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Do we have a unified pre-theoretical concept of morality? This paper makes a start on the larger argument that we do not, by countering criticisms of virtue ethics on the ground that it does not adequately capture such a pre-theoretical concept. One criticism is discussed and met, namely that the reasons on which virtuous people act fail to have the special force of moral reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moral options are permissions to do less than best, impartially speaking. In this paper, we investigate the challenge of reconciling moral options with the ideal of justifiability to each individual. We examine ex-post and ex-ante views of moral options and show how they might conflict with this ideal in single-choice and sequential-choice cases, respectively. We consider some ways of avoiding this conflict in sequential-choice cases, showing that they face significant problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on recent findings that mothers make social comparisons to idealized portrayals of motherhood on social media, this study was designed to explore how two individual difference variables (social comparison orientation and self-esteem) affect such social comparison processes. A 2 (social comparison orientation: low vs. high) X 2 (self-esteem: low vs. high) X 2 (idealization of motherhood portrayals: non-ideal vs. ideal) mixed factorial design experiment was conducted among 464 new mothers to test how these individual difference variables moderate the effects of social media motherhood portrayals on the outcomes of state social comparison, perceived parenting competence, and life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rousseau coined the term perfectibilité to name what he claimed was the faculty that distinguished human beings from other animals. Although Rousseau himself largely associated perfectibility with the tendency of the human race to become corrupt, later thinkers adopted his term but then transformed it into a concept denoting the human capacity for progress. This article has two goals. The first goal is to analyse Rousseau's discussion of perfectibilité in order to identify a specifically Rousseauean of perfectibilité. I identify three related features of Rousseau's perfectibilité: the ambiguous status of both instinct and freedom, the unique malleability of human nature, and the fact that perfectibilité operates on both the levels of the individual and the species. The second goal is to examine the transformation of this specifically Rousseauean conception in the thought of one of the thinker largely responsible for giving it a very different direction, Condorcet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following Heidegger, Severino called 'technology' the lógos that interprets the world according to our fundamental belief in téchne. He considered Giacomo Leopardi to be the only thinker who brought this ideology to its logical conclusion: if we can transform the world, then everything is meaningless. We try to escape this conclusion, but if Severino is right, we cannot. His philosophy thus reminds us that we still aren't aware of the fundamental meaning of our beliefs. Confronting its arguments may help us become more self-aware and, perhaps, even move us to question the unquestionable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The standard account of Kantian moral weakness fails to provide a psychologically realistic account of moral improvement. It assumes that moral strength is simply a matter of volitional resolve and weakness is a lack of resolve. This leaves the path to moral improvement unclear. In this paper, I reconstruct an alternative character-based account of Kantian moral weakness and strength. On this account, moral strength is the possession of sympathy and self-knowledge, key practical-epistemic virtues from Kant's Doctrine of Virtue, and moral weakness is a lack of these virtues. This identifies moral strength with a high degree of development, integrity, or fitness in one's character, and not merely an ability to somehow try harder. It also resolves an exegetical puzzle concerning the change of heart in Kant's Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary reflection on the concept of value oscillates between positions that advocate absolutist realism and positions that propose total relativism. The present paper aims to distance itself from these two ways of reading the topic, rejecting any monolithic conception, and proposing a stratified theory of value. Beginning with an analysis of values that differentiates them from both "goods" and "valuations," the author outlines an understanding of value that must be investigated in its multiple, interconnected layers. The stratification starts from the role of the emotional sphere and comes down to a formal and absolute conception of the concept. The goal of the paper is to outline the different levels of validity of each proposed layer, which must be recognized and differentiated, with the aim of also capturing the difficulties and ambiguities that characterize the transition from one level to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nils Christie's (1986) ideal victim is said to receive "complete and legitimate status as a victim." Many victims of intimate partner sexual assault (IPSA), are not given this status, resulting in their cases being unfounded. The current study evaluates 16 years of reported IPSA cases (n = 1,558) in a large municipal police department in the midwestern United States. Through multivariate logistic regression this study evaluates which factors lead a reported IPSA case to be unfounded. Further, it examines how the IPSA victim fits into the concept of the ideal victim. The results indicate that several variables representing the ideal victim criteria are influence in unfounding IPSA cases; however, many are the opposite of what might be expected based on Christie's work. Results further indicate that race (victim race, detective race, racial composition of district) has a substantial impact on IPSA cases being unfounded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]