scholarly journals The essential superficiality of the voluntary and the moralization of psychology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthieu Queloz
Keyword(s):  
Voluntary Action ◽  
Moral Demands

AbstractIs the idea of the voluntary important? Those who think so tend to regard it as an idea that can be metaphysically deepened through a theory about voluntary action, while those who think it a superficial idea that cannot coherently be deepened tend to neglect it as unimportant. Parting company with both camps, I argue that the idea of the voluntary is at once important and superficial—it is an essentially superficial notion that performs important functions, but can only perform them if we refrain from deepening it. After elaborating the contrast between superficial and deepened ideas of the voluntary, I identify the important functions that the superficial idea performs in relation to demands for fairness and freedom. I then suggest that theories trying to deepen the idea exemplify a problematic moralization of psychology—they warp psychological ideas to ensure that moral demands can be met. I offer a three-tier model of the problematic dynamics this creates, and show why the pressure to deepen the idea should be resisted. On this basis, I take stock of what an idea of the voluntary worth having should look like, and what residual tensions with moral ideas this leaves us with.

LEADERS AND TIMES OF CRISIS: JEREMIAH 5:1–6 A CASE IN POINT

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 657-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilhelm J. Wessels
Keyword(s):  
Ordinary People ◽  
Covenant Theology ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of ◽  
Book Of Jeremiah ◽  
Definitive Role ◽  
Ethical Obligations ◽  
Moral Demands ◽  
The Way ◽  
Crisis Situations

The book of Jeremiah reflects a particular period in the history of Judah, certain theological perspectives and a particular portrayal of the prophet Jeremiah. Covenant theology played a major role in Jeremiah’s view of life and determined his expectations of leaders and ordinary people. He placed high value on justice and trustworthiness, and people who did not adhere to this would in his view bear the consequences of disobedience to Yahweh’s moral demands and unfaithfulness. The prophet expected those in positions of leadership to adhere to certain ethical obligations as is clear from most of the nouns which appear in Jeremiah 5:1–6. This article argues that crisis situations in history affect leaders’ communication, attitudes and responses. Leaders’ worldviews and ideologies play a definitive role in their responses to crises. Jeremiah’s religious views are reflected in his criticism and demands of people in his society. This is also true as seen from the way the people and leaders in Judah responded to the prophet’s proclamation. Jeremiah 5:1–6 emphasises that knowledge and accountability are expected of leaders at all times, but in particular during unstable political times.

The Feeling of Morality

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Jeske
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Moral Action ◽  
Action Understanding ◽  
Moral Deliberation ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Full Understanding ◽  
Moral Concepts ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Moral Demands

Emotions play a critical role in both moral deliberation and moral action. Understanding the emotions and how they ought to interact with theoretical principles is an important part of fulfilling our duty of due care in moral deliberation. By examining the Nazi police squads and the Nazi virtue of “hardness,” we can come to see how ordinary people can suppress their emotions in order to carry out morally odious tasks. We can then see that the methods we use to live with our treatment of nonhuman animals bear striking similarities to the methods used by those in the police squads. Ted Bundy, a psychopath, suggests that a lack of emotions can hinder our ability to grasp moral concepts, thus showing that even while emotions must be regulated by theory, they also play an important role in any full understanding of the significance of moral demands.

Schopenhauer and Hume on Will and Causation

2020 ◽  
pp. 160-174
Author(s):  
Severin Schroeder
Keyword(s):  
Intentional Action ◽  
Voluntary Action ◽  
Material Objects ◽  
Full Understanding ◽  
The World ◽  
Immediate Experience

One aspect of Schopenhauer’s doctrine that the world is will, which can be assessed independently of his more ambitious metaphysical ideas, is the claim that our own agency provides us with a full understanding of causation which then permeates and structures our experience of the world in general. In this chapter, the author argues that this claim can be defended against Hume’s well-known objections because they are based on a volitional theory of voluntary action, which Schopenhauer rightly rejected. Schopenhauer quite plausibly located an immediate experience of causation between at least some kinds of motives and our consequent actions. However, he was wrong in suggesting that this experience might be the source of our understanding of causation since intentional action already presupposes that understanding and cannot provide it. It is more plausible to argue that an understanding of causation is derived from our bodily encounters with material objects.

scholarly journals Design and evaluation of a novel approach to invisible electrocardiography (ECG) in sanitary facilities using polymeric electrodes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aline dos Santos Silva ◽  
Hugo Almeida ◽  
Hugo Plácido da Silva ◽  
António Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Voluntary Action ◽  
Signal Loss ◽  
Standard Equipment ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
Battery Lifetime ◽  
Ecg Signals ◽  
Toilet Seat ◽  
Novel Approach

AbstractMultiple wearable devices for cardiovascular self-monitoring have been proposed over the years, with growing evidence showing their effectiveness in the detection of pathologies that would otherwise be unnoticed through standard routine exams. In particular, Electrocardiography (ECG) has been an important tool for such purpose. However, wearables have known limitations, chief among which are the need for a voluntary action so that the ECG trace can be taken, battery lifetime, and abandonment. To effectively address these, novel solutions are needed, which has recently paved the way for “invisible” (aka “off-the-person”) sensing approaches. In this article we describe the design and experimental evaluation of a system for invisible ECG monitoring at home. For this purpose, a new sensor design was proposed, novel materials have been explored, and a proof-of-concept data collection system was created in the form of a toilet seat, enabling ECG measurements as an extension of the regular use of sanitary facilities, without requiring body-worn devices. In order to evaluate the proposed approach, measurements were performed using our system and a gold standard equipment, involving 10 healthy subjects. For the acquisition of the ECG signals on the toilet seat, polymeric electrodes with different textures were produced and tested. According to the results obtained, some of the textures did not allow the acquisition of signals in all users. However, a pyramidal texture showed the best results in relation to heart rate and ECG waveform morphology. For a texture that has shown 0% signal loss, the mean heart rate difference between the reference and experimental device was − 1.778 ± 4.654 Beats per minute (BPM); in terms of ECG waveform, the best cases present a Pearson correlation coefficient above 0.99.

Voluntary Action or Collusion ?

1987 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 749-754
Author(s):  
S.K. Dey
Keyword(s):  
Voluntary Action

scholarly journals Trusting the Corona-Warn-App? Contemplations on trust and trustworthiness at the intersection of technology, politics and public debate

2021 ◽  
pp. 026732312110283
Author(s):  
Judith Simon ◽  
Gernot Rieder
Keyword(s):  
Technology Development ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Initial Development ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Moral Duties ◽  
Moral Demands

Ever since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, questions of whom or what to trust have become paramount. This article examines the public debates surrounding the initial development of the German Corona-Warn-App in 2020 as a case study to analyse such questions at the intersection of trust and trustworthiness in technology development, design and oversight. Providing some insights into the nature and dynamics of trust and trustworthiness, we argue that (a) trust is only desirable and justified if placed well, that is, if directed at those being trustworthy; that (b) trust and trustworthiness come in degrees and have both epistemic and moral components; and that (c) such a normatively demanding understanding of trust excludes technologies as proper objects of trust and requires that trust is directed at socio-technical assemblages consisting of both humans and artefacts. We conclude with some lessons learned from our case study, highlighting the epistemic and moral demands for trustworthy technology development as well as for public debates about such technologies, which ultimately requires attributing epistemic and moral duties to all actors involved.

On the Relation Between Collective Responsibility and Collective Duties

Philosophy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-131
Author(s):  
Niels de Haan
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Good Reason ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
The Other ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Type Symmetry ◽  
Moral Demands

AbstractThere is good reason to think that moral responsibility as accountability is tied to the violation of moral demands. This lends intuitive support to Type-Symmetry in the collective realm: A type of responsibility entails the violation or unfulfillment of the same type of all-things-considered duty. For example, collective responsibility necessarily entails the violation of a collective duty. But Type-Symmetry is false. In this paper I argue that a non-agential group can be collectively responsible without thereby violating a collective duty. To show this I distinguish between four types of responsibility and duty in collective contexts: corporate, distributed, collective, shared. I set out two cases: one involves a non-reductive collective action that constitutes irreducible wrongdoing, the other involves a non-divisible consequence. I show that the violation of individual or shared duties both can lead to irreducible wrongdoing for which only the group is responsible. Finally, I explain why this conclusion does not upset any work on individual responsibility.

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