Reminder:
The notion of a "conscience" rests on several assumptions - ultimately, the philosophical assumptions of Kant, Aristotle and Plato, i.e., that human beings are basically good, and that human existence is centrally concerned with becoming good.
Comment: note that
Real-life exposure to ideas that do not fit in with our earlier, more simplistic ideas seems to be a condition for the development of moral reasoning. Practice in resolving moral dilemmas, the acquisition of proficiency in logic, and the study of ethical theory also contribute to the development of this component. These strategies have been found to be particular effective when combined with a study of the stages of moral development, such as those put forth by Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan. (223)
Accordingly:
1st discussion: 214f., #'s (1), 2, 3, (4) -- and comments, questions about Kohlberg?
2nd discussion: 220, #'s 1, 2 - and comments, questions about Gilligan, the care perspective, and the synthesis (can you say complementarity, boys and girls?) of Kohlberg's more "masculine," justice-oriented scheme with Gilligan's more "feminine," care perspective?
Comment: The notion that Plato is a "pure" rationalist - i.e., one who believes that knowledge of the Good is the sole sufficient condition for doing the Good (see Boss, pp. 222, 227- #4) is a common but debatable interpretation of Plato. Consider, for example, the role of eros in the journey out of the Cave - where eros is a desire for completeness that operates throughout the three "levels" of the psyche (appetite, spirit, reason). This conception of eros at least intersects with the psychological requirement for moral motivation (see Boss, 223f.) - and may also indirectly lead to and thus intersect with the other requirements of moral sensitivity and moral character (i.e., the requirements articulated by James Rest beyond the rationalist requirement of moral reasoning or judgment).
[3rd discussion: 226f., #'s 4, 5, 6, 7]
Comment: note
Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority. [quote from Hannah Arendt, in Boss, 228, regarding not only Eichmann - but also the behavior of Americans as captured in the Milgram studies on obedience: emphasis added, CE]
Question: which reading of the 2nd Genesis creation story seems most compatible with this description of behavior?
4th discussion: 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)
Assignment for Thursday, March 19, 1998
Boss, ch. 7, pp. 235 - 254
Writing:
238, #'s 1, 2, 3, 5
244, #'s 1, 2, 4
248, #'s 1, 2
254, #'s 1, 2, 3, 4
===
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.