Ethics (ethical dynamics)-Chapter 7

December 2010 © Abraham Chiasson 1

Chapter 7
Growing an Ecology of Mind and Community
Step 2: Social Goods – Core Values / Ethical Structure
Prelude:
We exist in a world of social relationships driven by social qualities – itsWe exist in a world of social relationships driven by social qualities – its
energies -, and social goods - its realities -.energies -, and social goods - its realities -.
In this world, we are:
 ‘Co-creators’ of our own world and the world of all those who we share
it with,
 Via a network of production processes in which the function of each
component (individual, institution or society) is to participate in its
transformation and that of the other components,
 For the maintenance and growth of the network’s own (structural)
integrity as a living system – our human social system -

Chapter 7
In our ‘human social system’:
Social goods in synergy with related social qualities shape who we
are - our core human potentialities - as individuals, institutions
and society.
Social goods like social qualities bond us together – give us a
common reality – as examples, via their embedded domain
stories and institutional knowledge – those that brought them to
life - in the world of our cognitive (social) structures and
potentialities.

Chapter 7
In our ‘human social system’...:
Social goods (and social qualities) via their synergy with our core
values – ethical aspirations - give ‘ethical’ meaning to our social
functions: ‘stewardship, governance, and management’.
Social goods are only ‘social goods’ inasmuch as they are
associated with relevant core values – ethical aspirations -. The
richer the links to ‘desired’ core values, the ‘richer’ the social
goods.

Chapter 7
In our ‘human social system’, social goods will be described:
1. In their synergistic relationship with social qualities – the
social energy driving ‘institutional’ domain contributions –
and,
2. With their synergistic relationship - social qualities and social
goods - with ethics: core values / ethical aspirations, ethical
principles and norms and, relationship commitments and
qualities.

Chapter 7
As with social qualities, social goods are the ‘heart’ of ethical dynamics:
both the result of ethical dynamics and the driver of ethical
dynamics as a whole.
Human
Potentialities
Social Goods
–
Social
Qualities
Social
Potentialities
Cognitive
(Social)
Structures &
Potentialities
Socio-
Political
Structures
Socio-
Political
Dynamics
Institutional
Dimensions
/
Institutional
Framework
Ethics
Stewardship Governance / Management

Chapter 7
The journey – Chapter 7:
 What are social goods – an example: automobiles
 Social goods – their nature and characteristics (1)
 Creating a relevant synergy between ethics and the world of
our social qualities and social goods via our core social
functions (2)
 Summary: The elemets of this necessary synergy:
institution / landscape, realities (3)

Chapter 7
Social goods – an example: automobiles…
 Automobiles (as social goods) are the result of – driven by –
as an example, our historic vision and hope as human
potentialities for easy mobility and,
 The product of increasingly sophisticated domain
contributions (e.g., theories) – from the wheel to gasoline
engines - in many institutional contexts.
 From a socio-political perspective, their legitimacy is
dependent on the authority and power that their
manufacturers can garner from consumers and society for
their production.

Chapter 7
 In the world of social potentialities and institutional
dimensions, automobiles depend on social qualities to
provide the ‘social energy’ for their production e.g., those
connected with a sense of belonging and contribution ‘on the
factory floor’ and,
 Those social qualities associated with the need for synergy
and accountability to its broader societal context such as
‘fairness’ on its socio-political landscapes.

Chapter 7
 Relative to core values of individuals and society,
automobiles are dependent on e.g., the tradeoff between
concerns for a healthy environment and, efficient individual
transportation.
 In summary, social goods – automobiles -, in synergy with
social qualities – competence and productivity -, are both the
result of ethical dynamics, but also the drivers of our ethical
realities and dynamics.
 No social goods – no ethical dynamics!

Chapter 7
1- Social goods – nature and characteristics -
Social goods are associated with how we bring about our world:
1) Our human potentialities (forces) e.g., for vision and hope;
2) Cognitive (social) structures and potentialities;
3) Socio-political structures (domains, institutions...);
4) Institutional and societal socio-political dynamics;
5) Our institutional dimensions, social potentialities and resulting
social qualities; and,
6) Our social functions: stewardship, governance and
management

Chapter 7
1- Social goods – nature and characteristics – ...
1) Social goods and our human potentialities (forces):
Social goods (more simply, human goods) are driven by our core
human potentialities or forces – those that compel us to
become ‘all that we are capable of becoming’ as individuals,
institutions and societies i.e., our potential for:
 Consciousness, conscious will,
 Sense of self, ‘personal’ identity,
 Vision and hope

Chapter 7
Social goods contribute to our ‘becoming human or more human’ -
with its ‘ups and downs’ - they can be associated with:
 Feelings in the case of music or poetry (joy or sorrow)
 Material objects (our things) - our ‘human’ creations large and
small
 Social characteristics – peace, justice and solidarity
 ‘Personal or Self’ characteristics – integrity, health and
attractiveness

Chapter 7
Understanding the nature and characteristics of social goods is first
understanding what they mean for each one of our human
potentialities e.g.,
 The nature of their contribution to our consciousness and
conscious will either as individuals, institutions or society.
In the following, we will take the example of automobiles to describe
what social goods may mean ‘mainly’ for an individual (the same
analysis could be made for an institution or society).

Chapter 7
Consciousness – automobiles often enhance the individual’s
sense of possibilities e.g., for mobility, freedom… and, via
automobile aesthetics, open up a new universe of symbolic
‘social’ qualities e.g., those related to a sense of power and
of social importance.
Conscious will - generally, automobiles have appealed to
individuals because of their potential for empowering them
and freeing them from the need to use human power for
mobility.

Chapter 7
Sense of self – automobiles often provide via their ‘emotional’
connection with the self, a sense of independence – of
distinctiveness – from others (however great this may be an
illusion).
Personal identity – automobiles by being of many brands and
configurations provide for the enhancement of – or for specifically
choosing – our social identity as it may be related to automobiles
and their larger societal symbolic meaning.

Chapter 7
1- Social goods – nature and characteristics –
Vision - automobiles by their speed, maneuverability and being
part of a specific world of aesthetics can both connect to and
enhance an individual’s sense of beauty and contribute to
his / her overall vision of the world.
Sense of hope – automobiles can also contribute to an
individual’s faith in the world e.g., ‘we are not tied to one
geographical space on the planet’, and thereby to his / her
sense of hope.

Chapter 7
1) Social goods and our human potentialities (forces): In
summary,
Automobiles as ‘social goods’ are in a synergistic relationship with
a number of core values e.g., those related to freedom or
personal autonomy, and social ‘recognition’.
Automobiles as ‘social goods’ also contribute to an individual or to
society’s ethical structure - its hierarchy of ethical aspirations -.
Efforts at understanding and transforming ‘core values’ will have to
deal with the relationship between core values and related
social goods as they impact on our human potentialities.

Chapter 7
2) Social goods and our cognitive (social) structures and
potentialities:
Social goods – under the impetus of our human forces – take
shape via our cognitive (social) structures and potentialities,
those serving to bring about our ‘realities’, be they
automobiles, or ‘political’ goods such as social justice or
world peace.

Chapter 7
potentialities:
Automobiles (as social goods) are the product of a distinctive
set of cognitive (social) structures, as examples:
 ‘Domain’ contributions in the field of engines and tires...
 ‘Institutions’ – for the mediation of domain contributions
towards the manufacturing of ‘cars’...
 ‘Societies – for providing a relevant ‘institutional framework’
for the production, sale and, maintenance of ‘cars’.

Chapter 7
potentialities:
Automobiles (as social goods) are the product of a distinctive
set of cognitive characteristics, as examples:
 Domain stories related successes in racing, or to specific
theories related to automotive engineering e.g., all wheel
drive...
 Societal aesthetics - flowing lines and preferred colors - , or
to societal ethics related to the economic benefits of cheap
mobility versus that of social status.

Chapter 7
potentialities – in summary – :
‘Automobile’ stories, contribution values and theories will be crucial
for the automobile company’s institutional cognitive
characteristics e.g., its ethos, ethics and knowledge, as
mediator of myriad domain contributions within the company
and,
In its institutional landscape relationships e.g., in competition for
valuable resources… and, in its contribution to society’s overall
social goods (and, ethical aspirations).

Chapter 7
3) Social goods and our socio-political structures:
Socio-
Political
Landscapes
Domains
Institutions
(Individuals &
Societies)

Chapter 7
3) Social goods and our socio-political structures (domains, institutions
and, socio-political landscapes):
Domains express what social goods have merit – are worth pursuing - on
our socio-political landscapes (and vice versa).
Institutions (individuals & societies) are the social ‘mecanisms’ that
harness human and social ‘energies’ for the production of social
goods.
Socio-political landscapes define the importance to be given to our social
goods and, provide the resources for producing them.

Chapter 7
Social goods also define those ‘related’ domains that will have socio-
political importance.
Domains are in a synergistic relationship with social goods, each grows or
withers with the other.
Domains evolve over time to reflect those social goods that are useful for
the growth of our human potentialities e.g., automobiles over the
horse and buggy, word processors over the typewriter....

Chapter 7
Institutions (individuals & societies) are the social ‘mecanisms’ that
harness human and social ‘energies’ for the production of social
goods.
Institutional cognitive potentialities e.g., aesthetics and ethics, serve to
bring together e.g., a diverse sense of beauty and contribution values,
in the production of relevant social goods.
Institutions (along with their organizations) are the ‘actual’ producers of
social goods via ‘their’ domain contributions to their overall socio-
political landscapes.

Chapter 7
Socio-political landscapes define the importance to be given to our social
goods and, provide the resources for producing them. To do so:
Socio-political landscapes provide for the articulation of a hierarchy of
social goods and, a hierarchy of institutions relevant to their
production (e.g., car companies are more important than horse-driven
‘buggy’ companies) and,
Provide for the necessary network of ‘productive’ socio-political
relationships (by giving ‘resources’ to car companies).

Chapter 7
4) Social goods and our institutional and societal socio-political
dynamics:
Social goods are the result of institutional / landscape dynamics in
their social context - institutional products becoming social
goods for their social context – the product of their social
context and its socio-political dynamics -, those of ‘authority and
power’.
As an example, domain qualities related to automobiles must
compete with the domain qualities (and other cognitive
characteristics) of other domains that share the same general
ethical aspirations.

Chapter 7
dynamics:
Understanding the nature and characteristics of social goods obliges us
to understand their synergy with the landscape’s socio-political
dynamics i.e., those of ‘authority and power’, aimed at making
sense and providing for effective action e.g.,
 Automobiles must compete on their socio-political landscape for
authority e.g., with buses and airplanes for long-range travel and,
with bicycles in the city… and for power, the means of producing
them e.g., human and physical capital, while also making a
contribution to the landscape’s broader ethical aspirations.

Chapter 7
4) Social goods and our institutional and societal socio-political dynamics:
To understand social goods as the product of institutional / societal socio-
political dynamics, we need to understand:
 Their synergy with the landscape’s broader core values - its overall
ethical structure; and,
 How their synergy with key ethical aspirations has served in the
creation of our institutional and societal cognitive characteristics e.g.,
societal universe, order, ethos, sense of aesthetics, ethics, ideology
and knowledge.
Institutional
/
Societal Goods
Ethical Structure
Socio-Political
Dynamics
Institutional /
Societal
Cognitive
Characteristics

Chapter 7
1- Social goods – nature and characteristics - ...
dynamics:
In summary, social goods are always in synergy with their institutional
and socio-political landscapes, their dynamics and, ethical
structure. As a consequence,
 Institutions participate via their domain contributions (e.g.,
automobiles) in the creation and development of all other
institutions - their institutional characteristics and products.
 E.g., state institutions share in the characteristics and products of
those related to production (e.g., its buildings) or civil society (e.g.,
the social communication networks of political parties).

Chapter 7
1- Social goods – nature and characteristics
5) Social goods and our institutional dimensions, social potentialities
and resulting social qualities:
Specifically, social goods are the result of:
 Their institutional context and its key dimensions e.g., production,
state, community,
 The social potentialities driving its key institutional dimensions e.g.,
contribution, synergy, belonging, and,
 The resultant social qualities e.g., productivity, cooperation,
compassion, characterizing its institutional energy.

Chapter 7
5) Social goods and our institutional dimensions, social potentialities
and resulting social qualities:
Understanding social goods such as ‘societal governance’ from the
perspective of ‘state’ institutional mediations would require that we
understand:
 The state’s social and historical realities or, its historical social
qualities (... democratic) and key social goods (... social justice),
 The result of social potentialities driving state institutional
dimensions e.g., the nature of ‘synergy’ – participative or
hierarchical,
 The social qualities characterizing ‘state’ energy e.g., how universal
is ‘compassion’ as a social quality in state mediations?

Chapter 7
5) Social goods and our institutional dimensions, social potentialities and
resulting social qualities: an example,
In a ‘traditional society’, social potentialities for synergy, accountability, and
destiny were associated with the Church or, say the Monarch.
Social qualities e.g., ‘respect for authority‘, would have been in synergy with
‘strong group solidarity’ and the ‘maintenance of hierarchical order’ as
social goods.
‘Respect for authority’ as a social quality and, ‘strong group solidarity and
maintenance of a hierarchical order’ as social goods were vital
components of that society’s core ethical aspirations, along with ethical
principles characterized by ‘command and control’ in all of its key
institutions from the state to the family.

Chapter 7
6) Social goods and our social functions: stewardship, governance,
and management:
Social goods and social qualities - are ultimately the product of our
social functions.
Social functions as the ‘social’ embodiment of ‘ethics’: our ethical
aspirations (stewardship), ethical principles and norms
(governance) and, relationship commitments and qualities
(management),
 Harness our core human and social potentialities and dynamics,
 Towards the growth of our social goods and social qualities.

Chapter 7
6)Social goods and our social functions: stewardship, governance, and
management.
Human
Potentialities
Social Goods
/
Social
Qualities
Social
Potentialities
Cognitive
(Social)
Structures &
Potentialities
Socio-
Political
Structures
Socio-
Political
Dynamics
Institutional
Dimensions
/
Institutional
Framework
Ethics
Stewardship / Governance / Management

Chapter 7
6) Social goods and our social functions: stewardship, governance, and
management:
Stewardship, governance, and management, also aim to bring about social
goods and social qualities that are ‘dynamically’ relevant to their larger
socio-political landscapes and, capable of fostering an increasingly
relevant ethical structure.
And, social goods and social qualities by being the result of our ethical
structure driving our social functions on our socio-political landscapes,
 Social goods and social qualities will in turn affect our social functions
and their driving ethical structures.

Chapter 7
Ethical Structure
Ethical Aspirations
Principles & Norms
Rel. Commit & Qual
Social Functions
Stewardship
Governance
Management
Social
Goods
/
Social
Qualities
Socio-Political
Landscape
6)Social goods and our social functions: stewardship, governance, and
management:

Chapter 7
2 -
Creating a relevant synergy between ethics and the world of our
social qualities and social goods –

Chapter 7
2- Creating a relevant synergy between ethics and the world of our
social qualities and social goods –
… Via our core social functions i.e.,
 The core values or ethical aspirations associated with
stewardship,
 The related principles and norms framing ‘institutional and
organizational’ policies in the world of governance, and
 The relationship commitments and qualities sustaining and
giving relevance to ‘work’ processes i.e., management –
…

Chapter 7

Chapter 7
2-
social qualities and social goods – … understanding –
A)
The social qualities and social goods with which landscape ethics
are in synergy – ‘what are we trying to achieve’

Chapter 7
2- Creating a relevant synergy between ethics and the world of our social
qualities and social goods – … understanding -
A) The social qualities and social goods with which landscape ethics are in
synergy – ‘what are we trying to achieve’ -; an example:
A hospital’s overall ethical structure: its core values e.g., respect for life,
professional competence, and compassion,
 Will be in synergy with – sometimes similar to - the social qualities driving
institutional energy and,
 In synergy with the specific social goods provided by the hospital e.g.,
diagnostic services, and surgeries…, and,
 In synergy with those social qualities and social goods in the realm of
hospital administration e.g., value for money, team work and facilities...

Chapter 7
social qualities and social goods – … understanding -
A) The social qualities and social goods with which landscape ethics are
in synergy – ‘what are we trying to achieve’ -; an example ... :
Overall, core values i.e., respect for life, professional competence, and
compassion, by being intimately associated with the hospital’s social
qualities and social goods (and, with its vision and sense of hope as
human potentialities), provide direction and meaning to the hospital’s
‘stewardship, governance and management’.

Chapter 7
A) The social qualities and social goods with which landscape ethics are
in synergy – ‘what are we trying to achieve’ -; an example ... :
Also, since social qualities and social goods are the product of a variety of
domain institutional contributions on an ever changing socio-political
landscape, they provide for the development of the institution’s:
 Core values / ethical structure via ‘what is effective and what is not’… and,
in turn,
 Institutional stewardship, governance and management and, for
 Its evolving social qualities and social goods (and, vision and sense of
hope’).

Chapter 7
2- Creating a relevant synergy
between ethics and the
world of our social qualities
and social goods – …
understanding -
A) The social qualities and
social goods with which
landscape ethics are in
synergy – ‘what are we
trying to achieve’ – an
example -
… Overall dynamics -
Vision & Sense of
Hope
(Social Qualities &
Social Goods)
Stewardship
Governance
Management
Core Values
/
Ethical Structure
Social Qualities
/
Social Goods

Chapter 7
2-
B)
The socio-political dynamics driving social qualities and social
goods.

Chapter 7
B) The socio-political dynamics driving social qualities and social
goods.
Landscape ‘authority and power’ of the institution determines its
control over its:
 Social goods e.g., diagnostic services and surgeries, and,
 Social qualities e.g., to what extent it can be compassionate.
As an example, how do other landscape institutions e.g.,
governments, value these services (authority) and, how much
power (money) are they willing to provide the hospital?

Chapter 7
goods.
Understanding and transforming ethics - core values / ethical
structure -, via institutional stewardship, governance and
management,
 Supposes that we understand the relationship of the institution’s
core values with those social qualities and social goods afforded
the institution via the landscape’s socio-political dynamics…

Chapter 7
goods.
... Such an understanding (the relationship between core values and the
social qualities and social goods afforded by the landscape)
 Gives us the opportunity of transforming one or the other via our social
functions i.e., stewardship, governance and management -
 As an example, in the case of a hospital, by being more professionally
competent in what it does e.g., better surgeries and, by being more
cost efficient.

Chapter 7
2-
C)
The key cognitive potentialities underlying landscape realities e.g.,
domain contribution values and institutional ethics.

Chapter 7
2- Creating a relevant synergy between ethics and the world of our social
qualities and social goods – … understanding -
C) The key cognitive potentialities underlying landscape realities e.g.,
Understanding one dimension of our cognitive potentialities - say institutional
ethics - supposes that we understand:
 Their synergistic relationship with the other dimensions say aesthetics,
ethos, ideology and knowledge and,
 Since institutional ethics are the result of institutionally mediated domain
contributions,
 The cognitive dimensions of key domain contributions; e.g., the stories,
sense of beauty, and contribution values in the domain of surgeries.

Chapter 7
C) The key cognitive potentialities underlying landscape realities e.g.,
Growing core values – ethics – towards growing social qualities (more
compassionate) and social goods (better surgeries) requires that we
understand these other cognitive dimensions e.g.,
 In the case of institutions, understanding their universe, ideology, and
knowledge as cognitive potentialities and,
 Their impact on the mediation of domain contributions via their social
functions e.g., governance principles regarding such core values as
compassion and professional competence.

Chapter 7
2-
social qualities and social goods – … understanding –
D)
The landscape’s ‘living systems’ dynamics.

Chapter 7
D) The landscape’s ‘living systems’ dynamics.
In matters of ‘structural coupling’, are individuals or institutions capable of
congruently engaging others in matters of pattern (stewardship),
structure (governance), and process (management) – as an example -
In our hospital context: to what extent are those providing surgeries
capable of engaging others in improving their services on the basis of
their domain contribution values and, their overall ethical aspirations as
individuals i.e., in matters of ‘pattern’?

Chapter 7
2- Creating a relevant synergy between ethics and the world of
our social qualities and social goods – … understanding -
D) The landscape’s ‘living systems’ dynamics.
In matters of ‘structure’: Are the landscape’s principles and norms
amenalbe to growing their professional competencies e.g., by
growing the social qualities and social goods of their domains?
In a world of becoming i.e., of ‘dissipative structures’: Are the
landscape’s socio-political dynamics – those embedded in the
landscape’s social functions - open to change e.g., accepting that
hospital staff can make improvements to surgeries – sharing of
authority - and, have the means to do so – power -?

Chapter 7
3-
Summary: The elemets of this necessary synergy:
institution / landscape, realities

Chapter 7
Summary: The elements of a necessary synergy between ethics
and the world of our social qualities and social goods.
Growing ‘institutional’ social qualities and social goods – those
associated with the ethical aspirations embedded in its vision
and sense of hope - is growing a relevant synergy with the
overall ‘ethical’ realities of its landscape i.e.,
 Its overall vision and sense of hope and related social
qualities and social goods,
 Its social functions, core values and ethical structure, along
with its current social qualities and social goods.

Chapter 7
Vision & Sense of
Hope
(Social Qualities &
Social Goods)
Stewardship
Governance
Management
Core Values
/
Ethical Structure
Social Qualities
/
Social Goods
Vision & Sense of Hope
(Social Qualities &
Social Goods)
Stewardship
Governance
Management
Core Values
/
Ethical Structure
Social Qualities
/
Social Goods
Landscape
Institution

Ethics (ethical dynamics)-Chapter 7

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