Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Virtue Ethics & Empirical PsychologyThe Virtue of Integrity
Dr. Clea F. Rees
Canolfan Addysg Gydol Oes Centre for Lifelong LearningPrifysgol Caerdydd Cardiff University
Y Gwanwyn/Spring 2015
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Outline
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
The Situationist Challenge (Recap)
Thesis & Terminology
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality system
Attitudes
A cognitive-affective personality system (CAPS)
Attitude strength and accessibility
Argumentation & Evaluation
Integrity as Integration
Integrity Can Require Disintegration
Integrity as Commitment to Getting it Right
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
The Situationist Challenge (Recap)
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
The Situationist Challenge (Recap)
Image credit: Senovan, 2011
. . . thinking productively
about ethics requires thinking
realistically about humanity.
(2002, 1)
Trying to construct a
serviceable moral theory without
recourse to human psychology
and biology must be considered
as fruitless as trying to build a
fish-friendly aquarium without
taking notice of the biology of
fish. (2000, 56)
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
The Situationist Challenge (Recap)
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
The Situationist Challenge (Recap)Very roughly, the situationist argues that
1. Ethical theory should provide guidance suitable for us.
2. Virtue ethics recommends developing virtues.
3. Virtues = character traits of a particular kind.
4. In particular, if somebody possesses such a trait, it will
substantially predict behaviour in appropriate situations.
5. Empirical psychology shows that numerous arbitrary, morally
irrelevant situational features determine human behaviour —
not character traits.
——
6. (Very few) humans have (or can develop) virtues. (3–5)
——
7. Virtue ethics must be rejected. (1, 2, 6)
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Thesis & Terminology
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Thesis
Question 1:
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Thesis & Terminology
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Thesis
Rees and Webber: Main Claims
I Integrity 6= Integration.
I Integrity consists of:
1. a commitment to maintaining your commitments;2. a commitment to acting on your commitments;3. a commitment to having the right commitments;4. a commitment to striking the right balance between 1–3.
I These 4 commitments consist of psychological attitudes.
I Integrity is a virtue.
ConstancyFidelity 1
Fidelity 2
Balance
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Thesis & Terminology
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Terminology
Questions 2–3:
Image credit: BBC, Highlights Kids, Aardman Animations and Yi
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality system
Attitudes
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality systemAttitudes
Psychological attitudes:
I are complex, structured evaluations of
objects;
I play a functional role in a person’s
psychology;
I differ in strength;
I differ in accessibility and stability;
I have contents which are a function of
their cognitive, affective and
behavioural components (Maio and
Haddock 2010).
Image credit: BBC, Highlights Kids, Aardman Animations and Yi
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality system
Attitudes
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality systemAttitudes
Psychological attitudes:
I are complex, structured evaluations of
objects;
I play a functional role in a person’s
psychology;
I differ in strength;
I differ in accessibility and stability;
I have contents which are a function of
their cognitive, affective and
behavioural components (Maio and
Haddock 2010).
Image credit: BBC, Highlights Kids, Aardman Animations and Yi
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality system
Attitudes
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality systemAttitudes
Psychological attitudes:
I are complex, structured evaluations of
objects;
I play a functional role in a person’s
psychology;
I differ in strength;
I differ in accessibility and stability;
I have contents which are a function of
their cognitive, affective and
behavioural components (Maio and
Haddock 2010).
Image credit: BBC, Highlights Kids, Aardman Animations and Yi
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality system
Attitudes
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality systemAttitudes
Psychological attitudes:
I are complex, structured evaluations of
objects;
I play a functional role in a person’s
psychology;
I differ in strength;
I differ in accessibility and stability;
I have contents which are a function of
their cognitive, affective and
behavioural components (Maio and
Haddock 2010).
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality system
Attitude strength and accessibility
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality systemAttitude strength and accessibility
Attitude strengthAn attitude’s strength is a matter of the strength of the
connections between its components and with other elements in
the cognitive-affective personality system, situational features,
behaviours and so on.
Image credit: pngimg.com, Phillip Island Nature Parks, Plan, Clancy and Aardman Animations
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality system
Attitude strength and accessibility
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality systemAttitude strength and accessibility
Cognitive-affective units in CAPSMischel and Shoda postulate five types (1995, 253):
1. categories;
2. beliefs;
3. affect;
4. values;
5. plans.
Image credit: pngimg.com, Phillip Island Nature Parks, Plan, Clancy and Aardman Animations
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality system
Attitude strength and accessibility
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality systemAttitude strength and accessibility
Cognitive-affective units in CAPSMischel and Shoda postulate five types (1995, 253):
1. categories;
2. beliefs;
3. affect;
4. values;
5. plans.
Image credit: pngimg.com, Phillip Island Nature Parks, Plan, Clancy and Aardman Animations
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality system
Attitude strength and accessibility
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality systemAttitude strength and accessibility
Cognitive-affective units in CAPSMischel and Shoda postulate five types (1995, 253):
1. categories;
2. beliefs;
3. affect;
4. values;
5. plans.
Image credit: pngimg.com, Phillip Island Nature Parks, Plan, Clancy and Aardman Animations
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality system
Attitude strength and accessibility
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality systemAttitude strength and accessibility
Cognitive-affective units in CAPSMischel and Shoda postulate five types (1995, 253):
1. categories;
2. beliefs;
3. affect;
4. values;
5. plans.
Image credit: pngimg.com, Phillip Island Nature Parks, Plan, Clancy and Aardman Animations
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality system
Attitude strength and accessibility
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality systemAttitude strength and accessibility
Cognitive-affective units in CAPSMischel and Shoda postulate five types (1995, 253):
1. categories;
2. beliefs;
3. affect;
4. values;
5. plans.
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality system
Attitude strength and accessibility
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality systemAttitude strength and accessibility
Attitude accessibility
I Stronger attitudes are more accessible in the sense that they
are more likely to affect cognitive-affective processing and
behaviour.
I The more often an attitude is activated, the stronger it
becomes.
Practise makes perfect. . . ?
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality system
Attitude strength and accessibility
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Attitudes in a cognitive-affective personality systemAttitude strength and accessibility
Attitude accessibility
I ‘Accessibility’ 6= conscious accessibility.
I Attitudes etc. can be activated automatically.
e.g. A goal to knit penguins woolly jumpers may be activatedwithout conscious awareness.(Perhaps you see oil-soaked penguins on TV but are thinkingabout what colour to paint your nose.)
I Even automatic responses may be shaped by conscious
deliberation and consciously endorsed commitments.
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Argumentation & Evaluation
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Argumentation & Evaluation
Questions 5–6:
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Integrity as Integration
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Integrity as Integration
I Many accounts understand integration as essential tointegrity.
I Integrity is a matter of integrating your commitmentsharmoniously.
I According to such accounts, acting with integrity requires:I recognising your commitments;I acting in accordance with your deepest, most important
commitments.
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Integrity Can Require Disintegration
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Integrity Can Require Disintegration
I What if you have good reason to revise a commitment?
I Abandoning a deep, life-shaping commitment can be an act ofgreat integrity.
e.g. A nun who lost her faith would show integrity in leaving herconvent, despite the central role of this commitment in her life.
e.g. If you learn that your scientific research is based on fraudulentdata, integrity would require retracting your findings howevercentral the project’s role in your life.
I Integrity can require an abandonment, which leaves you less
integrated.
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Integrity as Commitment to Getting it Right
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Integrity as Commitment to Getting it RightJim’s Dilemma1
Jim is committed to not killing innocent
people.
I 20 Indians are to be shot as collective
punishment for some minor offence.
I As an honoured guest, Jim is invited toshoot one of them.
I If he does, the other 19 will be freed tomark the occasion.
I If not, all 20 will be shot.
I The Indians beg Jim to accept the offer.
What should Jim do? Image credit:PadreAdventurero (2013)
1Williams 1973.
Image credit:Padre Adventurero (2013)
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
Integrity as Commitment to Getting it Right
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
Integrity as Commitment to Getting it Right
I Integrity is a matter of aiming to get it right.
I This aim requires balancing:I respect for existing commitments as
products of prior reasoning;I reasons to act in violation of those
commitments.
I Integrity requires Jim to seriously weigh up:I his commitment to not killing;I the reasons the Indians have for urging him
to kill.
I Either action could manifest Jim’s integrity.I This motive exerts pressure towards
integration, but this pressure is defeasible.
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
References
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
References IAardman Animations (2015a). Shaun the Sheep. url:
http://www.aardman.com/ (visited on 18/02/2015).
– (2015b). Shaun the Sheep Supports the Campaign for Wool 2011! url:
http://shaunthesheep.com/ (visited on 18/02/2015).
Clancy, Diane (2011). Value & Abstract. 16th Oct. 2011. url:
http://www.dianeclancy.com/blog/2011/10/two-things-challenge-value-
abstract/ (visited on 20/02/2015).
Doris, John Michael (2002). Lack of Character: Personality and Moral
Behavior. References are to the paperback edition (2005). Cambridge and
New York: Cambridge University Press.
Grenoble, Ryan (2015). The Huffington Post (12th Feb. 2015). url:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/11/australias-oldest-man-
sweaters-penguins-oil_n_6660962.html (visited on 18/02/2015).
Highlights Kids (2015). Why Do Clothes Sometimes Shrink in the Wash? url:
http://www.highlightskids.com/science-questions/why-do-clothes-
sometimes-shrink-wash (visited on 18/02/2015).
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
References
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
References IIKristjánsson, Kristján (2000). ‘Utilitarian Naturalism and the Moral
Justification of Emotions’. International Journal of Applied Philosophy
14.1, 43–58.
Maio, Gregory R. and Geoffrey Haddock (2010). The Psychology of Attitudes
and Attitude Change. Los Angeles et al.: SAGE.
Mischel, Walter and Yuichi Shoda (1995). ‘A Cognitive-Affective System
Theory of Personality: Reconceptualizing Situations, Dispositions, Dynamics,
and Invariance in Personality Structure’. Psychological Review 102.2 (Apr.
1995), 246–268.
Padre Adventurero (2013). Dale Tiempo al Juego, 6th Mar. 2013. url:
http://blog.daletiempoaljuego.com/tag/aire-libre/ (visited on
12/10/2014).
Phillip Island Nature Parks (2015). url:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/11/australias-oldest-man-
sweaters-penguins-oil_n_6660962.html (visited on 18/02/2015). From
Grenoble (2015).
Virtue Ethics & Empirical Psychology
References
Wisdom
Foolishness
TemperanceG
lutt
ony
Justice
Injustice
Compa
ssion
Cruelty
References IIIPlan, Mark (2014). url:
http://www.ccjfan.com/coloring-page-kindness-kindness-printable/
(visited on 11/10/2014).
pngimg.com (2015). Imperator Penguin PNG Image. url:
http://pngimg.com/download/4627 (visited on 20/02/2015).
Rees, Clea F. and Jonathan Webber (2013). ‘Constancy, Fidelity, and Integrity’.
In The Handbook of Virtue Ethics. Ed. by Stan van Hooft. In collab. with
Nafiska Athanassoulis et al. Durham, U.K.: Acumen. Chap. 35, 399–408.
Senovan (2011). City in a Fishbowl Wallpaper. 4th Sept. 2011. url:
http://senovan.deviantart.com/art/City-in-a-Fishbowl-Wallpaper-
256793811 (visited on 15/03/2015).
Williams, Bernard Arthur Owen (1973). ‘A Critique of Utilitarianism’. In
Utilitarianism: For and Against. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 77–150.
Yi, Agnés (2015). url: http://www.agnesillustration.com/portfolio.php
(visited on 18/02/2015).