01 Nov 06
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Originally posted by DoctorScribblesMy dissertation is completely God-free, but I do make fun of traditional Kantians and Evangelicals throughout the third and fourth chapters. Nice to hear from you!
To what extent is God discussed in your doctoral dissertation? Does he at least get a mention in the Acknowledgements?
01 Nov 06
Originally posted by PawnokeyholeI'm a little less than half finished. Actually, the second chapter is one you'd be interested in. I'm defending the possibility of virtue based ethics from situation(al)ist psychology. There's a new book by Doris called "Lack of Character" where he amasses studies (e.g. Milgram, Stanford Prison, Princeton Seminary, etc.) to show that people don't have (and possibly can't have) the sorts of characters that virtue ethics thinks people should have.
How close are you to finishing? I wouldn't mind reading a copy, if you wouldn't mind sharing.
01 Nov 06
Originally posted by kirksey957Yes. The spiritual forum here has 1) made me wary of trying to accomodate putatively "common sense" intuitions in my work, and 2) reinforced my belief that autocratic (or, in philosophical jargonese, "voluntarist"😉 ethical theories tend to advocate very childlike forms of moral deliberation (essentially rule-based deliberation, where the rules are handed down from an authority, and the role of one's own powers of discernment are minimalized).
Has the spiritual forum here had any impact on your dissertation?
01 Nov 06
Originally posted by bbarrI hope you will not footnote me.
Yes. The spiritual forum here has 1) made me wary of trying to accomodate putatively "common sense" intuitions in my work, and 2) reinforced my belief that autocratic (or, in philosophical jargonese, "voluntarist"😉 ethical theories tend to advocate very childlike forms of moral deliberation (essentially rule-based deliberation, where the rules are handed down from an authority, and the role of one's own powers of discernment are minimalized).
02 Nov 06
Originally posted by bbarrCan't agree any more with that. The theological voluntarists around here remind me of Piaget's studies who are in the (~ 5 - 10 year old) "heteronomous morality of constraint" stage.
2) reinforced my belief that autocratic (or, in philosophical jargonese, "voluntarist"😉 ethical theories tend to advocate very childlike forms of moral deliberation (essentially rule-based deliberation, where the rules are handed down from an authority, and the role of one's own powers of discernment are minimalized).
