Naturalising Ethics: The Implications of Darwinism for the Study of Moral Philosophy

The nature of moral values has occupied philosophers and educationalists for centuries and a variety of claims have been made about their origin and status. One tradition suggests they may be thoughts in the mind of God; another that they are eternal truths to be reached by rational reflection (much like the truths of mathematics) or alternatively through intuition; another that they are social conventions; and another (from the logical positivists) that they are not verifiable facts but simply the expression of emotional likes and dislikes. Standard introductory texts (e.g., Bowie 2004; Vardy and Grosch 1999) on the subject of ethics rarely mention Darwin or Darwinism (Mepham 2005 is a useful exception) possibly mindful of the fact that the relationship of evolutionary biology to moral questions has had a troublesome history. The effect of this has been that whole generations of moral philosophers have given the biological sciences a wide berth and consequently often remain poorly informed about recent advances in evolutionary thought and the neurosciences. On the other hand, scientists have developed interesting models of the evolution of the moral sentiments and are using new imaging techniques to explore the centres of the brain associated with emotion and motivation, but many have been fearful of committing the naturalistic fallacy and so have steered clear of extrapolating their findings to ethical questions. No one after all wants to be seen to be committing an elementary logical blunder. But in the last 20 years, evolutionary biologists have regained the confidence to explore the implications of evolution for the study of ethics (de Waal 1996; Wilson 1998; Wright 1994; Greene 2003). This paper is designed to encourage those entrusted with the teaching of ethics to be open to the potential of Darwinism as a source of ideas on the origins and status of ethical thought and behaviour. It is also hoped that it will illustrate for science educators the enormous explanatory power inherent in Darwinian thought.     

Iris Murdoch, Liberal Education and Human Flourishing

Articulating the good of liberal education—what we should teach and why we should teach it—is necessary to resist the subversion of liberal education to economic or political ends and the mania for measurable skills. I argue that Iris Murdoch's philosophical writings enrich the work of contemporary Aristotelians, such as Joseph Dunne and Alasdair MacIntyre, on these issues. For Murdoch, studies in the arts and intellectual subjects, by connecting students to the inescapable contingency and finitude of human existence, contribute to the cultivation of intellectual and moral virtues and thus to human flourishing.     

道德认同及其伦理意义

道德认同就是个体对社会道德体系中诸多规范的认可程度和接受程度。道德认同的内涵主要有认同道德规范,认同道德原则,认同道德观念,认同道德行为等。其伦理意义为深化道德认知,加速道德内化,完善道德人格等。     

臆想与关注的对立--从《大海啊,大海》看艾丽丝·默多克的伦理道德哲学

本文以默多克的小说<大海啊,大海>为主要文本,来了解其关于善的理念的伦理道德哲学,通过分析<大海啊,大海>及其主人公查尔斯人物形象,得出人物臆想与关注是对立的结论.     

大学生道德认同与人性哲学对道德判断的影响

运用问卷法,以213名大学生为被试,调查其道德认同、人性哲学与道德判断的状况,并探讨前两者与道德判断之间的关系。结果显示:(1)大学生群体在道德认同、道德判断以及人性哲学两个维度方面得分均较高;(2)道德认同得分与道德判断呈显著正相关;(3)人性哲学与道德判断总分之间无显著相关,但是人性哲学中的"愤世嫉俗"维度与道德判断中的"该受谴责"维度存在显著负相关。     

善:人追寻的终极光源 --艾丽丝·默多克道德哲学研究

在默多克的道德哲学中,"善"是一个核心概念,它隐于人的道德生活中,是不可见的,是知识的源泉和人存在的根本.人的"意识"是道德存在的基本模式,是参与着一种现实化了的善的观念.人在善的指引下,消解意识中的"自我","关注"他者,从而发现"他性"世界的实在.     

论国家认同、民族认同及文化认同——一种基于历史哲学的分析与思考

人类是一种历史性的存在,因此人的认同问题必须从历史发展的角度去看。在经济全球化的现时代,人员、信息与货物的跨国流动,使人们的身份认同、文化认同和国家认同日益成为一个必须时刻思考和作出选择的问题,人们都会遇到文化认同、民族认同和国家认同的问题。在文化认同与民族(族群)认同、国家认同的关系,在全球化背景下如何强化国家认同的维度上,从发展的角度看,我们必须把国家认同放在高于民族(族群)认同的地位,这就是说,族群的认同不能超越或凌驾于国家认同之上,国家的文化认同必须大于族群的文化认同;应该通过构造中华民族文化共同的文化基础和文化象征符号的重建,增加民族认同与国家认同的重叠内容,以形成统一的中华民族共同体。必须把经济社会的区域均衡发展置于今后工作的重心位置,并且通过人口的流动促进人民之间的交流与文化融合;强化国家认同还必须有政策和法规的支撑,譬如,共同的语言、政治仪式、文化符号等等的规定。总之,在历史进程之中,我们必须把国家认同置于文化认同之上,用公民的国家认同促进文化认同。     

哲学、语言、自我与同一性

西方哲学以人为起点,寻求智慧的外扩和知识体系的完备,这一求索过程导致了人的深刻分裂,同一性成为一种乌托邦似的幻想。西方哲学在中国的传播既有待通过语言的融合达成文化的融合,也给我们一种期待：借东方思维与西方思维的互补以弥补理性制造的巨大裂痕。     

“伦”与“孝”价值同一性的道德哲学解读

伦与孝是中国传统道德哲学中非常重要的元素。在传统文化的发展过程中,二者在多方面都表现出价值同一性的特点。首先是价值源头的共源性,表现为都以家族血缘关系为伦理的源头;其次是伦理思维范式的一致性,体现在都从实体性出发开展伦理内容;最后是伦理建构模式的同构性,表现为在血缘关系的基础上,建立尊卑有等的长幼秩序,这些共同体现了中华民族伦理文化的精神特质和独特韵味。     

教育理想、教师专业认同与个人认同: 试论三者的关系及其意义

教师具有的专业技能是教师专业身份的重要维度,但主要是有关教育活动的效用维度,且主要以技术性和工具性为特征.使教育成为可能的层面还必然涉及价值维度,因而教育价值和教育理想在教师的专业认同中占有不可或缺的角色.教师使命背后的教育理想无不与个人价值密切相关.个人价值是个人认同的一个构成维度,所以,教师的专业认同与其个人认同在价值层面应是一致的.如此,教师对教育理想的反思和对其专业认同的理解与她/他对个人认同的理解分不开.哲学家利科对个人认同概念和叙事认同概念的分析,为教师反思其教育理想和理解其专业认同提供了一种可能的学习模式.     

哲学文化与大学思想道德教育境界论要

大学生是中国未来先进文化和领导者的潜在群体。在培养他们具有综合文化素质的同时,一定要培养他们具备高品味文化和高超的领导才能,这里的核心和重点是必须构建、塑造他们的辩证思维品质和哲学文化素养。这个哲学文化是基于辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义,在理性思维形态上所达到的一种状态和程度。构建属于自己的理性头脑是大学生思想道德素质的最高境界。哲学文化是大学思想道德教育所要追求的最高境界。     

构建高职德育文化的行为识别(BI)体系

拓展德育文化的丰富资源,用合目的性的高职德育文化内容引导学生的道德行为是德育文化行为识别(BI)构建的主要指向。重点从德育文化内容的角度,提出了高职德育文化行为识别体系的构建措施:夯实校本德育文化、挖掘区域德育文化、传承传统德育文化、对接职业德育文化、萃取异域德育文化、拓展网络德育文化。     

The Implications of Culture and Identity: A Professor's Engagement with a Reform Collaborative

In this study, part of a larger United States project investigating K16 teachers and science reform, we seek to understand how a science professor's participation in a large-scale reform effort affects her conceptions of teaching, teachers, and reform. The topic in this study concerned how the professor's teaching identity was modified and created by the reform effort as she mediated her participation. A multiple-method approach utilizing (a) semi-structured interviews/correspondences with four students and the professor, (b) classroom observations, and (c) field notes, comprised the data collection. Results indicated that, although the professor was inclined to try out new teaching strategies in her classroom, the project failed to create pedagogical dissonance thus leading to her lack of desire to accommodate a more inquiry-based pedagogy.     

积善成德:荀子道德哲学的理性主义进路及其当代启示——一种德性伦理学的视角

自宋明以降,传统儒家的发展就其理论方向而言主要是孟子学一路的充分展开,此种情形一直持续到20世纪以来的当代新儒家那里。在此理论背景之下,儒家道德哲学的理论建构被简单地化约为孟子学意义上的情感主义进路。就思想史本身而言,这造成了对儒学内部丰富性和复杂性的一种遮蔽;就儒学之作为一种具有现实生命力的思想文化而言,更不利于我们充分发掘传统儒学内部多元性的思想资源以实现其在当代的理论重建。研究表明:作为孔子之后早期儒家最具代表性的两种道德哲学典范,孟子将道德基础建立在情感之上,代表了一种情感主义的理论取向,而荀子则以理性为基点展开其道德哲学,则代表了一种理性主义的理论取向,二者在理论建构上呈现出一副相映成趣而又殊途同归的图景。在儒家伦理学与德性伦理学会通的学术视野之下,从"人之所以为人者"、"涂之人可以为禹"、"是是非非谓之智"以及"积礼义而为君子"等四个问题的探析入手,揭示荀子道德哲学建构的理性主义进路这一独特的理论特质及其之于儒学重建所可能的当代启示。     

Technology, Narcissism, and the Moral Sense: Implications for Instruction

Numerous researchers (Kohn, 1994; Kottler, 1992; Katz, 1993a, 1995; Streibel, 1994; Tingle, 1992) have recently examined the rise of narcissism in American culture and especially its relationship to education. However, William Damon's (1995) analysis of narcissism, which he frames against the larger dynamic of related social and cultural realities, is particularly engaging, although somewhat ominous:
Our heightened concern with children's internal mental states has combined with the increased child-centeredness of modern times to create crippling imbalances in children's views of themselves and the world. When we tell children that their first goal is self-love, we are suggesting to them that they are the center of the universe. By contributing further to the already child-centered orientation of modern culture, this emphasis can push a child toward a narcissistic insensitivity to the needs of others. We should not dispute the value of self-love, but we should question its utility as a primary goal in raising and educating children. (p. 77)
Damon's assessment of child-rearing practices offers compelling reasons to reconsider self-love as the central focus of such practices. His comments are additionally significant because they suggest a causative connection between child-centeredness and narcissism and between narcissism and social insensitivity. In citing these connections, Damon is echoing Christopher Lasch's (1979) equally troubling warning made almost twenty years ago in The Culture of Narcissism —a warning linking the 'culture of narcissism' to numerous dysfunctions within social institutions, including a multiplicity of failings in schooling. (Ryan, 1997, p. 233)     

民族文化认同:内涵与结构

民族文化认同是个体获得、保持与创新自身民族文化的社会心理过程,是文化变迁和融合中的必然现象.在考察民族文化认同相关研究的基础上,结合心理测量和社会认知理论,探讨民族文化认同的内在属性、基本内容与结构,旨在为民族文化认同的计量研究夯实相关的理论基础,进而准确把握民族文化认同及其相关变量间的确切关系,寻求民族文化认同对于民族延续、社会促进与和谐的理论与实践价值.     

Educating Community Intellectuals: Rhetoric, Moral Philosophy, and Civic Engagement

This article encourages technical and professional communication programs to take on the challenge of educating students to become “community intellectuals.” The notion of educating future professionals for a career needs to be reconsidered in light of both current research concerning civic rhetoric and past practices in moral humanism courses. The triumvirate of rhetoric, ethics, and moral philosophy provides an effective foundation for reconfiguring existing pedagogy in the field and offers insights for nurturing community intellectuals.     

Assimilation, Faith and Identity: Educational Implications of Change and Continuity

In England, the presence of an established church places its adherents within the social mainstream. Other religious groups have been tolerated though suffering social and educational disadvantages. With the passage of time through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, minority religious groups such as Irish Catholics have been assimilated into the host culture, and allowed to have their own schools.
However, it would appear that contemporary movements of people to the United Kingdom have retained loyalties not only to their own religion, but, in some instances to their own language, which they perceive as a vital element of their own culture and identity. Demands for schools, within the state-funded system, for minority religious groups have not lessened. As faith schools in England increase in number, their role in a multicultural society becomes increasingly problematic. Lessons about changing models of assimilation and identity can be learnt from a brief review of the historic Irish Catholic experience that, in turn, can illuminate the current experience of a Greek Orthodox school in south London.