Module 3: Morality and Politics

Question 1

What is Kolberg’s developmental theory?

Answer 1

People go from lower stages of reasoning (to avoid punishment for wrongdoing) to higher stages (social contract and universal principles to guide moral actions)

Question 2

Which groups commonly exhibit the Pre-conventional level of reasoning?

Answer 2

Mostly children but also adults, soldiers, and prisoners (people who blindly obey orders)

Question 3

What are the reasoners for Pre-conventional reasoning?

Answer 3

Judge morality of an action by its direct consequences
Solely concerned with the self in an egocentric manner
Not yet adopted or internalized society’s conventions regarding what is right or wrong
Focus largely on external consequences that certain actions may bring

Question 4

Stage 1 (obedience and punishment driven)

Answer 4

Individuals focus on direct consequences of their actions on themselves.
E.g. an action is perceived as morally wrong because the perpetrator is punished. “The last time I did that I got spanked so I will not do it again.”
The worse the punishment for the act is, the more “bad” the act is perceived to be
This can give rise to an inference that even innocent victims are guilty in proportion to their suffering.
“Egocentric” - lacking recognition that others’ points of view are different from one’s own
“Deference to superior power or prestige”

Question 5

Stage 2 (self-interest driven)

Answer 5

“What’s in it for me” position
Right behaviour is defined by whatever the individual believes to be in their best interest but understood in a narrow way which does not consider one’s reputation or relationships to groups of people.
Limited interest in the needs of others but only to a point where it might further the individual’s own interests.
Concern for others is not based on loyalty or respect, but rather a “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.” mentality.
The lack of a societal perspective in the pre-conventional level is different from the social contract (stage five)

Question 6

Which groups commonly exhibit the Conventional level of reasoning?

Answer 6

Adolescents and adults

Question 7

What are the reasoners for Conventional reasoning?

Answer 7

Judge the morality of actions by comparing them to society’s views & expectations.
Accept society’s conventions concerning right and wrong.
Obey rules and follows society’s norms even when there are no consequences for obedience or disobedience
Adhere to rules & conventions rigidly & a rule’s appropriateness or fairness is seldom questioned.

Question 8

Stage three (interpersonal accord & conformity driven)

Answer 8

The self enters society by filling social roles - individuals are receptive to approval or disapproval from others as it reflects society’s accordance with the perceived role.
They try to be a “good boy” or “good girl” to live up to these expectations, having learned that there is inherent value in doing so.
Judge the morality of an action by evaluating its consequences in terms of a person’s relationships, which now begin to include things like respect, gratitude and the “golden rule.”
“I want to be liked and thought well of; apparently, not being naughty makes people like me.”
Desire to maintain rules & authority exists only to further support these social roles.
The intentions of actors play a more significant role in reasoning at this stage; one may feel more forgiving if one thinks, “they mean well …”.

Question 9

Stage four (authority & social order obedience driven)

Answer 9

Important to obey laws & social conventions because of their importance in maintaining a functioning society.
Moral reasoning is beyond the need for individual approval (stage three) - a central ideal or ideals prescribe what is right and wrong.
If one person violates a law, perhaps everyone would — thus an obligation & a duty to uphold laws and rules.
 When someone does violate a law, it is morally wrong; culpability is thus a significant factor as it separates the bad domains from the good ones.
Most active members of society remain at stage four, where morality is still predominantly dictated by an outside force.

Question 10

Post-Conventional (the Principled Level)

Answer 10

Growing realization that:
Individuals are separate entities from society
Individual’s own perspective may take precedence over society’s view
Individuals may disobey rules inconsistent with their own principles

Question 11

Post-conventional moralists

Answer 11

Live by their own ethical principles — principles that typically include such basic human rights as life, liberty, & justice.
View rules as useful but changeable mechanisms — ideally rules can maintain the general social order & protect human rights; rules are not absolute dictates that must be obeyed without question.
Elevate their own moral evaluation of a situation over social conventions, therefore sometimes their behaviour can be confused with that of those at the pre-conventional level. Some theorists have speculated that many people may never reach this level of abstract moral reasoning

Question 12

Stage five (social contract driven)

Answer 12

The world is viewed as holding different opinions, rights & values.
Such perspectives should be mutually respected as unique to each person or community.
Laws are regarded as social contracts rather than rigid edicts - those that do not promote the general welfare should be changed when necessary to meet “the greatest good for the greatest number of people”.
This is achieved through majority decision & inevitable compromise
Democratic government is ostensibly based on stage five reasoning.

Question 13

Stage six (universal ethical principles driven)

Answer 13

Moral reasoning is based on abstract reasoning using universal ethical principles.
Laws are valid only insofar as they are grounded in justice, & a commitment to justice carries with it an obligation to disobey unjust laws.
Legal rights are unnecessary, as social contracts are not essential for obligatory moral action

Question 14

Does Morality need Religion?

Answer 14

Atheists/agnostics do not behave less morally than religious believers
Among industrialized countries, secular Europe appears more “moral” than religious United States
Secular Europe:
Lower crime rates
Better welfare protection for people in need
Less social inequality
Gives much more (as proportion of GDP) foreign aid (e.g. Sweden – 4 times more than U.S.)
Historically speaking, religion has led people to commit horrendous crimes (e.g. Crusades, Inquisition, Sunni-Shiite conflicts, religious fanaticism)

Question 15

“Runway trolley” problem

Answer 15

Most people, religious or not, choose “permissible” to flip the switch

Question 16

“Drowning child” problem

Answer 16

Most people, religious or not, say it is obligatory to pick up the child

Question 17

What is the difference between moral relativism and moral universalism?

Answer 17

Moral relativism: moral judgements are true or false only relative to some particular standpoint e.g. that of a culture or a historical period
Moral universalism: the opposite of moral relativism. Even though people disagree & some may even be unpersuadable (e.g. someone who is closed-minded), there is still a meaningful sense in which an action may be more “moral” than another. There are objective standards of evaluation that seem worth calling “moral facts”—regardless of whether they are universally accepted

Question 18

What are Shrewder’s ethics of CAD: community, autonomy, and divinity?

Answer 18

They are the code of ethics that guide people’s moral judgments around the world

Question 19

What is the Ethic of Autonomy?

Answer 19

Views morality in terms of individual freedom & rights violations
Emphasis on personal choice, right to engage in free contracts, & individual liberty
Activity immoral if it interferes with rights of another person (e.g. stealing someone’s lunch money)
Of critical importance in all cultures

Question 20

What is the Ethic of Community?

Answer 20

Emphasizes that individuals have duties that conform with their roles in a community or social hierarchy
There exists an ethical principle to uphold one’s interpersonal duties & obligations towards others
Morality as violation of hierarchical structures (e.g. addressing respected elder informally

Question 21

What is the Ethic of Divinity?

Answer 21

Concerned with sanctity & the perceived “natural order” of things
Contains ethical principle that one is obligated to preserve the standards mandated by a transcendent authority
Immoral actions - any action that reduces one’s own or another’s purity (e.g. caricaturing the prophet Muhammad in the eyes of Muslims)

Question 22

What are Culture Wars?

Answer 22

Polarized public debates

Question 23

Orthodoxy vs Progressivism

Answer 23

Orthodoxy:
Committed to idea of transcendent authority which is viewed to have existed long before humans & operate independently of people
This authority is perceived to be more knowledgeable & powerful than all of human experience
This transcendent authority originated a moral code & revealed it to human beings in sacred text
This code is perceived to stand across all times & circumstances & shouldn’t be altered to accommodate societal changes or individual differences
Individuals & society are expected to adapt themselves to this ordained moral code
Progressivism:
Importance of human agency in understanding & formulating a moral code
Rejects the view that a transcendent authority reveals itself & its will to humans
Because social circumstances change, our moral code must change along with them

Question 24

What are the pillars of Haidt’s multidimensional theory of morality?

Answer 24

1. Care/Harm – for others, protecting them from harm.
2. Fairness/Cheating – justice, reciprocity, proportionality (treating others in proportion to their actions)
3. Liberty/Oppression – judgments in terms of whether subjects are tyrannized
4. Loyalty/Betrayal – to your in-group, family, nation.
5. Authority/Subversion – respect for tradition & legitimate authority
6. Sanctity/Degradation – purity, avoiding disgusting things, foods, actions

Question 25

Liberals vs. Conservatives

Answer 25

Liberals (left-wingers):
Primarily concerned with not hurting others, being fair, hatred for bullies & dominators.
Less “disgust sensitive”
Conservatives (right-wingers):
Concerned with all 6 dimensions
More “disgust sensitive”: Esp. regarding “messy” sexuality – abortion (blood) & homosexuality (feces). Any morally questionable offence is liable to become infused with feelings of revulsion

Question 26

Intercultural differences of moral outlooks

Answer 26

Issues of harm & fairness - part of the moral domain in all cultures
Other issues (e.g. purity, loyalty to the in-group, & respect for authority) - considered part of the moral domain in some cultural groups but not in others
Western cultures apply mainly the ethic of autonomy
Non-Western societies apply all moral foundations

Question 27

Intracultural differences

Answer 27

Religiosity:
Religiously conservative (in the United States) apply the divinity ethic more than the autonomy ethic compared with religiously liberal people
Education:
Education consistently correlates negatively with community and divinity moral principles
Educated people attribute lower importance to values emphasizing adherence to social & religious expectations - do not see actions that conflict with these values as moral violations

Question 28

What is the Principle of Need?

Answer 28

Resources are directed toward those who need them the most (e.g. a student who is planning to go to law school as a means to earn the money to support his sick mother would receive a higher grade than a student who is going to become a professional athlete)
In most modern industrialized societies through institutions such as universal health insurance (sick receive more benefits than healthy) or welfare system (needy receive more benefits than those who are not)
Also governs people’s beliefs in distributing resources in less formal situations (e.g. contributing to charities)

Question 29

What is the Principle of Equality?

Answer 29

Resources should be shared equally among the members of a group (e.g. instructor assigns everyone in the class the exact same grade regardless of what each one did in the course)
Common in collectivistic countries (e.g. Japan)
Rarely applied in its strongest form, rather equality tends to be preserved within a certain range of constraints (e.g. age, official credentials)
Seniority system:
Time with the company or age are being rewarded
Disadvantage is that it weakens the link between one’s inputs & one’s outputs
Advantage is it promotes harmonious relations by decreasing intragroup competition

Question 30

What is the Principle of Equity?

Answer 30

Resources are distributed based on an individual’s abilities & contributions (e.g. instructor distributes grades based on how many questions the students answer correctly on the exam)
Dominant form of resource distribution in the West - companies compensate their employees by basing their salary largely on what the individual achieves (e.g. commission)
Meritocracy - a social system that rewards individuals on the basis of the equity principle:
Most common in individualistic societies
Advantage: lead workers to be highly motivated to work hard, increases productivity
Disadvantage: limited resources - breeds competition among workers, potentially disrupting harmonious relations among them

Question 31

Bonus Money Scenario:
American vs Indians
Australians vs Japanese

Answer 31

One of the employees was described as having excellent work performance & an adequate economic situation; the other employee had only average work performance, but was in a poor financial situation with an illness in the family - how to divide up bonus money?
1. Give more to excellent worker
2. Give more to needy worker
3. Split evenly down the middle
Americans: favour the excellent (equity) & least favour the needy; Indians: favour the needy & least favour the excellent
Australians more prefer equitable distribution of rewards than Japanese

Question 32

Magistrate and the Mod Scenario: Chinese vs. Americans

Answer 32

An unidentified member of an ethnic group is known to be responsible for a murder that occurred in a town … Because the town has a history of severe ethnic conflict and rioting, the town’s Police Chief and Judge know that if they do not immediately identify and punish a culprit, the townspeople will start anti-ethnic rioting that will cause great damage to property owned by members of the ethnic group, and a considerable number of serious injuries and deaths in the ethnic population ….
The Police Chief and Judge are faced with a dilemma. They can falsely accuse, convict, and imprison Mr. Ho, an innocent member of the ethnic group, in order to prevent the riots. Or they can continue hunting for the guilty man, thereby allowing the anti-ethnic riots to occur, and do the best they can to combat the riots until the guilty man is apprehended ….
The Police Chief and the Judge decide to falsely accuse, convict, and imprison Mr. Ho, the innocent member of the ethnic group, in order to prevent the riots. They do so, thereby preventing the riots and preventing a considerable number of ethnic group deaths and serious injuries.

Americans:
Condemn the decision by the Police Chief and Judge - individual rights should always be held above all else
Concern primarily with rights of the individual
Chinese:
Also disagree with the Police Chief and Judge’s decision, but they don’t view their decision as morally wrong
like the Americans do
More likely than the Americans to hold the potential rioters responsible for the scapegoating - attribute more responsibility at the level of the group
More sympathy for the good of the collective