Essays in Philosophical Moral Psychology

The dissertation consists of four essays and a comprehensive introduction that discusses the topics, methods, and most prominent theories of philosophical moral psychology. I distinguish three main questions: What are the essential features of moral thinking? What are the psychological conditions of moral responsibility? And finally, what are the consequences of empirical facts about human nature to normative ethics? Each of the three last articles focuses on one of these issues. The first essay and part of the introduction are dedicated to methodological questions, in particular the relationship between empirical (social) psychology and philosophy. I reject recent attempts to understand the nature of morality on the basis of empirical research. One characteristic feature of moral thinking is its practical clout: if we regard an action as morally wrong, we either refrain from doing it even against our desires and interests, or else feel shame or guilt. Moral views seem to have a conceptual connection to motivation and emotions – roughly speaking, we can’t conceive of someone genuinely disapproving an action, but nonetheless doing it without any inner motivational conflict or regret. This conceptual thesis in moral psychology is called (judgment) internalism. It implies, among other things, that psychopaths cannot make moral judgments to the extent that they are incapable of corresponding motivation and emotion, even if they might say largely the words we would expect. Is internalism true? Recently, there has been an explosion of interest in so-called experimental philosophy, which is a methodological view according to which claims about conceptual truths that appeal to our intuitions should be tested by way of surveys presented to ordinary language users. One experimental result is that the majority of people are willing to grant that psychopaths make moral judgments, which challenges internalism. In the first article, ‘The Rise and Fall of Experimental Philosophy’, I argue that these results pose no real threat to internalism, since experimental philosophy is based on a too simple conception of the relationship between language use and concepts. Only the reactions of competent users in pragmatically neutral and otherwise conducive circumstances yield evidence about conceptual truths, and such robust intuitions remain inaccessible to surveys for reasons of principle. The epistemology of folk concepts must still be based on Socratic dialogue and critical reflection, whose character and authority I discuss at the end of the paper. The internal connection between moral judgment and motivation led many metaethicists in the past century to believe along Humean lines that judgment itself consists in a pro-attitude rather than a belief. This expressivist view, as it is called these days, has far-reaching consequences in metaethics. In the second essay I argue that perhaps the most sophisticated form of contemporary expressivism, Allan Gibbard’s norm-expressivism, according to which moral judgments are decisions or contingency plans, is implausible from the perspective of the theory of action. In certain circumstances it is possible to think that something is morally required of one without deciding to do so. Morality is not a matter of the will. Instead, I sketch on the basis of Robert Brandom’s inferentialist semantics a weak form of judgment internalism, according to which the content of moral judgment is determined by a commitment to a particular kind of practical reasoning. The last two essays in the dissertation emphasize the role of mutual recognition in the development and maintenance of responsible and autonomous moral agency. I defend a compatibilist view of autonomy, according to which agents who are unable to recognize right and wrong or act accordingly are not responsible for their actions – it is not fair to praise or blame them, since they lacked the relevant capacity to do otherwise. Conversely, autonomy demands an ability to recognize reasons and act on them. But as a long tradition in German moral philosophy whose best-known contemporary representative is Axel Honneth has it, both being aware of reasons and acting on them requires also the right sort of higher-order attitudes toward the self. Without self-respect and self-confidence we remain at the mercy of external pressures, even if we have the necessary normative competence. These attitudes toward the self, in turn, are formed through mutual recognition – we value ourselves when those who we value value us. Thus, standing in the right sort of relations of recognition is indirectly necessary for autonomy and moral responsibility. Recognition and valuing are concretely manifest in actions and institutions, whose practices make possible participation on an equal footing. Seeing this opens the way for a kind of normative social criticism that is grounded in the value of freedom and automomy, but is not limited to defending negative rights. It thus offers a new way to bridge the gap between liberalism and communitarianism.

Kuntoutusosallisuuden diagnoosi : Tutkimus entisten rappiokäyttäjien kuntoutumisen muodoista, mekanismeista ja mahdollisuuksista

The main theme of the research centres on the idea that social inclusion can be analysed as inclusions and exclusions. The research is focused on the phenomenon of inclusion that is defined as widely understood social relationships and social binds emerging in a rehabilitation process. Information was gathered from 13 ex substance abusers, who had a background of heavy substance abuse for appr. 15 years and who have been sober for about 7 years. Also 34 persons who helped them to rehabilitate by the helped persons’ perspectives, were interviewed. The speciality of the research is that 5 of the ex abusers were also physically or mentally disabled. A Simmelian interaction process analysis was applied for the narrative analysis of the collected data. The aim of the analysis was to define different kinds of configurations of social relations and social binds. According to the research 3 different forms of inclusion are emerged in rehabilitation. At the early stage rehabilitation leans towards controlling the new sober life style (inclusion of life control). When people begin to rely on their temperance, they begin to make decisions about an own way of living (life political inclusion) and can also dissociate from the institutional thought patterns. People must also find a way into the circles of social relationships to develop own esteemed individual settings of codes for their action (inclusion of life orientation). The main result of the research represents the ‘mechanism of the social’ of rehabilitation. It is composed of the forms of inclusion mentioned above, their contents and the specific reflection mechanism of inclusion. It consists of the heavy structure of the disciplines of the rehabilitation system and the light structure of social worlds. Finally rehabilitation in the long run seems to lean on aesthetic of social relationships – how the person is connected to the circle of social relationships in this reflection. The conclusions are the following. The role of institutional disciplines is an important social resource for controlling life. Other institutions, i.e. the institutions of adult education offer opportunities to organize the abuser’s life. Unfortunately, the institutional rehabilitation seems to offer feeble help, especially to those who are actualising a kind of life orientation that does not comply with legitimated institutional thought patterns. If the helpers cannot define the need for aid in this situation, the helped easily becomes perversely socially excluded. In a discreet way the institutional rehabilitation is shaping subjectivities of the ex abusers by transferring responsibilities for them. This incident already increases the uncertainty of life of ex abuser, who is disposed towards feeling shame and inferiority. It is more secure to strengthen social binds with the institutional rehabilitation and its membership. Thus, getting individually responsible increases addictive behaviours.

Hyveiden harjoittaminen : edellytykset ja esteet

In the first half of the 20th century, most moral philosophers took the concept of virtue to be secondary to moral principles or emotions, though in various and mutually conflicting ways. In the early 1960s interest in the virtues was restored by the analytic philosophers Elizabeth Anscombe and Georg Henrik von Wright, the younger colleagues and friends of the late Wittgenstein. Later, Alasdair MacIntyre became a leading virtue ethicist. In 1981, MacIntyre introduced in After Virtue the concept of practices, which he based on the Aristotelian distinction between praxis and poiesis. This dissertation examines MacIntyre s characterization of the interconnectedness between practices and virtues, especially in relation to skills, education, and certain emotions. The primary position of the virtues is defended against the tendency in modern moral philosophy to overemphasize the role either of principles and rules or of emotions. The view according to which rational action and acting according to the virtues is best conceptualized as following rules or principles is criticized by arguments that are grounded by some Wittgensteinian observations, and that can be characterized as transcendental. Even if the virtues cannot be defined by, and are not based entirely on, emotions, the role of certain emotions on the learning and education of skills and virtues are studied more carefully than by MacIntyre. In the cases of resentment, indignation, and shame, the analysis of Peter Strawson is utilized, and in the case of regret, the analysis of Bernard Williams. Williams analysis of regret and moral conflict concludes in a kind of antirealism, which this study criticizes. Where education of practices and skills and the related reactive emotions are examined as conditions of learning and practicing the virtues, institutions and ideologies are examined as obstacles and threats to the virtues. This theme is studied through Karl Marx s conception of alienation and Karl Polanyi s historical and sociological research concerning the great transformation . The study includes six Finnish-published articles carrying the titles Our negative attitudes towards other persons , Authority and upbringing , Moral conflicts, regret and ethical realism , Practices and institutions , Doing justice as condition to communal action: a transcendental argument for justice as virtue , and Alienation from practices in capitalist society: Alasdair MacIntyre s Marxist Aristotelianism . The introductory essay sums up the themes of the articles and presents some central issues of virtue ethics by relating the classical Socratic questions to Aristotelian practical philosophy, as well as to current controversies in metaethics and moral psychology.

El cocinero cómico: maestro de los fogones y de la palabra

Presentado en la Jornada de Teatro Griego "Teatro, poesía y pensamiento en la Atenas del siglo V a. C.", Valencia, 19-20 de noviembre de 2007.

Narrativas de vida de mulheres alcoolistas: contribuições para a prática da enfermeira no CAPS ad

Estudo de natureza qualitativa utilizou o Método de Narrativa de Vida, cujo objeto foi a motivação da mulher alcoolista para iniciar e aderir ao tratamento no Centro de Atenção Psicossocial de Álcool e outras Drogas (CAPS ad). Os objetivos foram: a) conhecer os motivos que levam a mulher alcoolista a iniciar e aderir ao tratamento; b) descrever o itinerário terapêutico percorrido pela mulher alcoolista; c) identificar os fatores que favorecem a adesão da mulher alcoolista ao tratamento; d) discutir a contribuição das narrativas das mulheres alcoolistas para a prática da enfermeira no CAPS ad. Foram entrevistadas 26 mulheres usuárias de álcool em tratamento no CAPS ad, oriundas de dois cenários distintos no Estado do Rio de Janeiro: um CAPS ad de uma cidade do interior do Estado na região Sul Fluminense no Médio Paraíba e um CAPS ad na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. O arcabouço teórico de sustentação do estudo baseou-se em dois pontos: A Reforma Psiquiátrica no Mundo e no Brasil, a evolução da Política Pública, a Legislação Brasileira para atendimento de usuários de álcool e outras drogas, incluindo Itinerários Terapêuticos, a atuação da Equipe Interdisciplinar no CAPS ad e o papel da Enfermeira e da enfermagem na Saúde Mental e no CAPS ad. O alcoolismo feminino, retratando a evolução do papel da mulher contemporânea na sociedade, questões de gênero e as implicações biológicas, culturais e sociais do alcoolismo onde Edwards e colaboradores discutem as questões biopsicosociais envolvidas na questão. A coleta de dados utilizou a entrevista aberta, com pergunta única: Fale-me a respeito de sua vida que tenha relação com a sua motivação para iniciar e aderir ao tratamento de dependência alcoólica que realiza no CAPS ad. A análise evidenciou: que um dos motivos que caracteriza o alcoolismo feminino refere-se ao prazer proporcionado pelo álcool como escape para as mulheres aliviarem o peso de suas vidas. Estas viveram e experimentaram a solidão, a dor, o sofrimento, a vergonha, a discriminação, as perdas e os agravos físicos e psicológicos decorrentes do uso abusivo de bebida alcoólica. Estas mulheres viveram seus conflitos e suas dores sozinhas com raríssimas exceções, até chegarem ao fim do poço, quando então decidiram procurar e aceitar ajuda. Os itinerários terapêuticos apresentados foram: Hospital Geral; Unidade Básica de Saúde; Pré-natal; Alcoólicos Anônimos (AA); CAPS; CAPS i; Ambulatório de Psiquiatria; Hospital Psiquiátrico e Clínica Especializada de Internação. A motivação para terem iniciado o tratamento foram: desejo de mudarem a realidade que viveram; a perda do poder familiar, ou seja, a perda da guarda dos filhos; a solidão que viveram e a imposição de terceiros para iniciarem o tratamento. Como motivação para adesão ao tratamento foi encontrada na totalidade das narrativas a permanência para conseguir ficar sem uso de bebida alcoólica, e o apoio que receberam da equipe interdisciplinar. Na percepção das mulheres em relação à atuação da equipe interdisciplinar do CAPS ad foi relatada sobre a ajuda que receberam, a escuta, o acolhimento, a paciência, o relacionamento interpessoal entre usuários e profissionais, o cuidado, a força para continuar e a valorização delas como sujeitos essenciais de suas histórias.

学习不良少年的自我意识情绪研究

Self-conscious emotions (guilt, shame, embarrassment, pride, etc) are social emotions, and involve complex appraisals of how one’s behavior has been evaluated by the self and other people according to some value standards. Self-conscious emotions play an important role in human life by arousing and regulating human action tendencies, feeling and thoughts, which can promote people to work hard in achievement and task fields, maintain good interpersonal relationship according with social morality and expectation. The present study aimed to examine complex self-conscious emotional understanding capabilities in junior middle school students with and without learning disabilities, how the self-conscious emotions generate, and relationship between self-conscious emotions and self-representation in academic and interpersonal fields. Situational experimental methods were used in this research, and the results would give further supports for learning disabilities intervention. The main results of present research are as follows. 1. The study included 4 parts and 6 experiments. The aim of study 1 was to explore whether juveniles with learning disabilities understood complex self-conscious emotions differently from juveniles without learning disabilities. We surveyed the self-conscious emotions understanding of 37 learning disabilities and 45 non-learning disabilities with the emotional situation stories. The results indicated that the self-conscious emotional recognition in others for learning disabilities was lower than that of non-learning disabilities in different emotional recognition tasks. Moreover, children with learning disabilities were more inclined to recognize emotions in themselves as elemental emotions, however, children without learning disabilities were more inclined to recognize emotions in themselves as self-conscious emotions. 2. The aim of study 2 was to explore the generative mechanism of self-conscious emotions in academic and interpersonal fields with the method of situational experiments, namely to examine whether the self-discrepancy could cause self-conscious emotions for learning disabilities. 84 learning disabilities (in experiment 1) and 80 learning disabilities (in experiment 2) participated in the research, and the results were as follows. (1) Self discrepancy caused participants’ self-conscious emotions effectively in academic and interpersonal fields. One’s own and parents’ perspercive on the actual-ideal self-discrepancy both produced dejection-related emotions (shame、embarrassment) and agitation-related emotions (guilt). （2）In academic fields, children with learning disabilities caused higher level negative self-conscious emotions (embarrassment, shame, and guilt) and lower level positive self-conscious emotion (pride). However, there were no differences of self-conscious emotions for children with and without learning disabilities in non-academic fields. 3. The aim of study 3 was to explore what influence had self-conscious emotions on self-representation for learning disabilities with the method of situational experiments. 57 learning disabilities (in experiment 1) and 67 learning disabilities (in experiment 2) participated in the research, and the results were as follows. （1）The negative self-conscious for learning disabilities could influence their positive or negative academic and positive interpersonal self-representation stability, the ways in which self-evaluation of ability mediate these effects. However, there was no significant effect for the negative self-conscious and self-evaluation of ability predicting negative interpersonal self-representation stability. （2）The stability level of positive academic and interpersonal self-representation for learning disabilities was lower than that of non-learning disabilities. There was no significant difference of the negative interpersonal self-representation stability for children with and without learning disabilities in the positive self-conscious valence condition. However, the stability level of negative interpersonal self-representation for learning disabilities was lower than that of non-learning disabilities in the negative self-conscious valence condition. 4. The aim of study 4 was to explore the intervention effects for self-conscious emotions training course on emotional comprehension cability. 65 learning disabilities (34 in experimental group, and 31 in control group) participated in the research. The results showed that self-conscious emotions course boosted the self-conscious emotions apprehensive level for children with learning disabilities.

Luctus est istic tuus,/ crimen novercae. Boskie i ludzkie szaleństwo Heraklesa na podstawie tragedii Eurypidesa i Seneki

One of the main, initial thesis of the article is that in the tragedies `Hρακλής μαινόμενος by Euripides and Hercules Furens by Seneca the main character falls into the madness twice. The first madness is sent by Hera/ Juno and is here defined, because of its origin, as a divine madness. The second one is so called human madness and Heracles/ Hercules is most probably overcome by it, after he has recognised, that he, driven by the involuntary fury, killed his own wife and sons. This state of the psyche of the hero is already independent from the deity and originates in such deeply human feelings like despair, anger, pain, shame. The strongly stirred hero plans to commit a suicide. According to the contemporary psychology this situation can be, because of some reasons analysed in the article, recognised as a symptom of irrationality. In the drama by Seneca Amfithryon, the father of the hero also defines the state of Hercules, who has become aware of the truth about his deeds, outright as furor. There is in the drama by Euripides, however, no reference to this second madness, which is connected with the somewhat different mentality that the drama originated in (the still kept in memory Homeric ethos and the attitudes towards the issues of honour, suicide etc. determined by it). Seneca as a stoic noticed and emphasized – although he generally also accepted the suicide – that Hercules, because of the anger, acts irrationally and, as a result, is in fact mentally unable to decide about his life and death. In the article is also presented in what an interesting way the above mentioned differences in the mentality of Euripides and Seneca manifest themselves in the case of the divine madness (among other things, the difference between Greek Lyssa and Roman Furor).

Peace and Peacemaking in Paul Against the Backdrop of Greco-Roman Conceptions of Peace

Peace in the ancient world has been studied primarily from the perspective of pacifism and questions related to war and peace. This study employs a socio-historical method to determine how peace was understood in itself, not just with respect to war. It demonstrates that the Greco-Roman world viewed peace as brief periods of tranquility in an existence where conflict was the norm, while Paul regarded peace as the norm and conflict as an intrusive aberration. Through a historical and literary survey of Greco-Roman thought and culture, this study shows that myth, legend, religion, education, philosophy, and science created and perpetuated the idea that conflict was necessary for existence. Wars were fought to attain peace, which meant periods of calm, quiet, and security with respect to the gods, one's inner self, nature, others who are insiders, and others who are outsiders. Despite the desirability of peace, genuine peace was seldom experienced, and even then, only briefly, as underlying enmity persisted without resolution. While Paul supports the prevailing conception of peace as tranquility and felicity in relation to God, self, nature, and others, he differs as to the origin, attainment, and maintenance of peace. In Paul, peace originates in God and is graciously given to those who are justified and reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. God removes the enmity caused by sin and provides the indwelling Spirit to empower believers to think and behave in ways that promote and maintain peace. This study also examines how three social dynamics (honor-shame, patron-client, friendship-enmity) affect Paul's approach to conflict resolution with Philemon and Onesimus, Euodia and Syntyche, believers who are prosecuting one another in civil courts, and Peter. Rather than giving specific procedures for resolving conflict, Paul reinforces the believer's new identity in Christ and the implications of God's grace, love, and peace upon their thoughts, words, and behavior toward one another. Paul uses these three social dynamics to encourage believers in the right direction, but their ultimate accountability is to God. The study concludes with four strategic principles for educating the church and developing an atmosphere and attitude within the church for peacemaking.

Spank performance tour [at National Review of Live Art 2008]

Spank is a duet about two women’s journeys as they play out different roles. One woman recalls stinging anecdotes marked by intimacy, jealousy, fear and fantasy from her childhood in the 70s suburbs – round the corner from where Mike Leigh would film Life Is Sweet. Her Double (projected on screen) reads from a newspaper about an event that punctured the local community, creating an enduring cultural scar, her voice lacking emotion. Both women must eventually face one another and ask, who is deceiving whom? The consequences of guilt and shame and the unstable shift from private memory to public consequence is inevitable and deadly.[ABSTRACT BY THE AUTHOR]

Anger, aggression, and self-harm in PTSD and complex PTSD

This study examined the contribution of complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis and symptomatology to the difficulties of anger, aggression, and self-harm in a Northern Ireland clinical community sample. A "current complex PTSD" (CCPTSD) group (n = 11) was compared with a "current PTSD" group (n = 31) on self-report measures of these variables. The CCPTSD group demonstrated significantly higher levels of physical aggression and selfharm than the PTSD group. The complex PTSD symptom of 'alterations in self-perception' was a significant predictor of aggression and history of self-harm, suggesting the potential role of posttraumatic shame and self-loathing in PTSD theoretical models of these destructive behaviors. Social desirability was a notable confounding influence in the assessment of anger, aggression, and self-harm in traumatised individuals.

Trauma typology as a risk factor for aggression and self-harm in a complex PTSD population: The mediating role of alterations in self-perception

This study examined the role of prolonged, repeated traumatic experiences such as childhood and sectarian trauma in the development of posttraumatic aggression and self-harm. Forty-four adult participants attending therapy for complex trauma in Northern Ireland were obtained via convenience sampling. When social desirability was controlled, childhood emotional and physical neglect were significant correlates of posttraumatic hostility and history of self-harm. These relationships were mediated by alterations in self-perception (e.g., shame, guilt). Severity of sectarian-related experiences was not related to self-destructive behaviors. Moreover, none of the trauma factors were related to overt aggressive behavior. The findings have implications for understanding risk factors for posttraumatic aggression and self-harm, as well as their treatment. © 2013 Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Reintegrative and Disintegrative Shaming:Legal and Ethical Issues

Abstract
This chapter considers a range of legal and ethical issues raised by the use of reintegrative and disintegrative shaming techniques (Braithwaite, 1989) with sex offenders. ‘Disintegrative shaming’ labels and stigmatises offenders, ostracises them from the local community and may result in violence directed towards offenders (McAlinden, 2005, 2007). ‘Reintegrative shaming’, on the other hand, focuses on rehabilitating the offender within a supportive community environment and assisting the offender in their efforts to change. The former is evident in the range of recent legislative responses designed to protect the community from sex offenders such as notification as well as the popular demand for measures which ‘name and shame’ known sex offenders. The latter is more clearly related to restorative measures such as circles of support and accountability. This chapter argues that although traditionally at opposite ends of the intervention spectrum, each type of mechanism gives rise to potentially difficult legal and ethical considerations.

A Preliminary Qualitative Investigation of Voice Hearing and Its Association with Dissociation in Chronic PTSD

Following on from a quantitative study, this research used a qualitative methodology to investigate the lived experience of 3 men with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder associated with the conflict in Northern Ireland who reported auditory hallucinations. Data analysis used the Framework method. Results showed that beliefs about voices, dissociation of identity and body, and interpersonal impact were central superordinate themes associated with auditory hallucinations in posttraumatic stress disorder. Central subordinate themes included feeling a lack of controllability over voices, experiencing them as ego-dystonic, and feeling an increased sense of isolation and shame because of their presence. Results provide an in-depth analysis of participants' lived experiences and enhance understanding of previous quantitative findings.

Empowering the Shamed Self: Recognition and Critical Social Work

Summary: This article provides a review of the contribution of Axel Honneth’s model of recognition for critical social work. While Honneth’s tripartite conceptualisation of optimal identity-formation is positively appraised, his analysis of the link between misrecognition, the experience of shame and eventual sense of moral outrage, is contested. Drawing on a range of sources, including the sociology of shame, Honneth’s ideas about the emotional antecedents of emancipatory action are revised to guide critical social work with misrecognised service users.

Findings: The intellectual background to Honneth’s recognition model, emanating from leading German philosophers, is described and its application to social work set out. Even so, Honneth’s model is found to be deficient in one primary regard: its assumption about the emotional antecedents to quests for withheld recognition is misapprehended. In particular, the argument in this article is that the ubiquitous emotion of shame, which Honneth argues flows from misrecognition, must be carefully addressed through the medium of relationship, otherwise it might lead to repressed shame and frustrated attempts at social struggle. To this end, a social work process is delineated for dealing with shame, following episodes of misrecognition.

Applications: Honneth’s model of recognition, along with revised ideas about how to recognise and manage shame, is incorporated into a conceptual framework for critical social work practice. With this renewed understanding of the impact of shame, following misrecognition, social workers should be better equipped conceptually to enable service users to take action for empowerment.

Families and Poverty: Everyday life on a low income

The recent radical cutbacks of the welfare state in the UK have meant that poverty and income management continue to be of great importance for intellectual, public and policy discourse. Written by leading authors in the field, the central interest of this innovative book is the role and significance of family in a context of poverty and low-income. Based on a micro-level study carried out in 2011 and 2012 with 51 families in Northern Ireland, it offers new empirical evidence and a theorisation of the relationship between family life and poverty. Different chapters explore parenting, the management of money, family support and local engagement. By revealing the ordinary and extraordinary practices involved in constructing and managing family and relationships in circumstances of low incomes, the book will appeal to a wide readership, including policy makers.