Virtue as Social Intelligence

Virtue as Social Intelligence PDF Author: Nancy E. Snow
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135838623
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 145

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Book Description
Virtue as Social Intelligence: An Empirically Grounded Theory takes on the claims of philosophical situationism, the ethical theory that is skeptical about the possibility of human virtue. Influenced by social psychological studies, philosophical situationists argue that human personality is too fluid and fragmented to support a stable set of virtues. They claim that virtue cannot be grounded in empirical psychology. This book argues otherwise. Drawing on the work of psychologists Walter Mischel and Yuichi Shoda, Nancy E. Snow argues that the social psychological experiments that philosophical situationists rely on look at the wrong kinds of situations to test for behavioral consistency. Rather than looking at situations that are objectively similar, researchers need to compare situations that have similar meanings for the subject. When this is done, subjects exhibit behavioral consistencies that warrant the attribution of enduring traits, and virtues are a subset of these traits. Virtue can therefore be empirically grounded and virtue ethics has nothing to fear from philosophical situationism.

Virtue as Social Intelligence

Virtue as Social Intelligence PDF Author: Nancy E. Snow
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135838623
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 145

Get Book Here

Book Description
Virtue as Social Intelligence: An Empirically Grounded Theory takes on the claims of philosophical situationism, the ethical theory that is skeptical about the possibility of human virtue. Influenced by social psychological studies, philosophical situationists argue that human personality is too fluid and fragmented to support a stable set of virtues. They claim that virtue cannot be grounded in empirical psychology. This book argues otherwise. Drawing on the work of psychologists Walter Mischel and Yuichi Shoda, Nancy E. Snow argues that the social psychological experiments that philosophical situationists rely on look at the wrong kinds of situations to test for behavioral consistency. Rather than looking at situations that are objectively similar, researchers need to compare situations that have similar meanings for the subject. When this is done, subjects exhibit behavioral consistencies that warrant the attribution of enduring traits, and virtues are a subset of these traits. Virtue can therefore be empirically grounded and virtue ethics has nothing to fear from philosophical situationism.

Virtue as Social Intelligence

Virtue as Social Intelligence PDF Author: Nancy E. Snow
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135838615
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
Virtue as Social Intelligence: An Empirically Grounded Theory takes on the claims of philosophical situationism, the ethical theory that is skeptical about the possibility of human virtue. Influenced by social psychological studies, philosophical situationists argue that human personality is too fluid and fragmented to support a stable set of virtues. They claim that virtue cannot be grounded in empirical psychology. This book argues otherwise. Drawing on the work of psychologists Walter Mischel and Yuichi Shoda, Nancy E. Snow argues that the social psychological experiments that philosophical situationists rely on look at the wrong kinds of situations to test for behavioral consistency. Rather than looking at situations that are objectively similar, researchers need to compare situations that have similar meanings for the subject. When this is done, subjects exhibit behavioral consistencies that warrant the attribution of enduring traits, and virtues are a subset of these traits. Virtue can therefore be empirically grounded and virtue ethics has nothing to fear from philosophical situationism.

Character Strengths and Virtues

Character Strengths and Virtues PDF Author: Christopher Peterson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198037333
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 815

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Book Description
"Character" has become a front-and-center topic in contemporary discourse, but this term does not have a fixed meaning. Character may be simply defined by what someone does not do, but a more active and thorough definition is necessary, one that addresses certain vital questions. Is character a singular characteristic of an individual, or is it composed of different aspects? Does character--however we define it--exist in degrees, or is it simply something one happens to have? How can character be developed? Can it be learned? Relatedly, can it be taught, and who might be the most effective teacher? What roles are played by family, schools, the media, religion, and the larger culture? This groundbreaking handbook of character strengths and virtues is the first progress report from a prestigious group of researchers who have undertaken the systematic classification and measurement of widely valued positive traits. They approach good character in terms of separate strengths-authenticity, persistence, kindness, gratitude, hope, humor, and so on-each of which exists in degrees. Character Strengths and Virtues classifies twenty-four specific strengths under six broad virtues that consistently emerge across history and culture: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. Each strength is thoroughly examined in its own chapter, with special attention to its meaning, explanation, measurement, causes, correlates, consequences, and development across the life span, as well as to strategies for its deliberate cultivation. This book demands the attention of anyone interested in psychology and what it can teach about the good life.

The Oxford Handbook of Virtue

The Oxford Handbook of Virtue PDF Author: Nancy E. Snow
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019938519X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 905

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Book Description
The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have seen a renaissance in the study of virtue -- a topic that has prevailed in philosophical work since the time of Aristotle. Several major developments have conspired to mark this new age. Foremost among them, some argue, is the birth of virtue ethics, an approach to ethics that focuses on virtue in place of consequentialism (the view that normative properties depend only on consequences) or deontology (the study of what we have a moral duty to do). The emergence of new virtue theories also marks this new wave of work on virtue. Put simply, these are theories about what virtue is, and they include Kantian and utilitarian virtue theories. Concurrently, virtue ethics is being applied to other fields where it hasn't been used before, including bioethics and education. In addition to these developments, the study of virtue in epistemological theories has become increasingly widespread to the point that it has spawned a subfield known as 'virtue epistemology.' This volume therefore provides a representative overview of philosophical work on virtue. It is divided into seven parts: conceptualizations of virtue, historical and religious accounts, contemporary virtue ethics and theories of virtue, central concepts and issues, critical examinations, applied virtue ethics, and virtue epistemology. Forty-two chapters by distinguished scholars offer insights and directions for further research. In addition to philosophy, authors also deal with virtues in non-western philosophical traditions, religion, and psychological perspectives on virtue.

Intelligent Virtue

Intelligent Virtue PDF Author: Julia Annas
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191617229
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Intelligent Virtue presents a distinctive new account of virtue and happiness as central ethical ideas. Annas argues that exercising a virtue involves practical reasoning of a kind which can illuminatingly be compared to the kind of reasoning we find in someone exercising a practical skill. Rather than asking at the start how virtues relate to rules, principles, maximizing, or a final end, we should look at the way in which the acquisition and exercise of virtue can be seen to be in many ways like the acquisition and exercise of more mundane activities, such as farming, building or playing the piano. This helps us to see virtue as part of an agent's happiness or flourishing, and as constituting (wholly, or in part) that happiness. We are offered a better understanding of the relation between virtue as an ideal and virtue in everyday life, and the relation between being virtuous and doing the right thing.

Developing the Virtues

Developing the Virtues PDF Author: Julia Annas
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019063054X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
Ethicists and psychologists have become increasingly interested in the development of virtue in recent years, approaching the topic from the perspectives of virtue ethics and developmental psychology respectively. Such interest in virtue development has spread beyond academia, as teachers and parents have increasingly striven to cultivate virtue as part of education and child-rearing. Looking at these parallel trends in the study and practice of virtue development, the essays in this volume explore such questions as: How can philosophical work on virtue development inform psychological work on it, and vice versa? How should we understand virtue as a dimension of human personality? What is the developmental foundation of virtue? What are the evolutionary aspects of virtue and its development? How is virtue fostered? How is virtue exemplified in behavior and action? How is our conception of virtue influenced by context and by developmental and social experiences? What are the tensions, impediments and prospects for an integrative field of virtue study? Rather than centering on each discipline, the essays in this volume are organized around themes and engage each other in a broader dialogue. The volume begins with an introductory essay from the editors that explains the full range of philosophical and empirical issues that have surrounded the notion of virtue in recent years.

Prudence

Prudence PDF Author: Robert Hariman
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 9780271046662
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
This volume brings together scholars in classics, political philosophy, and rhetoric to analyze prudence as a distinctive and vital form of political intelligence. Through case studies from each of the major periods in the history of prudence, the authors identify neglected resources for political judgement in today's conditions of pluralism and interdependency. Three assumptions inform these essays: the many dimensions of prudence cannot be adequately represented in the lexicon of any single discipline; the Aristotelian focus on prudence as rational calculation needs to be balanced by the Ciceronian emphasis on prudence as discursive performance embedded in familiar social practices; and understanding prudence requires attention to how it operates thorough the communicative media and public discourses that constitute the political community.

Virtue Signaling

Virtue Signaling PDF Author: Geoffrey Miller
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781951555009
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
'Virtue signaling' is the phrase that got popular on social media during the 2016 election as a way of derogating political opponents. But what is virtue signaling, really? How does it work, where does it come from, and is it really a bad thing? How can it help people to virtue signaling better -- when you're doing it, and when your friends, family, colleagues, and mates are doing it? This short, thoughtful, easy-to-read book is about how we can better understand people's instincts to show off our moral virtues, personality traits, ideologies, political attitudes, and lifestyle choices through our public behavior and language, from dating to street protests to social media to academic censorship. It shows how virtue signaling is the key to understanding current debates about free speech and viewpoint diversity on campuses, in corporations, and throughout society. Understanding virtue signaling is a social superpower, like understanding body language, or personality traits, or sex differences. Are you curious why politics and religion lead to so many bitter debates around the Thanksgiving dinner table -- even among relatives who get along in every other domain? Or why so many single people put 'No Trump supporters ' or 'No Libtards ' on the dating profiles -- when politics plays such a small role in day-to-day relationships? Or why Gen Z college students want to censor ideas they think are evil -- when they're supposed to be exposing themselves to diverse perspectives? Virtue signaling is one of those concepts that's easy to understand, but that most people don't bother to face -- because we're all doing it all the time, and acknowledging our own virtue signaling makes us feel embarrassed and hypocritical.Let's face the reality of virtue signaling. This book offers a scientifically grounded, practical, non-partisan set of insights so you understand your own ideological passions, your relationships, and your society much more easily. If you don't understand your own virtue signaling, then your ideologies and signaling habits, not your conscious mind, are running your life. If you don't understand other people's virtue signaling, then it's hard to take their point of view and to find common ground with them. If you don't understanding virtue signaling in the political realm, it's hard to convince other citizens to support your causes, policies, and candidates.This book collects seven essays written from 1996 through 2018. They're all focused around the evolutionary psychology of politics, ethics, and language. It includes a new preface, new introductions that give the backstory to each essay, and a new list of further readings (including about 100 books by other people). The book is about 32,000 words, or about 85-130 pages depending on your reader format. The author, Geoffrey Miller, is a tenured evolutionary psychology professor at University of New Mexico. He's been writing and teaching about the origins and functions of moral virtues for decades. His previous books include The Mating Mind, Spent, Mating Intelligence, and What Women Want. He got his B.A. from Columbia University, and his Ph.D. from Stanford University. He's also worked at NYU Stern Business School, UCLA, University College London, and the London School of Economics. He has over 110 publications about sexual selection, mate choice, signaling theory, fitness indicators, consumer behavior, marketing, intelligence, creativity, language, art, music, humor, emotions, personality, psychopathology, and behavior genetics. He has also given 200 talks in 16 countries, and his research has been featured in Nature, Science, The New York Times, The Washington Post, New Scientist, and The Economist, on NPR and BBC radio, and in documentaries on CNN, PBS, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, and BBC.

The Philosophy and Psychology of Character and Happiness

The Philosophy and Psychology of Character and Happiness PDF Author: Nancy E. Snow
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135136114
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
Since ancient times, character, virtue, and happiness have been central to thinking about how to live well. Yet until recently, philosophers have thought about these topics in an empirical vacuum. Taking up the general challenge of situationism – that philosophers should pay attention to empirical psychology – this interdisciplinary volume presents new essays from empirically informed perspectives by philosophers and psychologists on western as well as eastern conceptions of character, virtue, and happiness, and related issues such as personality, emotion and cognition, attitudes and automaticity. Researchers at the top of their fields offer exciting work that expands the horizons of empirically informed research on topics central to virtue ethics.

After Virtue

After Virtue PDF Author: Alasdair MacIntyre
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1623569818
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
Highly controversial when it was first published in 1981, Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue has since established itself as a landmark work in contemporary moral philosophy. In this book, MacIntyre sought to address a crisis in moral language that he traced back to a European Enlightenment that had made the formulation of moral principles increasingly difficult. In the search for a way out of this impasse, MacIntyre returns to an earlier strand of ethical thinking, that of Aristotle, who emphasised the importance of 'virtue' to the ethical life. More than thirty years after its original publication, After Virtue remains a work that is impossible to ignore for anyone interested in our understanding of ethics and morality today.