Why Common Sense Will Not Take Us Far When Making a Better World
Author
Summary, in English
In this article it is argued that common sense morality in many cases leads to suboptimal consequences and that human beings in general put too much faith in their moral intuitions. In the first section an explanation of common sense moral is offered. In the second section a working definition of “better world” is presented. In section three, contemporary psychological research concerning human moral thinking is reviewed. In section four the article turns philosophical and discusses possible normative implications of these psychological findings. In section five, some overemphasized areas as well as some neglected areas of common sense morality are presented. In section six, an important distinction between the concepts bad, wrong and blameworthy is explained. Finally, some practical suggestions how to improve human moral thinking are offered.
Department/s
Publishing year
2011
Language
English
Pages
59-68
Publication/Series
Educational Studies/ Kyoiku Kenkyu
Volume
53
Links
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
International Christian University Publications 1-A
Topic
- Psychology
Keywords
- moral intuitions
- Common sense morality
- moral psychology
- consequentialism
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0452-3318