Notes on Boss, ch. 6

Most of us know what is good, at least in principle. The difficulties arise in applying what we know and in the application of general moral knowledge to particular contexts. Self-knowledge can help us toward this goal. By learning about the psychological mechanisms that govern our moral development, we can actually advance our moral growth.

One of the assumptions underlying developmental theories, in both philosophy and psychology, is that humans have an innate desire to grow and to fulfill their potential. The belief that human nature strives toward the good life is consistent with the philosophies of Kant and Aristotle as well as many non-Western philosophies such as Confucianism and Buddhism. Cognitive-development theorists also claim that people who live up to their potential and lead good lives will be happier, experience greater inner peace and harmony, and be more satisfied with their moral decisions. (185f.)

In-class exercises for Thursday, March 5, 1998

A. Logic - notice the fallacy at work if we believe that

if one is morally autonomous, then they are capable of disobeying cultural norms.

If I disobey cultural norms,

Then I must be morally autonomous

[apply this to Boss's example of Penny Cullerton, p. 193]

[recall our discussion of negative and positive freedom]

B. Logic redux
 

1. What kind of logic is at work in the views that

either we're free or we are fully determined (by heredity, environment, brain function, etc.)

either we fully conform (and lose all sense of individual autonomy, freedom, identity, etc.) or we fully rebel

either we are fully rational in our moral decision-making or we are fully guided by emotions

2. What kind of logic is at work in the views that

we possess both freedom - and we are profoundly influenced and shaped by heredity, environment, brain function, etc.

we can both conform and act autonomously

being rational includes careful attention to emotions, "intuition," etc.

C. Small group discussion

1. In small groups, review your responses to the three questions assigned for today.

Find someone whose views are different from your own. Be prepared to present and defend those views, with coaching from the person who originated them.

Assignment for Tuesday, March 18, 1998

Boss, pp. 206-229

Writing:

214f., #'s 1, 2, 3, 4

220, #'s 1, 2

226f., #'s 4, 5, 6, 7

229, #'s 2, modified version of 3:

After reading about Danish resistance to Nazi efforts to first mark out "the Jews" as different (by forcing them to wear the yellow star of David), as a prelude to planned deportation and extermination, recall Clark Williamson's brief summary of Christian efforts to demarcate "the Jews" from Christians, starting in the 80's C.E. and accelerating in the 300's, beginning with the Synod of Elvira (306), which prohibited Christians and Jews from marrying, or even eating with one another, through the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, which required Jews to be "marked off in the eyes of the public from other peoples through the character of their dress," (Williamson, 28), to Christian pronouncements insisting on the strict separation between Jews and Christians in the 20th century (ibid).

By contrast, the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany stood against anti-Judaism/anti-Semitism as fundamentally opposed to Christian teaching - specifically, Jesus' recollection (in Matt. 22.37-40) of the Shema ("You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, etc. - Deut. 6.5) and the commandment to love one's neighbor (Lev. 19.18) [see Thompson, 19].

Boss suggests that the sort of moral resistance demonstrated by the King of Denmark shows a higher stage of moral reasoning, one characteristic of Martin Luther King, Jr., Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Gandhi. (We might add to this list the American military personnel who disobeyed superior orders at My Lai.)

Boss asks how such figures "...have a positive effect on the moral development of others in their culture? Are there any public figures in this country, or people you have met through your community service work, that you admire as highly moral people? Discuss the influence, if any, these people have had on your own moral development." (229)

Everyone: please respond to these questions.

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Extra Credit: consider the Confessing Church and the post-Shoah/post-Holocaust shifts in Western Christian traditions (both Catholic and Protestant) away from their historical anti-Judaism and towards the recognition of Judaism as a fully legitimate Covenant with God (in contrast with the historical notion - captured in the labels "Old Testament" for the Hebrew Bible and "New Testament" for the Christian Scriptures - that Judaism is superseded by Christianity as the superior and only "right" religion) (see Williamson, ch. 2).

Do the stands of the Confessing Church and this post-Shoah/post-Holocaust shifts seem to stand as additional examples of what Boss understands by "higher moral reasoning"?

Support your response to this question - and, if you take these as examples of higher moral reasoning, respond to Boss's questions specifically with regard to the Confessing Church and the post-Shoah/post-Holocaust shifts in Western Christianities.