The Structure of a Moral Code

The Structure of a Moral Code
Author: John Ladd
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2004-01-28
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1725209497

Mr. Ladd here presents a philosophical analysis of the nature and structure of a moral code. He exemplifies his general theory by providing the first systematic description of Navajo ethics, based on raw material gathered by intensive anthropological field work among the Navajo. The complete transcript of his field notes is contained in the Appendix to this book. Mr. Ladd shows how the codes of other societies can be described with scientific rigor and objectivity. Drawing upon recent developments in analytical ethics that emphasize the uses of discourse and the logic of imperatives, he develops a general theory of moral codes which holds considerable significance for moral philosophers and which presents for anthropologists a methodology for their investigations into the ethical systems of non-literate cultures.

Moral Codes and Social Structure in Ancient Greece

Moral Codes and Social Structure in Ancient Greece
Author: Joseph M. Bryant
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 600
Release: 1996-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780791430415

An exercise in cultural sociology, Moral Codes and Social Structure in Ancient Greece seeks to explicate the dynamic currents of classical Hellenic ethics and social philosophy by situating those idea-complexes in their socio-historical and intellectual contexts. Central to this enterprise is a comprehensive historical-sociological analysis of the Polis form of social organization, which charts the evolution of its basic institutions, roles, statuses, and class relations. From the Dark Age period of "genesis" on to the Hellenistic era of "eclipse" by the emergent forces of imperial patrimonialism, Polis society promoted and sustained corresponding normative codes which mobilized and channeled the requisite emotive commitments and cognitive judgments for functional proficiency under existing conditions of life. The aristocratic warrior-ethos canonized in the Homeric epics; the civic ideology of equality and justice espoused by reformist lawgivers and poets; the democratization of status honor and martial virtue that attended the shift to hoplite warfare; the philosophical exaltation of the Polis-citizen bond as found in the architectonic visions of Plato and Aristotle; and the subsequent retreat from civic virtues and the interiorization of value articulated by the Skeptics, Epicureans, and Stoics, new age philosophies in a world remade by Alexander's conquests--these are the key phases in the evolving currents of Hellenic moral discourse, as structurally framed by transformations within the institutional matrix of Polis society.

The Structure of Moral Revolutions

The Structure of Moral Revolutions
Author: Robert Baker
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2019-11-12
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0262043084

A theoretical account of moral revolutions, illustrated by historical cases that include the criminalization and decriminalization of abortion and the patient rebellion against medical paternalism. We live in an age of moral revolutions in which the once morally outrageous has become morally acceptable, and the formerly acceptable is now regarded as reprehensible. Attitudes toward same-sex love, for example, and the proper role of women, have undergone paradigm shifts over the last several decades. In this book, Robert Baker argues that these inversions are the product of moral revolutions that follow a pattern similar to that of the scientific revolutions analyzed by Thomas Kuhn in his influential book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. After laying out the theoretical terrain, Baker develops his argument with examples of moral reversals from the recent and distant past. He describes the revolution, led by the utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham, that transformed the postmortem dissection of human bodies from punitive desecration to civic virtue; the criminalization of abortion in the nineteenth century and its decriminalization in the twentieth century; and the invention of a new bioethics paradigm in the 1970s and 1980s, supporting a patient-led rebellion against medical paternalism. Finally, Baker reflects on moral relativism, arguing that the acceptance of “absolute” moral truths denies us the diversity of moral perspectives that permit us to alter our morality in response to changing environments.

Moral Codes and Social Structure in Ancient Greece

Moral Codes and Social Structure in Ancient Greece
Author: Joseph M. Bryant
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 600
Release: 1996-07-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0791497895

An exercise in cultural sociology, Moral Codes and Social Structure in Ancient Greece seeks to explicate the dynamic currents of classical Hellenic ethics and social philosophy by situating those idea-complexes in their socio-historical and intellectual contexts. Central to this enterprise is a comprehensive historical-sociological analysis of the Polis form of social organization, which charts the evolution of its basic institutions, roles, statuses, and class relations. From the Dark Age period of "genesis" on to the Hellenistic era of "eclipse" by the emergent forces of imperial patrimonialism, Polis society promoted and sustained corresponding normative codes which mobilized and channeled the requisite emotive commitments and cognitive judgments for functional proficiency under existing conditions of life. The aristocratic warrior-ethos canonized in the Homeric epics; the civic ideology of equality and justice espoused by reformist lawgivers and poets; the democratization of status honor and martial virtue that attended the shift to hoplite warfare; the philosophical exaltation of the Polis-citizen bond as found in the architectonic visions of Plato and Aristotle; and the subsequent retreat from civic virtues and the interiorization of value articulated by the Skeptics, Epicureans, and Stoics, new age philosophies in a world remade by Alexander's conquests—these are the key phases in the evolving currents of Hellenic moral discourse, as structurally framed by transformations within the institutional matrix of Polis society.

Theoretical Sociology

Theoretical Sociology
Author: Jonathan H. Turner
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 937
Release: 2012-10-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1452203431

Written by award-winning scholar Jonathan Turner, Theoretical Sociology: 1830 to the Present covers new and emerging aspects of sociological theory and examines the significant contributions of both modern and founding theorists. Nine sections present detailed analyses of key theories and paradigms, including functionalism, evolutionary theory, conflict theory, critical theory, exchange theory, interactionist theory, and structuralism. Despite the in-depth discussions of theorists and their contributions to the field, the text is concise and focused, a perfect resource for readers seeking to develop a deeper understanding of contemporary and classical sociological theory.

Moral Codes

Moral Codes
Author: Alan F. Blackwell
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2024-08-06
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0262548712

Why the world needs less AI and better programming languages. Decades ago, we believed that robots and computers would take over all the boring jobs and drudgery, leaving humans to a life of leisure. This hasn’t happened. Instead, humans are still doing boring jobs, and even worse, AI researchers have built technology that is creative, self-aware, and emotional—doing the tasks humans were supposed to enjoy. How did we get here? In Moral Codes, Alan Blackwell argues that there is a fundamental flaw in the research agenda of AI. What humanity needs, Blackwell argues, is better ways to tell computers what we want them to do, with new and better programming languages: More Open Representations, Access to Learning, and Control Over Digital Expression, in other words, MORAL CODE. Blackwell draws on his deep experiences as a programming language designer—which he has been doing since 1983—to unpack fundamental principles of interaction design and explain their technical relationship to ideas of creativity and fairness. Taking aim at software that constrains our conversations with strict word counts or infantilizes human interaction with likes and emojis, Blackwell shows how to design software that is better—not more efficient or more profitable, but better for society and better for all people. Covering recent research and the latest smart tools, Blackwell offers rich design principles for a better kind of software—and a better kind of world.

Meaning and Moral Order

Meaning and Moral Order
Author: Robert Wuthnow
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 450
Release: 1989-04-27
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0520909259

Meaning and Moral Order goes beyond classical, neoclassical, and poststructural theories of culture in its attempt to move away from problems of meaning to a more objective concept of culture. Innovative, controversial, challenging, it will compel scholars to rethink many of the assumptions on which the study of ideology, ritual, religion, science, and culture have been based.

Law and Morality

Law and Morality
Author: David Dyzenhaus
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 1095
Release: 2007-01-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0802094899

Since its first publication in 1996, Law and Morality has filled a long-standing need for a contemporary Canadian textbook in the philosophy of law. Now in its third edition, this anthology has been thoroughly revised and updated, and includes new chapters on equality, judicial review, and terrorism and the rule of law. The volume begins with essays that explore general questions about morality and law, surveying the traditional literature on legal positivism and contemporary debates about the connection between law and morality. These essays explore the tensions between law as a protector of individual liberty and as a tool of democratic self-rule, and introduce debates about adjudication and the contribution of feminist approaches to the philosophy of law. New material on the Chinese Canadian head tax case is also featured. The second part of Law and Morality deals with philosophical questions as they apply to contemporary issues. Excerpts from judicial decisions as well as essays by practicing lawyers are included to provide theoretically informed legal analyses of the issues. Striking a balance between practical and more analytic, philosophical approaches, the volume's treatment of the philosophy of law as a branch of political philosophy enables students to understand law in its function as a social institution. Law and Morality has proved to be an essential text in both departments of philosophy and faculties of law and this latest edition brings the debates fully up to date, filling gaps in the previous editions and adding to the array of contemporary issues previously covered.