Moral Reasoning and Ethical Practice

Reflections on the relevance of the Georgetown paradigm for the ethics of environmental epidemiology

Ethics in orthodontics. A proud tradition of ethics in a proud specialty.

Previous articleNext article No AccessPractical Reason and the Possibility of Error*Douglas LavinDouglas Lavin Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Ethics Volume 114, Number 3April 2004 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/381695 Views: 241Total views on this site Citations: 42Citations are reported from Crossref © 2004 by The University of Chicago. 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The decline in moral reasoning abilities among secondary school students poses a serious challenge to character education, particularly as educational modernization has diminished the role of local cultural values as the foundation of moral consciousness. This study aims to analyze the extent to which the integration of Bima local wisdom values influences students’ moral reasoning, to examine differences in levels of moral reasoning based on the degree of value integration and demographic characteristics, and to explore how cultural values are implemented in moral education practices. Employing an embedded mixed-methods design, the study involved 261 students and 15 teachers. Quantitative instruments included the Moral Reasoning Questionnaire and the Local Wisdom Integration Scale–Mbojo, both developed contextually. Construct validity testing using Confirmatory Factor Analysis and reliability analysis (α = 0.87; ω = 0.86) indicated strong psychometric properties. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews and observations until saturation was reached, with credibility ensured through triangulation, audit trails, and member checking. Data analysis employed Jamovi version 2.6.44 and a reflective thematic approach. The findings revealed a substantial influence of local wisdom integration on moral reasoning (R² = 0.727; p < .001). However, ANOVA and Mann–Whitney U tests showed no significant differences among student groups based on learning achievement levels, gender, or grade level (p > 0.05), suggesting that cultural value influences were distributed evenly across groups. Thematic analysis further indicated that teachers integrated the maja labo dahu values through ethical reflection, social habituation, and moral exemplification. This study underscores local wisdom as a form of contextual moral ecology that extends universal theories of moral reasoning toward a relational, reflective, and community-rooted moral paradigm.

Instruction in ethics (e.g., recognizing the presence of common ethical problems, developing skills in ethical reasoning, and improving familiarity with intermediate concepts such as informed consent and confidentiality) forms a foundation for SEE. This skill-building emphasis prepares students to confront ethical decisions in their careers with disciplined thought and action. Through this coursework, students discover that ethics is more than how one feels about a situation, and ideally, more than simple interpersonal accountability. The case method highlighted by Chuck Huff and William Frey in Moral Pedagogy and Practical Ethics, can ,indeed, be a fruitful way to stimulate dialogue and to encourage student sensitivity to various perspectives. The exercises surrounding a given case can help students internalize the complexity associated with defining ethical behavior and can drive home the message to students in science and engineering that ethics is their issue. Ethical questions are not something to be left to a staff ethicist or to be considered as an afterthought. Ethical concerns are at the core of their work today and will continue to be throughout their careers. The guided discussions associated with case studies can promote a sense of community among students. The diversity within a classroom provides a range of opinions, and the discussions about cases – sometimes quite passionate – can transform views in memorable, experiential ways. In this process, the students are learning the ethical expectations of their field. It is this vital sense of contact with professional and Teaching About Good Work by Preparing Well: Designing Online Resources for Ethics Educators Commentary on “Moral Pedagogy and Practical Ethics” (Huff & Frey)

Purpose While the problem of unethical leadership is undoubtedly a global one, the urgency of generating ethical leadership to advance the development of Africa has never been more evident than it is today. The challenge for higher education in developing ethical leaders is of core importance, as it is responsible for providing the main recruiting ground of business leaders. The current paper reports findings of a qualitative study of postgraduate students’ ethical development at the end of courses in business ethics aimed to enhance moral reasoning and ethical decision-making. The paper aims to ascertain whether stand-alone ethics courses are more effective than integrated ones in achieving academic ethical competency. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts an idiographic approach which aims at eliciting individual student subjective perceptions of the effects of the direct and indirect courses of ethical instruction on their moral reasoning and ethical practice. The research design broadly follows Mill’s (2017) method of difference. Findings Findings indicate perceived differences in the relative effectiveness of stand-alone and embedded ethics courses among students but also show that most students hold positive overall evaluations of the effectiveness of the both types of ethics instruction. Research limitations/implications Limitations to the study include that it is cross-sectional, involves a small sample of postgraduate students and is restricted to two management courses at one institution of higher learning. Furthermore, while Mill (2017) provides a useful research design in this context, it is not able to indicate causality, as there are other possible unidentified “third variables” that may be the actual cause of student differences between embedded and stand-alone ethics courses. The study is not able to show the durability and transfer of ethical competencies into students’ later working lives. Practical implications The study provides a useful practical educational contribution to the extant knowledge in the field in that it suggests that ethical courses aimed at giving students a moral reasoning “toolkit” for ethical decision-making are more effective when delivered in the stand-alone format, whereas practical decision-making skills are best honed by embedded business ethics courses. Social implications The problem of corruption in business and politics in South Africa is widely documented and has been regarded as responsible for creating a serious developmental drag on the alleviation of poverty and quality of lives of the majority of people in the country. The moral/ethical competency and behavior of future business leaders is partly the responsibility of institutions of higher learning. The study aims to find the most effective means of imparting moral awareness in postgraduate students who are likely to take up business leadership positions in their future careers. Originality/value The study provides useful contribution to the extant knowledge in the field in the African context in that it suggests that ethical courses aimed at giving students a moral reasoning “toolkit” for ethical decision-making are more effective when delivered in the stand-alone format, whereas practical decision-making skills are best honed by embedded business ethics courses.

To develop and validate a psychometric measure of cognitive moral development in professional ethics in pharmacy. Pharmacy practice in Australia. A psychometric instrument, the Professional Ethics in Pharmacy (PEP) test, was developed and validated following a systematic procedure. The theoretical foundation of the instrument was based on a hypothesised theory of cognitive moral development in professional ethics, which was integrated into a selection of scenarios experienced in practice by pharmacists in NSW, Australia. The PEP, along with the well established DIT test, was mailed in the form of a questionnaire to a randomly selected sample of 1,500 practising pharmacists. Data collected from returned questionnaires were statistically analysed to establish validity and reliability of the instrument. The P-score calculated for each participant from DIT and PEP data and defined as a measure of principled moral reasoning, represented the main outcome measure for statistical testing. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to determine the strength of the relationship of the PEP with the DIT (regarded as the "gold standard") in order to establish criterion and concurrent validity. Factor analysis was used to investigate construct validity. Cronbach's Alpha, a measure of reliability of the instrument, was used for indicating internal consistency. Linear regression models further investigated construct validity in relation to predictors of moral reasoning. Face and content validity were established by pilot and peer review. Pearson's coefficient of 0.53 indicated an acceptable level of concurrent validity. Factor analysis yielded factors closely related to the theoretical stages of cognitive moral development hypothesised, which indicated construct validity. Cronbach's alpha of 0.75 demonstrated the reliability of the instrument, and linear regression models provided further evidence of construct validity. The PEP was established as a robust instrument on several dimensions of validity and reliability. The validated PEP test has the potential to provide the pharmacy profession with valuable information for use education and research. The validation process also provided evidence supporting the hypothesis that moral reasoning in professional ethics in pharmacy is a developmental process, which has profound implications for furthering the understanding of professional behaviour.

Moral Reasoning and Ethical Practice in Nursing: Measurement Issues

In John McDowell's recent Woodbridge Lectures at Columbia University, he characterizes Wilfrid Sellars's ‘master thought’, in Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind, as drawing a line between two types of characterizations of states that occur in people's mental lives: “Above the line are placings in the logical space of reasons, and below it are characterizations that do not do that” (McDowell, 1998, p. 433). In this essay, I ask what would be required for ethics to be “above the line.” More precisely, what would be necessary to characterize episodes as actions, and persons as agents, so as for them to be answerable to moral criticism in light of rationally relevant considerations. The requirements are twofold: that practical reason motivate in virtue of the content of its deliverances; and that there be a will which is sensitive to those deliverances, and which chooses freely. A widespread procedural account of practical reason is examined and found insufficient to place ethics above the line; and a suspicion is raised that McDowell himself, and Jonathan Dancy, do not have a robust enough conception of will to avoid the below the line ethics they accuse their opponents of defending.

Theories of practical reason must meet a psychological requirement: they must explain how normative practical reasons can be motivationally efficacious. It would be pointless to claim that we are subject to normative demands of reason, if we were in fact unable to meet those demands. Concerning this requirement to account for the possibility of rational motivation, internalist approaches are distinguished from externalist ones. I defend internalism, whilst rejecting both ways in which the belief-desire model can be instantiated. Both the Humean and the Kantian instantiation of that model fail to account for the internal (conceptual) connection between normative and motivating reasons required by internalism. The two classes of reasons rather come to be seen as mutually exclusive. Opposing the belief-desire model, I argue that rational motivation can only be established by reference to emotion. Emotions are affective perceptions. They have motivational force so that they can contribute to the explanation of action. At the same time they can rationalise actions because they have an intentional content which resembles the content of sensory perception in being representational. Because of this, the emotions can noninferentially justify judgements, which in turn can justify actions. I conclude by outlining the Aristotelian account of practical reason and ethics that emerges from integrating the emotions into practical reasoning. Doing the right thing is much more a matter of seeing things right than of drawing the right inferences. Seeing things right, in its turn, is not only to justify an action: il necessarily implies to be motivated to act accordingly.

Purpose: Integral Medicine is an approach to health, disease and healing that invites multiple perspectives and modes of inquiry to synergistically support healing for patients, providers and health care systems.Approach: Integral Theory is a framework for organizing information that considers four perspectives essential to view the whole patient simultaneously – any or all of which may illuminate health or illness in a patient, population or system: “Interior-Individual” (mind, psycho-spiritual development, etc.), “Exterior-Individual” (molecules, cells, organs, bodies, etc.), “Interior-Collective” (cultural, ethical practices or norms, etc.), and “Exterior-Collective” (socioeconomic, environmental system, etc.).Major Points: In practice, the application of Integral Theory to patient care can lead to four quadrant diagnosis and therapy for everything from status asthmaticus to chronic fatigue syndrome. When applied to the personal and professional development of providers an Integral Theory framework may improve critical thinking, ethical reasoning, mindfulness and empathy. At the healthcare system design level, patients have better outcomes when cared for by organizations ranked as having better work environments (where nurses report low rates of burnout, adequate time with patients, good relationships with colleagues, and opportunities for advanced training and continuing education).Conclusions: Treating the whole person becomes more than simply including body, mind and spirit. The whole person includes multiple epistemological ways of knowing. Building on Integrative, Alternative, Complementary, Evidence-based Medicine, and Values-based care, Integral Medicine offers a methodology for integrating the “best” of each of these medical methodologies. Integral Theory, in this respect, can act as a meta-theory weaving together many of the converging concepts emerging in the service of whole patient care. Integral methodology also provides a common map/language for knowledge integration/translation and a shared inter-professional approach to whole patient care at the patient, population and health system levels.

Research Article| January 01 2009 Expressive Inquiry and Practical Reasoning Roberto Frega Roberto Frega Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google The Journal of Speculative Philosophy (2009) 23 (4): 307–327. https://doi.org/10.2307/20721565 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Twitter Permissions Search Site Citation Roberto Frega; Expressive Inquiry and Practical Reasoning. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy 1 January 2009; 23 (4): 307–327. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/20721565 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectivePenn State University PressThe Journal of Speculative Philosophy Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright © 2010 The Pennsylvania State University2010The Pennsylvania State University Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Traditionally it is believed that there are two requirements which must be met by a plausible normative theory of morality. It is expected to be sensitive to actual moral beliefs and to guide action. However, it is impossible to satisfy them both within the traditional approach to the tasks of moral theorizing. An alternative theory would have to provide intellectual tools for solution of actual moral problems in a way which would rely on judgment and imagination in practical reasoning. Moral theorizing would then be seen as part of moral practice and the philosopher’s role as that of a critical participant in moral practice rather than of a lawgiver with privileged access to moral truths.

Nursing students required to be prepared to face ethical problems in their future workplace. Solving moral dilemmas requires the implementation of moral decisions, which necessitates significant moral courage. Moral sensitivity and moral reasoning can play a key role in the emergence of morally courageous behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between moral sensitivity and moral reasoning with moral courage in nursing students. This was a cross-sectional study. The participants consisted of 296 nursing students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in 2021, which selected through the census method. Data were collected using the Persian versions of the Moral Sensitivity and Sekerka's Moral Courage questionnaires and Nursing Dilemma Test. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (v. 25.0) using descriptive and analytical statistical methods (t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis). A total of 296 nursing students participated in this study. The results showed no significant correlation between moral sensitivity and moral courage (r = 0.04, p = 0.41); however, a significant positive correlation was observed between moral reasoning and moral courage (r = 0.19, p < 0.05). The results of multiple regression analysis showed that moral reasoning was the only predictor of moral courage in nursing students (p < 0.05). oral reasoning ability played a more significant role in developing moral courage than moral sensitivity. Tracking the sensitivity, reasoning, and moral courage status during education can reveal valuable information on the process of moral practice formation in nurses.

Ethics in Pro Bono Practice