic and control conditions for moral responsibility from individual to socially extended agents. Leading theorists of relational autonomy, including Catriona Mackenzie, Natalie Stoljar and Andrea Westlund develop new insights into the topic of moral responsibility. Other contributors bring debates about moral responsibility into dialogue with recent work in feminist philosophy, social epistemology and social psychology on topics such as epistemic injustice and implicit bias. Collectively, the essays in this volume reorient philosophical debates about moral responsibility in important new directions.


Dimensions of Moral Theory

Dimensions of Moral Theory

Author: Jonathan Jacobs

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2008-04-15

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 0470776978

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Dimensions of Moral Theory examines the key presuppositions and philosophical commitments that support and shape moral theories.


Book Synopsis Dimensions of Moral Theory by : Jonathan Jacobs

Download or read book Dimensions of Moral Theory written by Jonathan Jacobs and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-04-15 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dimensions of Moral Theory examines the key presuppositions and philosophical commitments that support and shape moral theories.


The Moral Nexus

The Moral Nexus

Author: R. Jay Wallace

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 069117217X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Moral Nexus develops and defends a new interpretation of morality—namely, as a set of requirements that connect agents normatively to other persons in a nexus of moral relations. According to this relational interpretation, moral demands are directed to other individuals, who have claims that the agent comply with these demands. Interpersonal morality, so conceived, is the domain of what we owe to each other, insofar as we are each persons with equal moral standing. The book offers an interpretative argument for the relational approach. Specifically, it highlights neglected advantages of this way of understanding the moral domain; explores important theoretical and practical presuppositions of relational moral duties; and considers the normative implications of understanding morality in relational terms. The book features a novel defense of the relational approach to morality, which emphasizes the special significance that moral requirements have, both for agents who are deliberating about what to do and for those who stand to be affected by their actions. The book argues that relational moral requirements can be understood to link us to all individuals whose interests render them vulnerable to our agency, regardless of whether they stand in any prior relationship to us. It also offers fresh accounts of some of the moral phenomena that have seemed to resist treatment in relational terms, showing that the relational interpretation is a viable framework for understanding our specific moral obligations to other people.


Book Synopsis The Moral Nexus by : R. Jay Wallace

Download or read book The Moral Nexus written by R. Jay Wallace and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Moral Nexus develops and defends a new interpretation of morality—namely, as a set of requirements that connect agents normatively to other persons in a nexus of moral relations. According to this relational interpretation, moral demands are directed to other individuals, who have claims that the agent comply with these demands. Interpersonal morality, so conceived, is the domain of what we owe to each other, insofar as we are each persons with equal moral standing. The book offers an interpretative argument for the relational approach. Specifically, it highlights neglected advantages of this way of understanding the moral domain; explores important theoretical and practical presuppositions of relational moral duties; and considers the normative implications of understanding morality in relational terms. The book features a novel defense of the relational approach to morality, which emphasizes the special significance that moral requirements have, both for agents who are deliberating about what to do and for those who stand to be affected by their actions. The book argues that relational moral requirements can be understood to link us to all individuals whose interests render them vulnerable to our agency, regardless of whether they stand in any prior relationship to us. It also offers fresh accounts of some of the moral phenomena that have seemed to resist treatment in relational terms, showing that the relational interpretation is a viable framework for understanding our specific moral obligations to other people.


Agency in Mental Disorder

Agency in Mental Disorder

Author: Matt King

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022-03-04

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 0198868812

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Mental illness is an issue of great practical importance. Yet, despite sustained inquiry from scientists and philosophers alike, relatively little attention has been paid to the significance of mental disorder to agency and responsibility. While there is some work that touches on the topic, and a few extended treatments of particular disorders, these only scratch the surface. Agency in Mental Disorder seeks to provide a starting point for deeper and broader philosophical analyses. The 8 new essays in this book address various questions about the relationship between agency and mental disorder. What is the nature of that relationship? In what ways do mental disorders affect capacities for control? How should we understand the mitigations of blame that mental disorders seem to provide, and can we generalize from specific disorders to any interesting claims about disorders as a class? And what makes for a mental disorder in the first place?


Book Synopsis Agency in Mental Disorder by : Matt King

Download or read book Agency in Mental Disorder written by Matt King and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-03-04 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mental illness is an issue of great practical importance. Yet, despite sustained inquiry from scientists and philosophers alike, relatively little attention has been paid to the significance of mental disorder to agency and responsibility. While there is some work that touches on the topic, and a few extended treatments of particular disorders, these only scratch the surface. Agency in Mental Disorder seeks to provide a starting point for deeper and broader philosophical analyses. The 8 new essays in this book address various questions about the relationship between agency and mental disorder. What is the nature of that relationship? In what ways do mental disorders affect capacities for control? How should we understand the mitigations of blame that mental disorders seem to provide, and can we generalize from specific disorders to any interesting claims about disorders as a class? And what makes for a mental disorder in the first place?