The significance of harm to the life and development of victims results from the deprivation of certain goods and the violation of their dignity. The experience also impacts the decisions made by the victims regarding the perpetrators and others and, thus, their moral development. In this article, the relationship between the forgiveness and moral…

This article describes the results of a qualitative study that aimed at investigating moral decision-making processes of prospective government workers using a game-based tool. Three participants volunteered to participate in the research process, which included playing a short point-and-click narrative game and a focus group. Data was analyzed…

Recent research on moral decision-making has suggested that many common moral judgments are based on immediate intuitions. However, some individuals arrive at highly counterintuitive utilitarian conclusions about when it is permissible to harm other individuals. Such utilitarian judgments have been attributed to effortful reasoning that has…

Do moral judgments hinge on the time available to render them? According to a recent dual-process model of moral judgment, moral dilemmas that engage emotional processes are likely to result in fast deontological gut reactions. In contrast, consequentialist responses that tot up lives saved and lost in response to such dilemmas would require…

Michael Slote proposes a rethinking of moral education from the perspective of a normative ethics of care combined with his distinctive sentimentalist metaethics. I raise questions concerning the role of empathy in Slote's picture and argue that empathy is related to respect and sentiments through which we hold ourselves and one another…

The realisation to integrate science, ethics and morality is recognised with growing impetus in recent years (as noted with introducing the Australian Curriculum "Science as a Human Endeavour" strand), to develop sophisticated epistemologies of science, which includes an appreciation of the social context including ethical thinking. To…

The purpose of this study was to examine the dimensionality of a moral intensity construct in four ethical accounting scenarios and how the dimensions directly affect the specific processes of moral decision making of accounting students. A survey was conducted with 233 accounting students enrolled in the school of accounting in a university of…

The purpose of this article was to question assumptions and explore limitations of the hypothetical moral situation approach by examining certain logical features of moral judgments in both hypothetical and non-hypothetical contexts. (Author/RK)

People can use a variety of different strategies to perform tasks and these strategies all have two characteristics in common. First, they can be evaluated in comparison with either an absolute or a relative standard. Second, they can be used at varying levels of consistency. In the present article, the authors develop a general theory of task…

Explains that because we want children to be honest, strong-minded, bold, resist peer pressure, and speakout against wrongdoing, protection against hurt must sometimes give way to other priorities. Suggests benchmarks that should be incorporated into decision-making: the act itself, its consequences, the motives, and the personal history of the…

Addresses the issue of selective moral disengagement in the exercise of moral agency. Argues that moral functioning is governed by self-reactive selfhood rather than by dispassionate abstract reasoning. Concludes that the massive threats to human welfare stem mainly from deliberate acts of principle rather than from unrestrained acts of impulse.…

This is the second of a two-part series on moral education. In the first, the author questioned the effectiveness of Lawrence Kohlberg's system as an educational design. Here she dissects the entire formalist tradition in moral education to return to John Dewey for what she sees as the most effective way to teach moral education. (Editor/RK)

Explores reasons for the current ineffectiveness of moral education and offers an alternative perspective on the proper purpose and methods for moral education. This ideal moral education is based primarily on the belief that social interactions during childhood are highly significant in the development of morality and on the functionalist…

Examines moral orientation in terms of consistency across varying contexts, such as its relation to gender and to gender role. Explores influence of moral decision-making on consequences of action. Suggests that different moral orientations may be embedded in life experience and connect with an individual's sense of moral identity in real-life…

Argues that reading literature is one of the best ways to cultivate the moral imagination. Draws on sources from cognitive science, philosophy, literature, and education. Argues that a cultivated moral imagination will have greater ability to make sound moral judgements. Infers this can be applied to educational pursuits as well. (CAJ)