Situational Ethics

Am I doing good?  My purpose in this essay is to explore whether a person may find ethical absolutes without reference to God.  My premise is that we ultimately need a transcendent source of values.  Keep in mind, I am not saying that only theists do good things.  In fact, many theists do bad things and many non-theists, including atheists, do a lot of good in the world.  My point is that we need some standard that tells us what are the good things being done and what are the bad things. My contention is that we need God to tell us when people, even atheists, are doing good things and when people, even theists, are doing bad things.

Leisure has a rich social, psychological and educational potential. Choral singing is one of the most common organized musical leisure activities, which is, according to numerous studies, in addition to the obvious primary musical function, unattributed to various psychological, therapeutic, educational and other benefits. This paper presents the results of research aimed at determining the relationship between quality leisure time spent participating in choir activities, determinants and dimensions of subjective and psychological well-being and elements characteristic of the sense of life satisfaction (global and situational). The aim of the research was to determine the level of the subjective feeling of life satisfaction of choir singers, to point out possible benefits arising from active and organized music engagement in choirs and to check whether there is a connection between these activities and the subjective sense of life satisfaction in active singers of different ages, genders, and professional or amateur groups. The results indicate that choir singers show a relatively high level of life satisfaction and that there are certain differences in relation to their age, gender and status, but not in relation to the duration of their participation in the activity.

The study of moral judgements often centres on moral dilemmas in which options consistent with deontological perspectives (that is, emphasizing rules, individual rights and duties) are in conflict with options consistent with utilitarian judgements (that is, following the greater good based on consequences). Greene et al. (2009) showed that psychological and situational factors (for example, the intent of the agent or the presence of physical contact between the agent and the victim) can play an important role in moral dilemma judgements (for example, the trolley problem). Our knowledge is limited concerning both the universality of these effects outside the United States and the impact of culture on the situational and psychological factors affecting moral judgements. Thus, we empirically tested the universality of the effects of intent and personal force on moral dilemma judgements by replicating the experiments of Greene et al. in 45 countries from all inhabited continents. We found that personal force and its interaction with intention exert influence on moral judgements in the US and Western cultural clusters, replicating and expanding the original findings. Moreover, the personal force effect was present in all cultural clusters, suggesting it is culturally universal. The evidence for the cultural universality of the interaction effect was inconclusive in the Eastern and Southern cultural clusters (depending on exclusion criteria). We found no strong association between collectivism/ individualism and moral dilemma judgements.

SOMMARIO Prefazione 7 PARTE PRIMA MODELLI ANTICHI DI BIOS FULVIA DE LUISE, Note sul bios e il tema socratico della «cura di sé» 15 GIUSEPPE FARINETTI, Socrate, maestro di vita? 21 Handout 43 FULVIA DE LUISE, Platone: felicità per tutti e anomalia del filosofo 53 Handout 63 SILVIA GASTALDI, Vita politica e vita filosofica: la riflessione sul bios preferibile in Aristotele 77 Handout 90 EMIDIO SPINELLI, Una vita disicantata: bios e philosophia nello scetticismo antico 107 Handout 126 PARTE SECONDA IL DIBATTITO CONTEMPORANEO SULL'EREDITÀ DEGLI ANTICHI EMIDIO SPINELLI, A volte ritornano, perfino i pirro-niani… 135 SILVIA GASTALDI, La ricorrente vitalità della filosofia pratica di Aristotele e la sua difficile attualità 147 FULVIA DE LUISE, Attualità platonica 153 GIUSEPPE FARINETTI, Attualità di Socrate 159 TOSCA LYNCH, Therapeia stoica e Chresis Phantasion: per un Bios senza Bias 169 EMIDIO SPINELLI UNA VITA DISINCANTATA: BIOS E PHILOSOPHIA NELLO SCETTICISMO ANTICO

Circumstantial ethics in Albanian higher education: volitional vs arbitrary participation of the Bologna system. Ethics and ethical behavior are major study topics (Banerjee, 1998) among business and academic circles (Bass & Hebert, 1995). Reports of unethical behaviors and the bypass of the societal code of conduct have drawn heavy criticism from the public and according to Bass and Hebert (1995) they have “led to a decline of public trust (pg. 727)”. Charitable philanthropic organizations such as Helping Hearts and Hands, International Humanities Center and private for-profit organizations such WorldCom, Enron, Lehman Brothers, Bernie Madoff etc., are some of the few names that people associate with when speaking about unethical behavior. According to Ho (2011), philosophically speaking, ethical behavior is ascribing oneself to “good” or “right” behavior. Moreover, ethical decision-making is determined by individuals using their moral base to determine what’s right or wrong (Ho, 2011). Congruently, Davis and Frederick (1984) define ethics as “the rules or principles that define right and wrong conduct (p. 76).” However, Grazioli (1990) states that even the most respected, sincere and brilliant minds can be wrecked on by the combination of “progressive humanistic logic and situational ethics (pg. 112).” In fact, Parsa and Lankford (1999) believe that ethical and unethical behaviors are a function of the person and the environment. Banerjee (1998) concluded, based on the work of Rosen (in Banerjee, 1998) that ethical/unethical behavior is some special occurring within the realm of human behavior. In other words, Banerjee (1988) states that ethical and unethical behavior is existent but simply is differentiated to the extent the kind of moral judgment that represents one’s aura and personal moral developments in different situations. Situational ethics, a term coined by Joseph Fletcher who is identified as the “Father of Situation Ethics” (McHugh, 2006) contends that the right and wrong depend upon the situation and there are no universal moral rules or rights and each case deserves unique solution. It can also describe “the situational factors associated with an ethical dilemma (Robertson, et al., 2002, pg. 328).” As such was the decision to adopt the Bologna-system of education in 2003 by the Albanian policy-makers and apply it to Albanian public and private universities. This paper attempts to explore the main cause for the adaptation of the Bologna higher education system. It is often assume that elected officials act on behalf of their constituents with good intentions. However, even decision makers who have good intentions can fall pray of unethical behavior in situational-induced biases circumstances (Kellaris, Boyle, & Dahlstrom, 1994). In fact, circumstances have always been a focus of analysis for scientists in many different social sciences–sociology, anthropology, economics, politics etc. (Todeva, 1997)

The study of moral judgements often centres on moral dilemmas in which options consistent with deontological perspectives (that is, emphasizing rules, individual rights and duties) are in conflict with options consistent with utilitarian judgements (that is, following the greater good based on consequences). Greene et al. (2009) showed that psychological and situational factors (for example, the intent of the agent or the presence of physical contact between the agent and the victim) can play an important role in moral dilemma judgements (for example, the trolley problem). Our knowledge is limited concerning both the universality of these effects outside the United States and the impact of culture on the situational and psychological factors affecting moral judgements. Thus, we empirically tested the universality of the effects of intent and personal force on moral dilemma judgements by replicating the experiments of Greene et al. in 45 countries from all inhabited continents. We found that personal force and its interaction with intention exert influence on moral judgements in the US and Western cultural clusters, replicating and expanding the original findings. Moreover, the personal force effect was present in all cultural clusters, suggesting it is culturally universal. The evidence for the cultural universality of the interaction effect was inconclusive in the Eastern and Southern cultural clusters (depending on exclusion criteria). We found no strong association between collectivism/ individualism and moral dilemma judgements.

The personality traits of social work leaders are important factors influencing ethical decision-making in organisations. The lack of empirical evidence with regard to the relationship between personal authenticity and ethical decision-making in social work stimulated the present study. Two hundred and thirty-eight leaders (81.9% female) from organisations working in various fields of social work were given the Authenticity Scale, Managerial Ethical Profile, and conducted two free association tasks with the cue words authenticity and self. Authenticity was positively correlated with ethical decision-making. In contrast, authenticity was not correlated with the tendency to make decisions in an effort to maximise economic profit for the organisation. The results of the present study have important practical implications for the social work sector. The positive correlation of authenticity with ethical decision-making indicates that positive reinforcement of authenticity in leaders could possibly lead to supporting ethical decision-making within an organisation. Therefore, supporting authenticity in leaders working in social work may also help foster quality services and prevent unethical behaviour. Abstrakt Etické rozhodování v organizacích sociální práce je silně ovlivněno osobnostními dispozicemi vedoucích pracovníků. Hlavním podnětem pro vznik této studie byla dosavadní velmi sporadická empirická evidence dokládající vztah mezi osobnostní autenticitou a etickým rozhodováním v organizacích sociální práce. 238 vedoucích pracovníků (81,9% žen) z různých organizací sociální práce vyplnilo testy Authenticity Scale, Managerial Ethical Profile a dále absolvovalo asociační experimentální úkol ve vztahu k podnětovým slovům autenticita a já. Výsledky našeho výzkumu ukazují, že osobnostní autenticita vedoucích pracovníků v organizacích sociální práce pozitivně koreluje s jejich dispozicemi pro etické rozhodování. Osobnostní autenticita ale naopak nesouvisela s rozhodováním, které by mělo za cíl maximalizovat ekonomický zisk organizace. Výsledky studie mají zásadní praktický význam, protože akcentují důležitost systematické podpory autenticity vedoucích pracovníků v organizacích sociální práce. Podpora autenticity vedoucích pracovníků může přispět k jejich etičtějšímu rozhodování, ke zlepšení

As we know that situational interest as a primary motivator for student to involve in physical activity. The Purpose of this study is to describe student situational interest such as challenge, attention demand, instant enjoyment, novelty and exploration intention who take part of outdoor education. This research was conducted in population of Student University at STKIP Pasundan who take part of outdoor education class with a total 96 people. Samplings were taken through total sampling. Data were collected through Situational interest scale. Using percentage data collection, result show that challenge has been highest percentage in a mount of 34%, novelty 21%, instant enjoyment 19%, exploration intention 16% and attention demand 10%. Keywords: Situational interest, Outdoor education

The aim of the study is to determine the factors that promote the impulse buying among the customers on ready to wear garments.. The internal and external factors considered for the study were personal factors, economic factors, promotional factors and situational factors. The respondents were randomly selected from the customers in the textile malls at Thanajvur. A structured questionnaire was framed to collect the opinion of the respondents. The questionnaire consists of personal profile of the customers and questions regarding the factors taken for the study. The collected responses were analyzed with statistical tools such as descriptive statistics, ANOVA, regression and chi square test. The income and promotional factors have strong influence over the impulse buying of the customers. Other factors such as personal factors, situational factors, and store environment have minimum impact over the impulse buying of the customers. Based on the study suggestions were given to the tex...

The current dilemma faced by the Governor-General of Jamaica, a practising Adventist and former pastor, who was required to sign into law a practice his denomination considers sinful, has highlighted once again the gap between Christian orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Will the Governor General ‘betray’ his own sense of ethics if he signs? The gap between belief and practice has often been the ground on which many question whether the tenets of Christian doctrine are liveable in the ‘real world’. That collision of the sacred [absolute belief that gambling is wrong] and the secular [passing of the bill that allows for casino gambling, which, at the time, awaited his signature] in the scenario presented, has brought to the fore the importance of interrogating moral “absolutes” of Christian ethics is necessary in light of the recent dilemma faced by the Governor General of Jamaica. The ethical challenge the governor-general faced provides, perhaps, an opportunity for ethicists, theologians and students of theology to reflect upon situation[al] ethics and how the ‘church’ can be involved in nation building without coming into outright conflict with the secular national agenda. This essay argues that for Christians to impact the nation, they must be willing to look beyond their ideas of morality for the interest of the majority. Letting go of the notion of ‘absolute morality’ is therefore necessary if the church is to make any significant impact in postmodern times.

Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are important at most colleges and universities. One purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which motivational climate was associated with SETs. Another purpose was to determine whether course ease was associated with SETs. Participants included 2,949 undergraduate students from 30 courses at a large public university. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we examined the extent to which students’ motivation-related course perceptions (empowerment/autonomy, usefulness, success expectancies, situational interest, and caring) related to SETs at the student and class levels. SETs were highly associated with motivational climate. Furthermore, easier courses were rated lower by students when controlling for motivational climate and the demographical composition of the class. These findings highlight the association between the motivational climate and SETs and suggest that one way to improve SETs may be for instructors to focus on improv...

The study of moral judgements often centres on moral dilemmas in which options consistent with deontological perspectives (that is, emphasizing rules, individual rights and duties) are in conflict with options consistent with utilitarian judgements (that is, following the greater good based on consequences). Greene et al. (2009) showed that psychological and situational factors (for example, the intent of the agent or the presence of physical contact between the agent and the victim) can play an important role in moral dilemma judgements (for example, the trolley problem). Our knowledge is limited concerning both the universality of these effects outside the United States and the impact of culture on the situational and psychological factors affecting moral judgements. Thus, we empirically tested the universality of the effects of intent and personal force on moral dilemma judgements by replicating the experiments of Greene et al. in 45 countries from all inhabited continents. We found that personal force and its interaction with intention exert influence on moral judgements in the US and Western cultural clusters, replicating and expanding the original findings. Moreover, the personal force effect was present in all cultural clusters, suggesting it is culturally universal. The evidence for the cultural universality of the interaction effect was inconclusive in the Eastern and Southern cultural clusters (depending on exclusion criteria). We found no strong association between collectivism/ individualism and moral dilemma judgements.

The study of moral judgements often centres on moral dilemmas in which options consistent with deontological perspectives (that is, emphasizing rules, individual rights and duties) are in conflict with options consistent with utilitarian judgements (that is, following the greater good based on consequences). Greene et al. (2009) showed that psychological and situational factors (for example, the intent of the agent or the presence of physical contact between the agent and the victim) can play an important role in moral dilemma judgements (for example, the trolley problem). Our knowledge is limited concerning both the universality of these effects outside the United States and the impact of culture on the situational and psychological factors affecting moral judgements. Thus, we empirically tested the universality of the effects of intent and personal force on moral dilemma judgements by replicating the experiments of Greene et al. in 45 countries from all inhabited continents. We found that personal force and its interaction with intention exert influence on moral judgements in the US and Western cultural clusters, replicating and expanding the original findings. Moreover, the personal force effect was present in all cultural clusters, suggesting it is culturally universal. The evidence for the cultural universality of the interaction effect was inconclusive in the Eastern and Southern cultural clusters (depending on exclusion criteria). We found no strong association between collectivism/ individualism and moral dilemma judgements.

This paper presents the lessons learned in experimenting with Thetis 1 , an EC project focusing on the creation and localization of enhanced on-line pedagogical content for language learning in tourism industry. It is based on a general innovative approach to language learning that allows employees to acquire practical oral and written skills while navigating a relevant professional scenario. The approach is enabled by an underlying platform (EXILLS) that integrates virtual reality with a set of linguistic, technologies to create a new form of dynamic, extensible, goal-directed e-content. 1 Credits The work described in this paper has been supported by the European Commission in the frame of the eContent program 2 .

The study of moral judgements often centres on moral dilemmas in which options consistent with deontological perspectives (that is, emphasizing rules, individual rights and duties) are in conflict with options consistent with utilitarian judgements (that is, following the greater good based on consequences). Greene et al. (2009) showed that psychological and situational factors (for example, the intent of the agent or the presence of physical contact between the agent and the victim) can play an important role in moral dilemma judgements (for example, the trolley problem). Our knowledge is limited concerning both the universality of these effects outside the United States and the impact of culture on the situational and psychological factors affecting moral judgements. Thus, we empirically tested the universality of the effects of intent and personal force on moral dilemma judgements by replicating the experiments of Greene et al. in 45 countries from all inhabited continents. We found that personal force and its interaction with intention exert influence on moral judgements in the US and Western cultural clusters, replicating and expanding the original findings. Moreover, the personal force effect was present in all cultural clusters, suggesting it is culturally universal. The evidence for the cultural universality of the interaction effect was inconclusive in the Eastern and Southern cultural clusters (depending on exclusion criteria). We found no strong association between collectivism/ individualism and moral dilemma judgements.

Valerius’ treatment of amicitia is strange indeed. Although he extols Roman friendships and ostensibly positions these as positive paradigms to emulate, all are set in moments of great civil upheaval: the Gracchan turmoil, the Social Wars, or the more recent Civil War. All feature excessive violence, all are marked by brutality and strife, and all showcase some form of Roman savagery against one another. Most strikingly, the ideas about friendship and loyalty Valerius advances emphatically privilege private allegiance over public fealty, and he repeatedly praises those who support their friends even when they harbor revolutionary designs that threaten social and political order – a vision of amicitia completely antithetical to Roman attitudes towards civic loyalty, dutifulness, and responsibility. The foreign exempla that serve as a foil render this all the more curious: although Valerius derides Greeks and their friendship and seems explicitly to condemn them, the paradigms he himself records reaffirm the humane values of that bond and stress its potential for maintaining civic harmony. My paper will explore this apparent tension, arguing that this extraordinary rendition of amicitia is a deliberate provocation carefully designed to challenge readers to think critically about the place and value of loyalty and friendship. One implication of my reading is that Valerius’ exempla are not only concerned with ethics and rhetoric but are also topical, underpinned by a cohesive social and political theory that identifies amicitia (or the perversion of amicitia) as particularly threatening to political stability. Relatedly, the chronological progression of these exempla through late Republican history is not accidental, but an authorial strategy that serves to underscore the reciprocal relationship between friendship and civic duty and the consequences of perverting either – a theme I show Valerius picks up not only from Cicero’s de Amicitia, but – importantly – Sallust’s Conspiracy of Catiline. Thus I argue that Valerius’ paradigms subtly encourage us to examine what it means to be an amicus in Rome at all periods, but especially during the early empire, with its novel pressures and demands on social relationships – and in the aftermath of Sejanus’ destructive relationship to Tiberius.