Moral Perception and Particularity

Abstract

Most contemporary moral philosophy is concerned with issues of rationality, universality, impartiality, and principle. By contrast Laurence Blum is concerned with the psychology of moral agency. The essays in this collection examine the moral import of emotion, motivation, judgment, perception, and group identifications, and explore how all these psychic capacities contribute to a morally good life. Blum takes up the challenge of Iris Murdoch to articulate a vision of moral excellence that provides a worthy aspiration for human beings. Drawing on accounts of non-Jewish rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust Blum argues that impartial principle can mislead us about the variety of forms of moral excellence.

An Examination of the Relationship Between Ethical Work Climate and Moral Awareness

“…In addition, the present study has continued the use of a prescriptive element in EWC research by showing that certain types of ethical climates are associated with higher levels of individual moral awareness. If, as a moral philosopher says, moral perception is a good in its own right (Blum, 1991(Blum, , 1994, or if it is viewed more instrumentally, as a necessary precursor to moral judgment and behavior, the current study suggests that certain types of ethical climates may be connected with higher degrees of this moral good.…”

“…Either the moral agent is aware of the moral components of a situation or she is not. But as Blum (1991Blum ( , 1994 emphasizes, moral awareness is a more complex state than these other definitions imply.…”

“…His primary purposes in doing so were to distinguish perception from judgment in moral reflection and to emphasize the importance of awareness in the process (Blum, 1991(Blum, , 1994. He includes in perception "anything contributing to or encompassed within the agent's take on the situation-his salience-perception-prior to his deliberating about what to do" (Blum, 1991: 707).…”

“…Similar to the ethical criteria, three separate and incompatible loci of analysis were presented: individual, local, and cosmopolitan. Blum's (1991Blum's ( , 1994) and Rest's (1979Rest's ( , 1994Rest's ( , 1999 thoughts on moral awareness-the recognition that an ethical issue is at stake in a given situation-guided development of this concept.…”

“…Using techniques introduced by others in the psychology and business ethics fields (Bebeau & Brabeck, 1989;Shaub, Finn, & Munter, 1993;Butterfield, Treviño, & Weaver, 1997, this study has provided further evidence that moral awareness can be measured effectively. Doing so helps operationalize concepts introduced by moral philosophy (Blum, 1991(Blum, , 1994.…”