Проблема морального прогресса и стоический космополитизм

Standard historiography states that between 1880 and 1916, Argentina underwent a profound social and economic transformation led by a hegemonic political party, the Partido Autonomista Nacional (PAN). This transformation has been portrayed as the achievement of a generation of public men, the Generation of Eighty, who envisioned a project that would integrate Argentina into the social and economic changes occurring in the transatlantic world. The 1880s — with record levels of immigration, foreign investment, the triumph of the PAN, and the strengthening of the state — have generally been characterized as a crucial decade in consolidating the main hallmarks of “Modern Argentina.”1Along with unquestionable economic and social growth, as well as the PAN’s unfailing presidential victories, there are other significant reasons why this period has been perceived in this way. The first two presidents of this period, Julio A. Roca (1880 – 86) and Miguel Juárez Celman (1886 – 90), spoke of an abrupt break with the past followed by a promising future. In this rhetoric, 1880 marked the first page in the history of modern Argentina, forged with the promise that the country would never return to the previous dark times of tyranny and war.2 This perception of 1880 as a new beginning, with no connection to the past, was crafted by the party in power and repeated by later analysts with few exceptions. The idea that the Generation of Eighty envisioned a modernizing project was first ensconced over time in the historiography and then entered into public debates as one of the main explanations for the country’s fate.3 The possession of a project — like the Generation of Eighty — or the lack of one has been used ever since as a yardstick to measure the quality of Argentina’s leaders and their chances of success. The notion that the Generation of Eighty conceived of a plan for the country went hand in hand with the idea that the period was characterized by ideological consensus, in contrast with both prior and later times.4While the general public continues to accept the concept of the Generation of Eighty and their project, recent studies have documented ideological contentions, not only between government and opposition groups but also among politicians, intellectuals, and the scientific community.5 Most of this research has concentrated on the period after 1890, when opposition groups organized against the government, and particularly between 1900 and 1916, when political and intellectual circles grappled with the social question and the need for political reform.6 The 1880s have, in contrast, received relatively little attention in this reexamination. Historians have generally viewed increasing Catholic opposition to liberal reform during this decade as a minor disturbance to the ideological consensus of the time.7 A few works have posited that the ideological division between the 1880s and previous times was less sharp that once thought and have also suggested that the decade was not free from debate, evidenced particularly in the debates over the federalization of the city of Buenos Aires in August and September of 1880.8Building on this historiographic trend, I here analyze the ideological contentions between different political parties in the 1880s, using the party press as the main source for the “dialogue of the parties.”9 This dialogue was highly confrontational, given that attempting to impose one’s particular vision of society and government over other alternatives is a fundamental form of political struggle.10 This avenue for debate became particularly important during the 1880s, a decade that witnessed an unusual degree of political demobilization following the dispersion of the old opposition parties and the ascendance of the PAN. The party in government encountered little opposition at the polls, but countervailing political groups took their struggle to the pages of their dailies. Until now, this latter form of politics has been overlooked. Indeed, the demobilized political world of the 1880s has been cast either as a period in which all groups consented to the main trends of the new ideological climate or in which the ideological homogeneity was so strong that the isolated voices of discordant groups could not undermine it.My research indicates that public debate during the 1880s primarily took place in, and was constructed by, the party press. After the fall of Juan Manuel de Rosas (1829 – 52), the Buenos Aires press became one of the main protagonists of an effervescent republican life.11 Almost one hundred periodicals and newspapers were published in Buenos Aires in 1872, a number that continued to rise dramatically in the following years. Among them, the political press — half a dozen dailies whose content and format was a hybrid between pamphlets and modern newspapers — played a crucial role.12 Previously, the press mainly echoed and expanded on the disputes between strong individuals, but during the 1880s it became the chorus that dominated the public domain.13 These newspapers, created and financed by the political parties and factions, represented a kind of journalism that did not survive into the twentieth century, when they were gradually replaced by self-financed enterprises claiming to follow modern standards of objectivity in presenting an independent source of information and not just opinion.14 In nineteenth-century Argentina, as elsewhere at that time, the party press had none of the characteristics of its successors. The editors and staff worked for the party and strove to provide not the latest news but rather the party’s opinions. Through these papers political organizations spread their ideas, fought their adversaries, defended themselves from attacks, and created their own identities.These newspapers played an important role in each party’s search for legitimacy. As we will see, presidents Julio A. Roca and Miguel Juárez Celman employed La Tribuna Nacional and Sud-América, respectively, to propose and defend a set of ideas they hoped would generate legitimacy for their presidencies. During this process, both appealed to the idea of progress but employed the word with different meanings, objectives, and, ultimately, results. Both presidents primarily targeted the newspapers of the two main opposition parties: the old Liberal Party (known by then as the Nationalist Party) and the porteño Autonomists. As the mouthpiece of Bartolomé Mitre’s Nationalist Party and the most respected newspaper in the country, La Nación became the main adversary to La Tribuna Nacional. Mitre had unsuccessfully supported Carlos Tejedor, then governor of Buenos Aires Province, in the 1880 election. After this electoral defeat, and their subsequent defeat on the battlefield two months later, the Nationalists disbanded their loose party structure and opted to abstain from electoral participation in protest against the government. Mitre and his followers entrenched themselves behind La Nación, one of the largest and most respected daily newspapers in the country.The other opposition group, the porteño Autonomists, joined the PAN in August 1880 but split again in 1883. Once back in the opposition, they also abstained from participating in elections and instead turned El Nacional — the second-most-important political daily after La Nación — into one of the most implacable opponents of the government. Catholic groups also organized themselves as an opposition party (the Catholic Union) after a series of anticlerical laws were passed in 1884, but they avoided electoral contests.15 These opposition parties organized a coalition (Partidos Unidos) for the presidential election of 1886, which then disbanded after its defeat. They would meet again in 1889 to organize the revolution against President Juárez that would be carried out the following year. As we can see, the PAN faced little electoral challenge in the 1880s but met with strong opposition in other forums of public debate, especially from these two papers.The debates between these papers occurred within “a common climate of political ideas,” but this did not negate existing tensions created by different dialects within the language of liberalism.16 Liberalism in Argentina, as elsewhere, has proved to be “capacious”; its inherently expansive character made room for, and even generated, ideological conflict.17 I define ideology here as a loose association of ideas intended to gain support, to construct shared beliefs, to generate enthusiasm, and to inspire action. Ideologies define roles, rank values, and create identities for the organizations grouped around them.18I seek to place these debates of the 1880s within the broader ideological landscape of late-nineteenth-century Argentina. Although the ideological tensions of the 1880s have their own peculiarities, they were linked to earlier debates that survived into the decade. Similar tensions can also be traced, again with some modifications, after the 1890 revolution. Rather than characterizing the 1880s as an exceptional decade of ideological consensus or upholding 1880 as watershed year when romanticism gave way to positivism, I argue that the 1880s can indeed be connected with the political and ideological worlds of the preceding and subsequent periods.I will first analyze the political discourse of the two presidential administrations of the 1880s, as expressed in their party papers. While the discourses of La Tribuna Nacional and Sud-América were symptomatic of the new climate of ideas, they were far from identical; indeed, when we pay attention to each paper’s reformulation of key political concepts, we note significant differences in meanings. I then reconstruct oppositional discourses launched in La Nación and El Nacional. While these discourses shared common ground, they also differed in the primary target of their attacks, as well as in the different content they used to address similar topics. Although the Mitristas and Autonomists found themselves together on the side of the opposition in the 1880s, they had been electoral rivals in the previous decade; this history revealed itself in differences of discourse, strategy, and language in their papers. Finally, I will reflect on the implications of these debates in the political context of the 1880s, as well as in the wider ideological landscape of fin de siècle Argentina.President Julio A. Roca launched La Tribuna Nacional a few days before assuming office in October 1880. It had a press run of five thousand copies and was financially supported by subscriptions from the national and provincial governments, as well as through credit from the National Bank and the usual system of individual subscriptions from friends and sympathizers.19 By launching his own newspaper, Roca showed that he had quickly learned from the mistakes of his predecessor (and fellow Tucumán native), Nicolás Avellaneda (1874 – 80), an outsider who enjoyed little support in Buenos Aires. Newspapers were essential tools of political propaganda at the time, and, given the circumstances that surrounded Roca’s election, La Tribuna Nacional became one of the most important instruments of his presidency. He took office just four months after the governor of Buenos Aires Province, Carlos Tejedor, had led the most violent revolution of the last quarter of the century against the national government in an attempt to prevent him from assuming power. Roca now had to rule from a city he did not know well, where he had no friends and few acquaintances, with the local support of new political allies whom he did not entirely trust, and from a building that stood near the site where 20,000 men had raised arms against him a few months earlier. More significantly, he had to rule from a city where public opinion could not be ignored and whose political parties either bitterly opposed him or only reluctantly accepted him.20Two of the most prestigious and successful papers of the time — La Nación and El Nacional — belonged to Roca’s opposition. Roca could not ignore the opinion of the country’s new capital, as expressed through their dailies, not only because the political practices of the port city demanded it but also because his opponents were still too powerful. True, their strength had been gradually eroding. But although the Nationalist Party was in disarray after the defeats of 1874 and 1880, La Nación still commanded respect, and its influence required attention. And while as a political paper El Nacional was relatively less fearsome, the Autonomists enjoyed a political clout that the president needed to counteract if he wished to retain control of national politics. The Autonomists were ready to give battle in the 1886 presidential elections, and they stood a good chance of success.21Under these circumstances, La Tribuna Nacional became one of Roca’s most important political instruments, the president’s voice in a political world where he was a relative outsider. Through it Roca created his identity, promoted his goals, explained his values, and attempted to shield himself from the attacks of his rivals. The paper was the main instrument he used to legitimate his rule. That is, it was the site of those activities in which all governments and political parties engage to justify their actions, define their public image, and make claims to authority.22La Tribuna Nacional purported that it was not the official government paper and that its aim was not to inform on policies, decrees, or laws; when Roca or his ministers published in it, they did not sign their columns. La Tribuna Nacional claimed time and again that it was the voice of the PAN, not the government, and that it intended to enter the field of public debate on par with other party papers. Naturally, the distinction between a party paper and the official paper of the government was not clear-cut; in the public imagination, La Tribuna Nacional was known as the newspaper of the president.Roca used La Tribuna Nacional to promote the idea that his administration represented political change and a rupture with the past, portraying 1880 as the beginning of a new era that signaled the arrival of progress. In Argentina, the notion of progress was prominent in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, as it was elsewhere.23 However, the meaning and popularity of progress varied widely from country to country, as well as among contesting voices within each country. In Argentina, different sectors of the elite used the term with different connotations. And though it was once thought that the ubiquity of the term progress in public discourse was a sign of the triumph of positivism over liberalism, we now know that — far from being hegemonic — positivism in Argentina manifested itself in weak, fragmented, and vague terms within both the scientific professions and (even more so, I argue) the political groups.24 Although we can detect traces of what Charles Hale labeled “scientific politics,” particularly in the second half of the 1880s, this language was sporadic and unintentional; that is, it was employed without any explicit awareness of its theoretical implications and without reference to the theoretical works that had stronger impact in other Latin American countries, particularly Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela.25When La Tribuna Nacional employed the language of progress, it stressed that it should not be reduced to material development, roads and bridges, immigrants and credit, or railways. Instead, by progress it referred to the moral development of the people. Progress went well beyond material gain: it fostered an individual work ethic, respect for the law, and love of peace, thus strengthening society’s conservative feelings for leading an orderly life.26 Progress also had positive political consequences, reflected in the institutions that individuals built for themselves: modern societies developed the wisdom to implement good laws and in this way distinguished themselves from backward countries through their capacity for reflection and through government accountability.27La Tribuna Nacional proceeded from a view of human nature that was by then well established: that men are internally torn between passions and interests. The effects of progress — on individuals, societies, and institutions — arose from the disciplining effect of economic development on men’s passions.28La Tribuna Nacional insisted that these passions represented men’s dark destructive tendencies — negative impulses that expressed themselves through politics and were channeled through the political parties. Politics was responsible for destruction, hatred, and war. La Tribuna Nacional argued that the current government was successful because it sustained that the destructive political passions could only be tamed by developing society’s conservative interests. Moral progress would be brought about through material progress and not the other way around; it was through economic development that civilizations were built.29According to La Tribuna Nacional, this far-reaching impact of economic progress began to be felt in Argentina in 1880. Previously, politics had consisted of violence, intolerance, and disorder; every attempt to build good and stable institutions had perished in the flames of political passion fanned by the parties.30 However, only two years after Roca had assumed the presidency, La Tribuna Nacional confidently announced that an inalterable peace prevailed throughout the country; governors, senators, and deputies were regularly elected in all provinces without violence and coercion. The old politics of intolerance and hatred had given way to mutual acceptance and understanding. “[E]ach passing day, intransigence disappears, tensions are dissolved, and resistance is eliminated.” By fostering commerce and industry, the government had eradicated the foundations for anarchy and put an end to “politics as drama. . . . There are no more idle multitudes the public discourse, progress not only brought peace and but also fostered and political La Tribuna Nacional that and the rule of were the of economic progress. It was not the that economic development could place only when the and and political were in it was love of work and for one’s that led to the of good government, and and among the where work are more developed and where the of are more while are more . . . where the of progress have not in the PAN’s discourse, the meaning of progress was and its effects far Progress to the development of work fostered love of to good governments with just and brought about peace and La Tribuna discourse Roca as responsible for the arrival of progress. Roca had national a new and in the and of work and progress, the that used to be on destructive into an of and These were all the more La Tribuna Nacional when viewed against between and 1880. The newspaper its own vision of Argentina’s beginning with an that with political orderly institutions of government, a love for followed by repeated at state each of which had been in the flames of political “a history of and that led the country from the of anarchy to the of when most to have been with the of the years of progress were as a period of that its in the of the last of Argentina’s had found a and the of over This to Argentina’s to La Tribuna Nacional, by to Roca and his party, the country had behind the of and of reflection and . . . which which from and The country had entered a similar to that of that had made the from the into modern La Tribuna history was marked by a series of It was not a of state building in which a of men fought against to construct a as we in the of the Instead, the was Progress to a against the of political La Tribuna vision The most was to the Roca each through a of the of progress enjoyed since the first of his presidency. This discourse of a period of and triumph in contrast with a dark past the need to the new government. Roca’s would be built on a between past and In this discourse, Roca did not to build on the work of his or any in before he to power. The newspaper did not the PAN as a party with a prestigious and in previous presidencies. the it was as a new and modern at the beginning of 1880 with no with the The past was portrayed as at once near and — near but by the between and discourse La Tribuna Nacional to legitimate the Roca was not to the arrival of progress and its It also to build the president’s on his with the in his of a developed in to opposition As we later see, La Nación the PAN’s ideas on progress and Roca’s while El Nacional that his administration had the of the La Tribuna on key of the system that the opposition had the of the role of political and the system of of La main of the Roca administration was from the of his election, Roca had the of to the Roca’s had been by a of over the will of the and since he had used to the electoral In to that Roca to La Tribuna of the president the circumstances the 1880 election. And although it did not the of electoral La Tribuna Nacional insisted that had been a of the electoral The paper we to be that there used to be an old and in a of that was with the country’s moral and political La Nación the government on the of electoral La Tribuna Nacional it was only to justify Mitre’s to abstain from the polls, a to the disarray within his own party The paper of from previous elections, as well as similar made in the and to support the that was and the opposition Roca for the electoral La Tribuna Nacional instead an for by the parties Argentina’s system of La Tribuna Nacional that of the was a the parties to their own After and on the La Tribuna Nacional that the was not to change electoral laws or the but rather to the Roca’s it was more to the than previous governments, the to progress that would the in Argentina were but not to legitimate the and did not provide a for the of power from to La Tribuna Nacional to legitimate Roca’s by to the of his of power. the paper of of the of of of industry, of government, any one of these or in the and La Tribuna Nacional appealed to the of by which the of the is through the and not the of a power. government debate, and the work of the are not by to the country like or the of but the of the public in whose we rule. This is the system from the of view of and from the of view of La Tribuna Nacional also to and opposition parties that old political practices were with the Argentina. The country had set out on the to progress in 1880, and politics should to out that by who viewed politics as a between the and between good and had been by of the most by political The opposition thought that public was with political the public the of the economic and moral of the country, and and all Instead, it was the political struggle and the of the political and to spread more and politics to political parties were to have a more The PAN as of an only to support electoral After the election, political parties should be the election to return peace to society . . . which the for while La Tribuna Nacional envisioned a more role for political parties in the new it also that they did have a role to in the republican form of from being an or a of are a of . . . the way that and public are of The for what political parties should like were to be found in and the La Tribuna Nacional parties governments to be and to the political debates of their La Tribuna Nacional political parties to themselves from for passions and tools of into of republican government and tools of building in the La Tribuna Nacional the system in mainly in to its As we see, El Nacional that the provinces had their a system of rule and as a of the that Roca had this La Tribuna Nacional insisted that Roca showed the respect for the of in the to the relatively number of that had place his However, La Tribuna Nacional also to that this did not that the president himself from influence in the of the provinces — only that he to this by other he more He to his friends in the and, in of his was to seek a the when a out to the governor of in Roca went to to the and an

This paper explores the concept of an ‘animal holocaust’ by way of J.M. Coetzee's The Lives of Animals, and asks whether the Nazi treatment of the Jews can be legitimately compared to modern factory farming. While certain parallels make the comparison appealing, it is argued, only the holocaust can be described as ‘evil.’ The phenomena share another feature, however, namely, the capacity of perpetrators to render victims ‘invisible.’ This leaves the moral dimension of the comparison in tact since it shows defenders and critics of an ‘animal holocaust’ to be talking about different things: the comparison is offensive for many because it levels degrees of moral value attributed to human and animal life, respectively, while for others it articulates the challenge of bringing non-human sentient beings into the same moral universe as their human counterparts. The paper concludes by asking whether such moral progress can ever render the death of human beings and animals similar in kind.

Chapter 3 explores the fieldwork of Charles S. Johnson within the Julius Rosenwald Fund and United States Public Health Service’s syphilis treatment program for tenant farmers and sharecroppers in Macon County, Alabama, during the early years of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. A Black sociologist and chair of the Social Science Department at Fisk University, Johnson used the folk category to challenge the idea that America did not have a peasant class and a feudal order in the Jim Crow South. He and members affiliated with Fisk University documented the conjure practices and “social taboos” among tenant farmers and sharecroppers. Johnson concluded that these spiritual practices and social customs were indicators that these poor workers occupied a lower stage of mental and moral development. Rejecting racial traits, Johnson and his research team focused on the racial prejudice and cotton system that stunted not only their religion, but equally, their health maturation. Moreover, he concluded that their folk religion was outside modern health and familial structure. Johnson joined the Rosenwald Fund in an effort to reform their folk religion by organizing the treatment program to extend modern healthcare to them. But Johnson recycled the racial logics that he sought to get away from by accenting their immoral sexual habits, “bad” family structure, and outmoded beliefs. This chapter argues that he considered the religion of Black rural “folk” to have developed in isolated from modern medicine as well as proper forms of family and sex. He concluded that it hindered their mental, moral, and medicinal progress.

Several studies confirmed that morality is developmental process and it increases gradually. Many intrinsic and extrinsic aspects affect moral development (Siddique & Lodhi, 2014). Hart and Carlo (2005) stated that different environmental elements and aspects have deep impact on moral development of children. The atmosphere of home develops moral level of the students enormously. The main objective of the study was to assess the effect of demographics on moral development of secondary school students. Gender, locality, parents’ education and economic status of parents are the selected demographics for this particular study. Moral development was estimated through moral development interview inventory. The study encompasses the four district of the Punjab province. The sample was consisting of 1000 secondary school students. Random sampling technique was brought out to conduct the study and quantitative approach was used to complete the study. Moral development interview inventory (MDII) was applied to calculate the moral development level of secondary school students. SPSS version 20 was applied to find the result. Descriptive statistics, t-test and ANOVA were used for data analysis. Significant effect was found on moral development of secondary school student according to demographics of gender, locality, and mothers’ qualification whereas fathers’ qualification and economic status keeps insignificant effect on moral development of secondary school students.

This research investigates the implementation of the Merdeka Belajar (Independent Learning) curriculum in Aqidah Akhlak (Islamic Creed and Ethics) education at MAN Kota Solok, focusing on enhancing student creativity. The study addresses the problem of how teachers plan, implement, and evaluate the curriculum to foster creativity and moral development among students. The primary objective is to explore the strategies and methodologies employed by educators in aligning the curriculum with national competency standards while promoting holistic student growth. To achieve this, the study employs a qualitative approach, utilizing classroom observations, interviews, and document analysis to gather data on teacher planning, implementation, and evaluation practices. The findings reveal that effective planning in cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains significantly enhances student creativity. Collaborative learning strategies, such as group discussions and project-based activities, are instrumental in fostering creativity and moral development. Teachers play a pivotal role as mentors and role models, integrating Aqidah Akhlak lessons with school activities to ensure practical application of moral principles. Evaluation techniques, including cognitive, emotional, and psychomotor assessments, are crucial for measuring student understanding and internalization of moral values. The study concludes that structured planning, diverse teaching methods, and comprehensive evaluation are essential for achieving the goals of the Merdeka Belajar curriculum in Aqidah Akhlak education. These strategies not only enhance creativity but also cultivate moral and religious values, preparing students to become well-rounded individuals. The research contributes to the broader discourse on Islamic education by providing a framework for integrating independent learning principles with moral and ethical development.

Particularly in elementary school, folklore is a key cultural and teaching instrument that helps children's moral and character development. This study sought (i) to investigate how folk elements support the moral development of primary school children in Bangladesh, (ii) to investigate the variations in the use of folk elements between rural and urban primary schools and their impact on students' ethical values and behavior and (iii) to suggest efficient strategies for including folk elements into the main education curriculum and classroom to improve students's moral and cultural development.Using qualitative approaches, the study included unstructured conversations with guardians, instructors, and students across seven main schools situated in both rural and urban parts of Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions, as well as classroom observations. The findings revealed that rural schools actively include folklore components—including traditional crafts, proverbs, and storytelling—into their curricula, therefore cultivating moral values, emotional ties with families, and student creativity. On the other hand, urban schools showed in the elementary level their use of folk elements with limited use of folklore in the upper level (classes 3,4, and 5), mostly focusing on academic achievements and technological integration,resultingin a lack of moral development among learners compared to rural pupils. Structural changes, enhanced library resources, folklore-based projects, and guardian awareness campaigns to protect the cultural legacy and inculcate moral values among students constitute recommendations. This study exposes the latent potential of folklore education to produce a balanced and culturally sensitive generation for the next generation.

The absence of a mother shapes not only an individual's emotional landscape but also their ethical and existential outlook. This book presents an in-depth exploration of the philosophical and social dimensions of growing up without maternal guidance. Through the lens of existential ethics, Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, examines how individuals construct meaning, navigate moral challenges, and define their place in a society that often presumes the necessity of maternal influence. Grounded in existentialist thought and social ethics, this book blends philosophy with real-life narratives to investigate how the absence of a mother influences personal autonomy, moral responsibility, and the search for belonging. It engages with questions of self-determination, ethical dilemmas, and societal obligations to individuals who must forge their own moral compass in the face of maternal absence. An essential read for philosophers, psychologists, educators, and policymakers, this work seeks to expand the conversation on ethics, resilience, and the human condition. This book was written to address the intersection of existential philosophy and social ethics in the lives of those who grow up without a mother. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, was driven by the increasing discussions on how parental absence affects an individual’s moral and existential formation. Published in New York, USA, in 2023, this work provides a philosophical framework for understanding how individuals without maternal influence shape their moral and social identities. At its core, this book defines maternal absence not just as a physical condition but as a profound existential state that influences moral reasoning, identity formation, and social integration. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, explores key concepts such as existential autonomy, ethical self-reliance, and the societal role in moral development. The book draws from existentialist thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Albert Camus to frame the ethical implications of growing up motherless. Societies have long emphasized the maternal figure as a cornerstone of ethical and emotional development. This book questions whether individuals who grow up without a mother are at a moral disadvantage or whether they develop a unique ethical framework born out of necessity. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, explores how the motherless experience shapes moral choices, social belonging, and existential resilience. The book identifies principles such as moral self-construction, ethical adaptability, and communal ethics as crucial factors in understanding the moral lives of those without maternal figures. Indicators examined include levels of moral reasoning, social responsibility, and psychological resilience in motherless individuals. This study is structured around critical variables that shape ethical identity, including: • Autonomy and Moral Independence: How individuals develop a personal moral code in the absence of maternal influence. • Social Influence and Support Structures: The role of extended family, mentors, and societal institutions in moral education. • Philosophical Inquiry and Ethical Development: How existential questioning informs personal ethics and decision-making. The absence of a mother does not determine ethical failure or success but rather introduces unique determinant factors. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, highlights key influences such as social environment, economic stability, cultural expectations, and access to mentorship as shaping forces in moral and existential development. To address the ethical and existential challenges faced by motherless individuals, the book proposes strategic interventions. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, outlines educational reforms, mentorship initiatives, and community-based support programs aimed at fostering moral and existential resilience. The book advocates for policies that acknowledge and support individuals who must construct their ethical frameworks without maternal guidance. Growing up motherless presents unique challenges, from the struggle for emotional stability to societal expectations that often place moral weight on maternal presence. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, identifies support systems such as philosophical education, therapy, and alternative mentorship as key to ethical and existential development, while also discussing barriers like economic hardship, cultural biases, and institutional neglect. The absence of a mother is neither a definitive moral deficit nor an existential failure; rather, it is a condition that reshapes the individual’s ethical and social landscape. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, argues that through existential and social ethics, individuals can construct meaningful, responsible, and morally autonomous lives. This book calls for a broader societal recognition of the moral complexity of maternal absence and the need for greater institutional and philosophical engagement with this issue.

This article presents the dynamics of primary school pupils’ orientation to moral growth in Latvia between 2022 and 2023. Within a longitudinal study, in spring 2022, 518 pupils in grade 2 participated in the 1st measurement in all regions of Latvia. A repeated measure was done in spring 2023 with 451 pupils in grade 3. This study used a questionnaire consisting of 25 scale items, organized into four sections related to the key components of the moral growth process: (A) understanding (cognitive-emotional perception of the moral character development process); (B) purposefulness (voluntarily and consciously committing to moral growth); (C) moral crafting (engaging practically in moral growth activities); and (D) moral identity (experiencing joy and support throughout the process of moral development). Quantitative data were analysed to identify the differences between both measurements. The component “Understanding of the moral growth process” had the highest scores, while the lowest scores were related to the component “pupils’ moral identity”. Comparing the two measurements, a positive (increasing) dynamic was observed in pupils’ rating of their understanding of moral character development (component A) and of their involvement in moral crafting (component C). On the other hand, slightly negative trends were observed in the indicators “Purposefulness” and “Moral identity” of moral growth, which could indicate a certain instability in pupils’ perception of their commitment to moral development, alongside a still fragile and emerging moral identity, as well as an increase in demanding attitudes towards oneself and others. The results of the study could be useful for parents, educators, and school administrators willing to nurture moral growth in middle childhood.

Kohlberg's theory of moral development explores the roles of cognition and emotion but focuses primarily on cognition. Contemporary post‐formal theories lead to the conclusion that skills resulting from cognitive‐affective integration facilitate consistency between moral judgement and moral behaviour. Rest's four‐component model of moral development delineates these skills specifically. The components, moral motivation, moral sensitivity, moral reasoning and moral character, operate as multidimensional processes that facilitate moral development and subsequently promote moral behaviour. The relationships between these components have been relatively unexplored, thereby missing the opportunity to unpack the processes underlying moral growth and development. In this study, moral motivation (spirituality), moral sensitivity (post‐formal skills) and moral reasoning are operationalized to examine the mediational effects of moral sensitivity of medical students. In the complex moral environment of medical students opportunities arise to question values and develop cognitive‐affective skills, among them spirituality and post‐formal thinking which are linked to increases in post‐conventional moral reasoning. The models tested indicate that moral sensitivity mediates the relationship between moral motivation and moral reasoning.

This chapter provides an introduction to the major figures in the history of Ancient Stoicism, and describes the sources of knowledge in Stoic philosophy. The Stoic school began a little before 300 BC, and reached the height of its theoretical elaboration in the next century. Stoic philosophers include Chyrsippus, Epictetus, Zeno of Citium (founder of the Stoic school), Cleanthes, Diogenes of Babylon, Antipater of Tarsus, and Cicero. The four sources accounting for more than half the bulk of testimony and evidence on Stoicism are: Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus. The most important source of biographical information about early Stoics and their philosophy is the author Diogenes Laertius.

Character change is an essential component of Hollywood storytelling, yet little has been written about how it is typically structured. This paper addresses that deficit. Through close formal analysis of a small but narratively diverse group of films—Casablanca (1942), The Apartment (1960), About a Boy (2002) and Wild (2014)—evidence is presented for the existence of a common schema, one that is used to organize the ethical development of morally-flawed protagonists. While this represents only one type of character change, specifying its structural dynamics productively extends our knowledge of commercial cinema's narrative norms as they have persisted in history. It also provides a basis for challenging the view, most fully developed by Carroll (1984), Smith (1995) and Plantinga (2018), that sympathy with or allegiance to characters is a matter of general moral assessment. I argue that because the schema requires a protagonist to repeatedly fall short of an ideal morality, one that is always clearly delineated in the narrative, then allegiance to them cannot be the result of moral approval or their ethical development would be meaningless. My solution is to propose a pluralist account of allegiance, one which emphasizes the role of viewer concern for flawed protagonists who, in all of my examples, suffer sustained emotional and psychological distress.

This study investigates the impact of technology in teaching and the understanding of religious values on the moral development of students in Islamic schools in Indonesia. A quantitative analysis using Structural Equation Modelling with Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) was employed to examine the relationships among these key variables. The study's questionnaire demonstrated strong validity and reliability. Discriminant validity confirmed the distinctiveness of the constructs. Hypothesis tests revealed significant positive relationships between Religious Values and Students' Moral Development and between Technology Use in Teaching and Students' Moral Development. These results underscore the critical role of both religious values and technology-enhanced teaching methods in shaping the moral character of students. The findings provide valuable insights for educators and policymakers in Islamic schools, emphasizing the potential of technology in religious education without compromising moral development.

Moral judgment development across cultures: Revisiting Kohlberg’s universality claims

The absence of a mother in a child's life is more than just an emotional void; it is an ethical crossroads that shapes identity, morality, and resilience. This book delves into the philosophical dilemmas that arise from growing up motherless, offering a nuanced exploration of how individuals navigate moral complexities in the absence of maternal guidance. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, employs a moral philosophy lens to analyze the ethical questions surrounding identity formation, social justice, and the responsibilities of communities in nurturing those who lack maternal influence. By weaving together real-life narratives, philosophical theories, and empirical research, this book challenges readers to rethink societal structures and moral obligations. It is an essential read for philosophers, psychologists, educators, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of human ethical development in the context of loss and resilience. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, wrote this book in response to the growing discourse on how the absence of a mother affects ethical and psychological development. The world is witnessing an increase in children growing up without maternal figures due to various socio-political and economic factors. Published in New York, USA, in 2023, this work seeks to bridge the gap between moral philosophy and the lived experiences of motherless individuals. This book is grounded in the moral philosophies of Kantian ethics, virtue ethics, and social contract theory. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, defines growing up motherless as a phenomenon that goes beyond mere absence—it is a formative experience that influences one’s moral compass, decision-making, and worldview. Concepts such as ethical resilience, moral autonomy, and societal duty are explored to provide a structured understanding of the dilemma. The ethical dimensions of growing up without a mother remain underexplored in academic discourse. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, examines case studies and cross-cultural perspectives to understand how different societies perceive and address this issue. The book explores whether the absence of maternal care creates a moral vacuum or if alternative structures can fulfill this ethical role. Central to the book’s argument are key principles such as ethical adaptability, communal responsibility, and the moral agency of the individual. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, identifies key indicators such as emotional intelligence, decision-making ethics, and the role of surrogate parental figures in shaping a motherless child’s moral path. The book structures its analysis around key operational variables, including: • Personal Ethical Development: How does moral reasoning evolve in those without maternal guidance? • Social Influence and Ethical Learning: To what extent do external institutions (education, religious bodies, peer groups) compensate for the loss? • Moral Autonomy vs. Dependency: Do motherless individuals develop stronger ethical independence or face greater moral uncertainty? Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, identifies critical factors that shape the moral development of those growing up motherless. These include socio-economic status, cultural norms, access to mentorship, and personal coping mechanisms. The book also examines the role of policies and institutional support in mitigating ethical vulnerabilities. Addressing the challenges of ethical formation in motherless individuals requires targeted interventions. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, proposes community-based programs, mentorship networks, and ethical education reforms to ensure a well-rounded moral upbringing. The book presents strategies for individuals, educators, and policymakers to foster ethical resilience in affected individuals. This section identifies the most common challenges faced by motherless individuals, such as emotional detachment, moral uncertainty, and social stigma. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, highlights both enablers (such as mentorship and cultural support systems) and barriers (such as economic hardship and institutional neglect) in moral development. In conclusion, this book asserts that while the absence of a mother presents profound ethical dilemmas, individuals and societies possess the capacity to foster ethical growth and resilience. Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, offers a compelling argument that moral philosophy should play a more significant role in addressing and mitigating the ethical void left by maternal absence. The book serves as a call to action for greater empathy, institutional responsibility, and philosophical engagement with one of the most pressing moral issues of our time.

The author describes briefly the activities of different ethical centres and gives a survey of the principle directions of ethical research in Romania. These include primarily normative problems (such as moral progress, the structure of moral consciousness, marital and family morals, the ethics of labour, socialist humanism), the theoretical problems (the relation of ethics to science, the sociology of morals, the history of morals, and a critique of contemporary ethical systems) and translations of classical ethical works. The recent publication of a project for a code of socialist morality gives evidence of the advance and significance of ethical research in Romania.