slides

1. Jonathan Glover: the moral resources
psychological “backdrop” for moral behavior
sympathy
respect
moral identity
(self interest)

2. Jonathan Glover: the moral resources
psychological “backdrop” for moral behavior
Self interest is not the “enemy” of
moral behavior
I t can reinforce cooperation with
others

3. Police interrogating “partners” separately
Strategy: get them to “flip” on their partner
Assumption: self interest = disloyalty to partner

4. Self interest reinforces cooperation
The Prisoners’ Dilemma
Consideration for the interests of others will also
benefit self interest

5. Social pressure
and individual
conformity
Plato’s “Ring of Gyges” myth:
the cloak of invisibility
If guaranteed anonymity, most
people would violate morality
with impunity

6. Social pressure and individual conformity
In social reality: no one is anonymous
reputation and self-image are
motivators for moral behavior

7. Jonathan Glover: the moral resources
psychological “backdrop” for moral behavior
sympathy
respect
m oral identity

8. Psychological resource of sympathy
Capacity to be affected by others and to care for
their interests
Built from our bonds with family, friends, etc.

9. Psychological resource of respect
Capacity to discern and acknowledge the dignity of
others
Recognition of their status as members of the moral
community
Instinctive response to fellow human beings
Socially “ritualized”

10. Psychological resource of respect
natural response of respect – susceptible to gradual
erosion and suppression
barriers against moral wrongdoing disappear
British massacre at
Armritsar, India (1919)

11. Psychological resource of moral identity
Desire to create and maintain a positive image of
one’s roles and activities
A source of courage and strength and even
conscience

12. Psychological resource of moral identity
Critical moral resource:
enables integration of one’s various roles
vulnerable: self-justification
self-deception and rationalization
influence of group loyalty and peer pressure
organizations: direct “target” for socialization

13. Moral identity as a limit on
action
• Military honor: soldier’s code
• sense of personal identity
blocks departures from code
• Certain actions would offend
one’s identity as a soldier

14. Dishonor: torturing prisoners
Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq (2005)

15. Moral identity
Integrative function:
Encourages us to
harmonize disparate
and even conflicting
roles …..
A Unified Self

16. Moral identity
Consistent internal
moral standpoint:
Psychological unity
Balancing of variable
roles
Resistance to
“questionable”
expectations of some
roles

17. Eroded moral identity
Fragmented and conflicted self
Roles and commitments in conflict with each other

18. To Live at Peace with Oneself
A self that balances and integrates its various
elements
(attributed to Socrates, 4th century BCE)