Explores issues concerning the accountability of conduct and the moral work that may be managed through accounts of actions, in the context of naturally occurring telephone conversations. Distinguishes between the implicit and explicit moral work of accounts, considering cases in which speakers appear implicitly to be doing defensive moral work in…

Examines whether the human world is threatened by a decline in respect for life, questioning some of the convictions and assumptions which underlie this diagnosis and the concomitant demand for an education in the value of life. The paper discusses the meaning of life, human existence, the sacredness of life, and the question of meaning and…

Compared the moral reasoning of 1,230 Finnish adolescents with that of 428 adolescents of the same age who grew up in Estonia during Soviet socialism with collectivist educational practices. Two levels of moral reasoning, a set of universal standards and a set for personal applications, were more likely to be found among Estonians. (SLD)

In discussing the work of teachers, this paper highlights two books, William Ayers's "To Become a Teacher" and David Hansen's "The Call to Teach," examining the philosophical roots of their analyses; how they define and characterize teaching and its place in public and private spheres; and what metaphors shape and define their…

Comparison of responses from 38 U.S. and 27 British preservice teachers on the Ethics Position Questionnaire indicated that both groups had high idealism. U.S. teachers had lower relativism scores. (SK)

Argues that the decline of informal systems of restraint and the rise of political correctness suggest a new moral order that bodes ill for Western civilization. Describes historical restraint systems within English society, discussing what Anglophones inherited from the past (a dynamic system capable of development as it responded to changes in…

Shows how a philosophical analysis of the moral value of information can help librarians rethink some aspects of their professional values, especially their commitment to neutrality. Discusses the historical background of allowing fiction into library collections; the impact of technology; the moral character of information; and information,…

Two elements of caring (the need to develop students' caring about others and caring as a moral reasoning mode) provide the framework for a study that explored possible relationships among self-esteem, gender, grade level, and caring in adolescents. Results (analysis of variance) found that all three factors were related to caring and were…

Responds to Meara et al.'s (1996) article concerning virtue ethics on the issue of applying ethical standards as a means of responding sensitively to minority groups. Questions the definition of community and reliance on community values as a guiding principle, and suggests that psychologists generally choose theoretical orientations based on…

Discusses the lack of guidance about moral and ethical issues in England's 1995 National Curriculum science documents. (MKR)

Maintains that Jensen highlights the force of an orthodox moral outlook and offers a novel theoretical framework integrating moral judgment with moral behavior through the "worldview" mechanism. Argues that Jensen's identification of an orthodox moral outlook is more successful than the theoretical framework offered and that many…

Argues that contested meanings, multiple judgments, and conflicts are part of cultures and the individual's thoughts and actions. Contends that people make moral judgments that may affirm or contradict cultural norms and practices, and sometimes invoke concepts of welfare, justice, and rights. Notes that some key aspects of Baumrind's neo-Marxist…

Investigates the ways in which young adults make judgments about two contrasting kinds of rights: moral worthiness (the aretaic) and moral obligation (the deontic), reflecting on how thinking in these areas may be coordinated with responsibility judgments and behavior. Discusses what might be gained if the aretaic domain were taken into account in…

Archival research on character education in the 1920s and 1930s in Washington, DC; Denver, Colorado; Birmingham, Alabama; and Pennsylvania, Iowa, and New York reveals that character education was an accepted goal of public schooling. Learning activities were designed to teach specific character traits. (SK)

Expresses the author's personal view of evil as considered by psychotherapeutic theories. Challenges the psychotherapeutic tendency to avoid the moral and existential dimensions of evil via the transformative language of psychopathology that allows practitioners to rely upon metaphors of disease or immaturity. Presents an inter-psychic viewpoint…