Fall 2023 Meeting: October 20th, Definitions of Morality (SAVE THE DATE)

[Tal Waltzer]

Hello everyone,

RSVP LINK: https://forms.gle/856dm6kyu5ttpv7t6

Save the date: 2023-10-20

Our SDTIC Fall 2023 meeting will be led by Melanie Killen and Audun Dahl, on the topic of how to define morality. See below for a full description of the event and some optional readings.

Please RSVP so we can plan for the event accordingly. LINK: https://forms.gle/856dm6kyu5ttpv7t6
You may also submit a comment or question ahead of the discussion.

Date: Friday, October 20th, 2023
Time: 8am - 9:30am Pacific / 11am - 12:30pm Eastern / 6pm - 7:30pm GMT+3
Zoom: https://ucsd.zoom.us/j/93055494305

Looking forward to it,

SDTIC Communications Committee

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Morality as a Conceptual Framework: What’s At Stake
Melanie Killen (University of Maryland) and Audun Dahl (Cornell University)

Full description of event: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RoZe6rBo_KYoue2kAAbup4Ej_wnEQvOT/view?usp=drive_link

What is morality? Most researchers working within Social Domain Theory and the Social Reasoning Developmental model ground their theories in Kantian moral philosophy which stimulated Piaget’s, Kohlberg’s and Turiel’s psychological theories focusing on reflection, evaluation, and interpretation of social interactions, with morality providing a central focus. From this framework, morality refers to interindividual treatment of others with respect to justice, fairness, others’ welfare, equity, and rights.

In other traditions, from socialization theory to nativism to contemporary moral psychology, prominent researchers have either avoided definitions or outright refused to define morality. They have argued, for instance, that since philosophers and ordinary people disagree about what morality is, psychologists cannot or should not define morality. Against this view, we have argued for the necessity of defining morality, just as biologists have to provide definitions for cells and planetary scientists provide definitions of planets.

Questions about whether and how to define morality provoked interest at the last SDT preconference in Salt Lake City. To give the questions the time and attention they deserve, we are holding an SDTIC meeting to address them. To start the conversation, we will present our perspectives on whether and how to define morality. The crux of the meeting will be to provide time for everyone to join the conversation with questions, comments, and additional arguments.

Together, we will reflect on what makes it important to define morality. We will identify both agreements and disagreements:

1. One of us (MK) asserts that defining morality from a developmental science approach requires not only a definition of morality but a theory of acquisition, obligation and equality.  Debating the definition of morality in the absence of a comprehensive theory that addresses core developmental questions is problematic. Without providing an alternative theory that is more than a definition, debates about morality are likely to be incommensurable. Overtime constructivist theories have modified their moral theories about its acquisition (from stages to domains), the role of obligation, and equality (from a focus on equality to include the injustice of inequality). Debating the definition of morality requires discussions that focus on the larger picture.  As an example, the absence of moral considerations such as fair and equitable treatment of others creates injustice. Debating the definition of morality is worthwhile if an end goal is to determine how humans can treat others with justice and mutual respect. 
   
2. The other of us (AD) has called for greater clarity around what psychologists do when they define morality. Definitional clarity requires us to counter common arguments against defining morality. It requires us to rule out some approaches to defining morality not amenable to empirical, psychological inquiry (termed linguistic, functionalist, evaluating, and normative definitions). And it requires us to identify criteria for what suitable definitions of morality look like (termed technical, psychological, descriptive, and distinctive definitions). The criteria leave room for multiple sensible definitions of morality for psychological research. Building on Social Domain Theory, presentation will discuss one such definition. Clarity about definitions will help us think and communicate across different theories and research traditions.

Optional background readings:

1. Dahl, A. (in press). What we do when we define morality (and why we need to do it). Psychological Inquiry. https://osf.io/uvkw4  [PDF]
2. Killen, M., & Dahl, A. (2021). Moral reasoning enables developmental and societal changes. Perspectives in Psychological Science, 16(6), 1209-1225. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620964076  [PDF]
3. Smetana, J.G., & Yoo, H.N. (2023). Development and variations in moral and social-conventional judgments: A social domain theory approach. In M. Killen & J.G. Smetana (Eds), Handbook of moral development (pp. 19-36). Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9781003047247
4. Turiel, E., Chung, E., & Carr, J. A. (2016). Struggles for equal rights and social justice as unrepresented and represented in psychological research. In Advances in child development and behavior (Vol. 50, pp. 1–29). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.acdb.2015.11.004  [PDF]

-- 
Dr. Talia Waltzer
Postdoctoral Scholar
Department of Psychology
University of California, San Diego
https://www.twaltzer.com/

[Tal Waltzer]

Hello everyone,

This is a reminder -- in just two weeks, we will have our Fall 2023 meeting! It will be led by Melanie Killen and Audun Dahl.

Date: Friday, October 20th, 2023
Time: 8am - 9:30am Pacific / 11am - 12:30pm Eastern / 6pm - 7:30pm GMT+3
Zoom: https://ucsd.zoom.us/j/93055494305

Please RSVP so we can plan for the event accordingly. LINK: https://forms.gle/856dm6kyu5ttpv7t6

Morality as a Conceptual Framework: What’s At Stake

Melanie Killen (University of Maryland) and Audun Dahl (Cornell University)

Questions about whether and how to define morality provoked interest at the last SDT preconference in Salt Lake City. To give the questions the time and attention they deserve, we are holding an SDTIC meeting to address them. To start the conversation, we will present our perspectives on whether and how to define morality. The crux of the meeting will be to provide time for everyone to join the conversation with questions, comments, and additional arguments.

Full description of the meeting here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RoZe6rBo_KYoue2kAAbup4Ej_wnEQvOT/view?usp=drive_link

Looking forward to it!

Dr. Talia Waltzer
Postdoctoral Scholar
Department of Psychology
University of California, San Diego
https://www.twaltzer.com/

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