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Article
Psychologies of Moral Perceivers
Midwest Studies In Philosophy
  • Peggy DesAutels, University of Dayton
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1-1998
Abstract

Philosophers have long discussed how an agent should reason about ethical situations and dilemmas, but have failed adequately to address how agents go about determining morally relevant saliencies in their everyday lives. Drawing on recent cognitive science research, I argue that there are at least two distinct types of competencies that agents employ to identify moral saliencies in their day-to-day experience. The two examined here are 1) a competence in using high-level, analytic thought processes for abstract problem solving, and 2) a competence in using embodied, low-level thought processes for responding to concrete, finely grained situations. Because these two types of capacities are demonstrably isolatable from each other and can each be developed to a different degree (often to a significantly different degree) in a single individual, I distinguish and describe the psychologies of two types of moral perceiver: abstract perceivers and concrete perceivers. Concrete moral perceivers are those persons who have the well-developed capacity and the tendency to deploy embodied mental structures to perceive moral saliencies in day-to-day situations; and abstract moral perceivers are those who have the well-developed capacity and the tendency to use high-level, articulable theories to perceive moral saliencies in day-to-day situations.

Inclusive pages
266–280
ISBN/ISSN
0363-6550
Comments

Permission documentation is on file.

Publisher
John Wiley & Sons
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Citation Information
Peggy DesAutels. "Psychologies of Moral Perceivers" Midwest Studies In Philosophy Vol. 22 Iss. 1 (1998)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/peggy_desautels/11/