Value Commitments and the Balanced Life

The vertical table of values and disvalues according to their relative worth that was presented in Chap. 2 as part of Scheler’s phenomenology of cognitive acts of feeling and preference is now developed by Hartmann in several dimensions. He (1) distinguishes moral values and non-moral values; (2) studies how some of the latter’s contents causally condition the content of the former; (3) discovers kinds of modal, relational, and linear antinomies among values; (4) analyzes qualitative and quantitative oppositions among values; (5) extends Scheler’s scale of values in a horizontal direction, i.e., locates additional moral and non-moral values on each of Scheler’s five levels of values. A key to Hartmann’s strategy to fill out the “valuational spaces” in the table of values is his allowing the phenomenology of the moral sense to be guided at first by the ontological categories postulated by his metaphysics. On the side of the value-agent, dimensions of acting persons as bearers of moral obligation are revealed. The question of the individual and the collective agent is considered, specifically whether collective entities such as nations can carry moral predicates; this is a question that divided Scheler and Hartmann. The distinction between values and goods, and the non-moral values that condition the latter, is crucial for the transition to the phenomenology of moral action and moral obligation. Finally, the a priori relations that condition the material content of values are considered. Values are “intertwined” in a lawful way and the substance of these laws will eventually assist us in the examination of the question of the possible unity of the table of values.

The thesis of the paper is that both non-moral and moral values are subjective and also objective. Non-moral values are objective because they are subjected to commensurability and have a price. They are subjective because they depend for their existence on the fact that somebody has decided to realize an end, the realization of which is a non-moral value (if the process of realization was successful); there are indefinitely many criteria of non-moral values. Moral values are objective because the criterion of moral evaluation is one and invariable. They are subjective because their existence depends on the fact of our being interested in their existence: interest in being able to be interested. That is possible only because subjectivity does not necessarily imply arbitrariness.

Recent scientific research has settled on a purely descriptive definition of happiness that is focused solely on agents' psychological states (high positive affect, low negative affect, high life satisfaction). In contrast to this understanding, recent research has suggested that the ordinary concept of happiness is also sensitive to the moral value of agents' lives. Five studies systematically investigate and explain the impact of morality on ordinary assessments of happiness. Study 1 demonstrates that moral judgments influence assessments of happiness not only for untrained participants, but also for academic researchers and even in those who study happiness specifically. Studies 2 and 3 then respectively ask whether this effect may be explained by general motivational biases or beliefs in a just world. In both cases, we find evidence against these explanations. Study 4 shows that the impact of moral judgments cannot be explained by changes in the perception of descriptive psychological states. Finally, Study 5 compares the impact of moral and nonmoral value, and provides evidence that unlike nonmoral value, moral value is part of the criteria that govern the ordinary concept of happiness. Taken together, these studies provide a specific explanation of how and why the ordinary concept of happiness deviates from the definition used by researchers studying happiness. (PsycINFO Database Record

10.1 A final objection to the Ideal Observer theory must now be considered.

Values and morality are the key concepts sociologists have been using to emphasize the normative dimension of social behavior since the very dawn of our discipline. Yet, while one can find two modern traditions of research concentrated around the concepts of values and morality in sociology, the strict relations between them are rarely explicitly addressed. In this article, we aim to analyze the concepts of values and morality as used in sociological theory and research, specifying the core meanings and contexts in which sociologists employ either of them. Based on this, we propose four analytical optics – empirical vs theoretical emphasis, moral vs non-moral values, bottom-up vs top-down approach, realism vs relativism – that help clarify the crucial features of the two strands in comparison to each other while suggesting the ways by which they may further complement each other.

This chapter defines and discusses values in and of sports and the potential in and of sport in developing moral character. It distinguishes between internal values in terms of experiential qualities in sporting practice and external values toward which sport is used as a means. Another distinction runs between moral and nonmoral values, and the chapter concentrates on the former. With examples from the social sciences, it discusses the diversity of values in and of sport and how this diversity can be understood with reference to the social and cultural contexts in which sports take place. From the perspective of philosophy and ethics, the possibility of common value patterns in all sports and of weighing between values in rational ways is evaluated. In the last part, an overview is given of two current normative debates in sports: the use of performance-enhancing drugs and the requirements on sports for sustainable development. The chapter concludes by pointing to sport’s normative ambiguity.

As rápidas mudanças sociais têm pleiteado, nos EUA, o retorno do ensino de valores tradicionais por meio de programas de educação do caráter. Esses esforços visam fomentar virtudes que levam as crianças a se tornarem pessoas "boazinhas", educadas, respeitosas e que tratem os outros com justiça. Ainda que se concorde com esse propósito, dúvidas podem ser levantadas a respeito da suficiência dessa abordagem da socialização no que diz respeito ao desenvolvimento humano numa perspectiva moral crítica. Tal perspectiva é necessária para que uma pessoa possa avaliar, a partir de um ponto de vista moral, seus valores socialmente adquiridos. Na ausência de tal capacidade, não se pode evitar a reincidência da imoralidade entranhada no conjunto existente de normas sociais. Assim sendo, o autor discute pesquisas e teorias atuais sobre o desenvolvimento social infantil que oferecem uma base a partir da qual se possam construir programas educacionais para além da preparação das crianças com vistas ao enquadramento no status quo moral. Este trabalho indica que, em todas as fases do desenvolvimento, as concepções de moralidade são distintas daquelas oriundas de outros valores sociais e convenções não morais. Ao final, são oferecidas sugestões de como construir programas educacionais que levem em conta as complexas interações entre valores morais e não morais e que ultrapassem a mera doutrinação das crianças conforme os valores da sociedade, estimulando os alunos a empregarem seu conhecimento moral na avaliação de situações sociais e guiar seu comportamento a partir de um ponto de vista moral crítico.

This dissertation examines how moral value is constructed, performed, and rendered exchangeable on a market for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) consulting in Denmark. While DEI work is often framed as a morally driven effort to improve organizational life, the growing importance of external actors influencing organizational DEI agendas raises new questions about how such moral claims are made credible and legitimate in client-facing interactions, as well as amongst peers. In the nascent, minimally regulated Danish context, when it comes to DEI issues, questions of occupational mandate, professional identity, and the boundaries between ethical commitments and commercial imperatives are still taking shape. The thesis addresses how external DEI consultants navigate their dual role as both moral agents and market actors in a setting where DEI initiatives remain largely voluntary and variably defined and justified. Adopting a practice-centred approach grounded in a sociological understanding of morality, my research focuses on how consultants draw on personal experiences, different professional roles, and context-sensitive ethical judgments. Instead of viewing morality as a fixed, transcendental disposition, the sociological perspective emphasizes that moral meanings, norms, and values are collectively shaped by and in social contexts, implying their continuously evolving and contested nature. Utilizing a phenomenon-driven inductive approach, I empirically explored the understudied yet socially relevant phenomenon of how external DEI consultants navigate and actively shape a field that lacks regulatory clarity. The study employs qualitative methods, drawing on 36 in-depth interviews with DEI consultants and participant observations of network meetings in Denmark. The dissertation is composed of three distinct yet interconnected articles. Article 1: Corporeality in occupational mandate crafting: The case of DEI consultants inductively theorizes the role of corporeality in crafting occupational mandates for emergent occupations. We show how DEI consultants are acutely aware of the corporeal dimensions of their work, engaging with a range of “forms of conduct” to overcome constraints and leverage opportunities. Moreover, the findings reveal how these can be in tension in practice, forming dialectics of conduct. Our findings thus show how mandates develop relationally and are negotiated with clients and peers via corporeality, contributing to an understanding of occupational emergence and mandate crafting in a nascent context. Article 2: “We’re all here to make the world a better place”: Exploring the roles and values shaping the professional identity of DEI consultants identifies four distinct roles that DEI consultants adopt fluidly depending on context, and which connect to consultants’ personal values. The article examines how consultants operationalize moral claims in the market and sheds light on how they reconcile personal values with occupational demands in their sensemaking of their professional identity. Article 3: Cultivating professional virtues in DEI consulting to address ethical dilemmas explores how external DEI consultants navigate ethical dilemmas and balance between competing ethical frameworks through the lens of Aristotelian virtue ethics, specifically practical wisdom (phronesis). The findings reveal ten professional virtues that the consultants cultivate dynamically within their professional practice to calibrate their ethical responses. The article illuminates the ongoing, situated moral work required of DEI consultants and thus provides a nuanced understanding of ethics-as-practice in an emergent, loosely regulated professional field, contributing to broader debates in professional ethics, DEI literature, and virtue ethics in business contexts. Across the three articles, my dissertation shows how embodied narratives, role performances, and phronetic judgements become both the “currency” and the traded “good” in this nascent market. My research reveals how the commodification of morality does not necessarily dilute ethical commitments but rather transforms how these commitments are expressed, negotiated, and enacted in organizational contexts.

Introduction: Turnover of nurses creates great problems in providing services to and the quality of care regarding patients. Organizational commitment and compatibility between personal and organizational values of nurses reduces turnover intention in nurses. The current research was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between organizational commitment and turnover intention, considering the mediating role of personal and organizational values. Methods: In this descriptive study, the statistical population included nurses working in the hospitals of Tehran Islamic Azad University of Medical Sciences in 2023. 250 people were selected by simple random sampling method and responded to the questionnaires of Kim et al.'s turnover intention, Allen and Meyer's organizational commitment, Scroggins' person-organization fit, and demographic questionnaires. . In order to analyze data, Pearson's correlation coefficient, bootstrap method, and Sobel's test were used in structural equation modeling with Amos software. Results: The results of path analysis showed that the direct effect of organizational commitment on personal and organizational value and turnover intention was significant, and the direct effect of personal and organizational values on turnover intention was also significant. Moreover, the indirect effect of organizational commitment on turnover intention was confirmed through the mediation of personal and organizational values. Conclusion: The findings of the current research show the mediating effect of personal and organizational values on the relationship between the turnover intention and organizational commitment. It is suggested that nursing managers try to formulate intervention strategies to improve organizational commitment and compatibility of personal and organizational values of nurses.

The Confucianism includes the way of administering state affairs well and ensuring national security, and also the way of settling down and getting on with one's pursuit. Radically, the issue of settling down and getting on with one's pursuit is about the relationship between morality and fate, in other words, it requires a right understanding of life circumstances and contenting with what one is. The Confucian way of settling down is strengthening the moral cultivation for a fragrant moral realm, i.e. confirming the value and meaning of life relying on morality. But, what is the manifestation of settling down in detail? Firstly, the set view of fate; secondly, the pursuit of moral cultivation alone; thirdly, the behavior manner in regarding with equanimity; fourthly, psychosis in content and happiness. How to reach settling down? Firstly, owing the faith of ”morality is gain”; secondly, persisting in the value standard of ”morality is priority”; thirdly, exerting the body force of conscience and moral personality, fourthly, the life style is in learning and music edification, and finally, the spirit feels good for a fragrant moral realm as responding.

This study examined the construct of relational repair in marriage in the context of accommodation theory and presented an instrument designed to measure relationship repair. The instrument provided the following four factors derived from a sample of 239 married people: assurances, openness, time, and punishments. Based on the connection between accommodation behavior and commitment, the study also assessed the relationship between the repair factors and Johnson, Caughlin, and Huston's (1999) tripartite marital commitment construct. Factor analysis provided support for the tripartite construct of commitment. Regression analysis revealed significant associations between personal and structural commitment and all four relational repair factors. Moral commitment was significantly associated with all of the repair factors except punishments.

Optimizing end‐of‐life (EOL) care involves integrating decisions at various levels for patients and palliative care (PC) physicians. Measuring “quality” in PC delivery is therefore challenging and often not assessed. One focus of quality is to measure features of communication that help us understand patients’ personal values and beliefs that influence choices fostering patient‐centered treatment. These can be derived from the vocabulary patients use, and we can use this knowledge to differentiate and respond more accurately to the needs of patients. The objective of this study was to relate deep moral values to concrete moral actions, and we mine a large‐scale, human‐generated dataset to investigate morally relevant phenomena in a high‐stake real‐world decision context.We used the Moral Foundations Dictionary, an established list of moral words in the English language, to extract moral words from the text using Natural Language Processing. With a latent class analysis, we explored if there were qualitatively different underlying patterns in the PC patient population. We used count models to analyze different types of morality in the conversations and explore if heterogeneous patterns of morality terms in patients.We are using data from the PCCRI which was designed to understand the relation between clinical communication and patient‐centered outcomes. The 6‐month cohort data include directly observed and audio‐recorded palliative care consultations (up to first 3 visits); patient/proxy and clinician self‐report questionnaires (such as patient perceptions and preferences; clinician perceptions) both before and the day after consultation; post‐consultation in‐depth interviews; and medical/administrative records (such as disease status; treatment utilization).We found two latent classes: class one in which patients did not use many expressions of morality (about two thirds) in their PC consultations and class two in which patients did (one third). Age, race, education, spiritual needs, and whether a patient was affiliated with Christianity or another religion were all associated with class membership. Gender, financial hardship, and preference for longevity‐focused over comfort‐focused treatment near EOL did not affect class membership. In our count models, we also found that some patient characteristics were associated with the use of different moral terminology.This study is among the first to use text data from a real‐world situation to extract information regarding individual moral expressions and the relation with patient characteristics, attitudes, and emotions.The results of this study are relevant to those who seek to improve the quality of communication in order to achieve better values‐concordant treatment at EOL. From text data, this study identifies moral values among patients in a palliative care setting. The effect of moral values on EOL care preference resulting in PC treatment utilization illustrates the contribution to empirical investigation of human motivations related to morality. It highlights the importance of differentiating prognosis communication with respect to patients’ different moral values influencing their EOL preferences. This study also emphasizes the importance of using text data for health services research in addition to existing quantitative and qualitative HSR methods.

Moral Commitments in Cost-Benefit Analysis

<i>Evolution, Morality and the Meaning of Life</i>. Jeffrie G. Murphy

With arms control negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union in progress and the elections in the United States in the autumn, this is a particularly good time to review the challenging subject of ethics and international relations. Challenging, because there is no easy solution at hand. Immediate events are often the reason for an apparent surge of interest in the topic, such as the Iran-Contra hearings in the United States, the proposed Canada-United States free trade area - the 'fairness' issue, for example, is the treaty in the interests of both countries? - as well as the reconsideration of the role of nuclear weapons in the defence of the West. i The linking of ethics to international affairs often draws a smile from the worldly wise, a Machiavellian shrug of the shoulder, and a certain world-weariness. 'The actions of states are determined not by moral principles and legal commitments but by considerations of interest and power. Moral principles and legal commitments may be invoked to justify a policy arrived at on other grounds ... but they do not determine the choice among different courses of action.' These are the words of Professor