Moral Agency

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Philosophy

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Apr 3, 2024

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Moral Agency Outcomes  Define determinism and identify examples in modern psychology.  Articulate the implications of determinism for moral accountability.  Identify three useful metaphors for thinking about agency and science.  Identify three misconceptions about moral agency. Readings  Thayne, J. (Unpublished manuscript). “ Foundation #2: Our Lives are Full of Possibility and Meaning .”  Misconceptions about Agency Terms to remember  Determinism, indeterminism, agency  Moral accountability, moral relativism Class Preparation and Notes Please submit your preparation notes the evening before class. (Be sure to save your document before uploading – common mistake!) 1. What is determinism ? What are some examples of determinism in psychology today? In the reading it is said that there are many psychological theories that assume that our actions are determined by external or internal forces, in which they called it as the determinism. It is said that the determinism assumes that given the same initial conditions, all events must happen as they do. In this case, human action is simply part of a complicated chain of cause and effect that they said that we are living out a complicated programming of both nurture and nature. Like for example, a determinist could argue that a person's genes make them anxious. In this case, determinist find the way they opted to treat moral responsiveness as something to be explained entirely in terms of antecedent variables. If similar people behave differently in response to the same social cues, we can only presume that it is because of the causal influence of some as-yet unmeasured variable or set of variables. Is it possible to be morally accountable in a deterministic universe? Why or why not? I think it is not possible to be morally accountable in a deterministic universe, or maybe it could be at some point. However, in the reading, it is said that the moral accountability requires possibility. Like for example is when a boulder falls down the mountain, we do not thank the boulder for missing a hiker, nor we not blame the boulder for hitting one instead. In this case, it is said that it is the same in human beings in a deterministic world. That us human beings will only be accountable for our actions when we could have done otherwise. In the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is said that without the moral accountability it will be reduced to pointlessness. In addition to that is that there can be no divine law without moral accountability. There can be no judgment, no justice, no mercy, and no Atonement. In fact, there can be no God at all, for the existence of a God. As example as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that they imply the existence of a moral sovereign to whom we, as agents, are morally accountable (Alma 42:17-22). The

fall and redemption of God’s children cannot be understood from the perspective of absolute determinism. 2. What are three different metaphors we can use to understand how to think about agency, while also acknowledging the role that our environment, physiology, and experiences play in shaping our behavior?  Metaphor #1 The subplot of a novel In the reading it is said that given the main plot of a novel, there are some subplots that would be quite sensible. There are other subplots that would be nonsensical. In addition to that, if we do change the main plot of the story, then we inevitably change the subplots too. In the same way as how this goes, if we change our childhood experiences, genes, and social environment, our actions and choices will probably change too. But just as the main plot does not compel the subplot of a story, none of these things compel our choices and actions. There are multiple possible subplots that could follow from any main plot, and any action we take, even if predictable and sensible.  Metaphor #2 A lunchtime conversation In this metaphor, the example that was given was that each word you speak enacts meanings and possibilities made available by the conversation thus far. The conversation’s history creates and constrains new possibilities for the conversation moving forward. There are some things that you might say that follows naturally from the conversation thus far, and yet other possibilities that would be foreclosed. In the same way, our current actions find meaning considering our past, our environment, and even our biology. All these things open some possibilities for the future, and foreclose other possibilities, sometimes with regular patterns that can be studied and documented. But this changing horizon of possibilities can be explored without re- sorting to causal or deterministic terminology.  Metaphor #3 A topography of a map In this case, we want to consider that a hiker was doing a survey in the terrain around him. The terrain influences the possibilities available to a hiker: Some directions are downhill, others uphill. Some areas are steep and much harder to climb. Some directions lead towards impassible ravines or steep cliffs. Others have natural paths that make walking easy. As the hiker chooses a direction, the choices available before him changes, as he now enters new terrain with new topography. In the same way, our environment, our culture, our genes, our childhood, etc., influence the topography of the terrain we are traversing, making some possibilities “easier”, others “harder”, and some impossible. But even as these alter the horizon of our choices, none of these eliminate possibility or agency. And we are no fewer moral agents, and no less morally accountable, when we tred well-trodden paths.

3. Penelope, a psychology student, is confused about what it means to believe in agency. “Isn’t it obvious that all of our actions are determined by prior events? Are you trying to say that my upbringing and social contexts don’t matter when it comes to my behavior?” Using the vocabulary terms of this unit, explain to Penelope (1) why agency matters, and (2) why this doesn’t mean our behavior is random and beyond the reach of psychological study. Please BOLD each term as you use it. Terms:  Determinism  Moral accountability  Moral relativism  Indeterminism  Agency For Penelope, the thing that she say about that it is obvious that all of our actions are determined by prior events can be connected in what we called determinism. The determinism is referred to the presumption that people's behavior is produced primarily by biological, developmental, environmental, and social factors. When she asked about social contexts do not matter when it comes to behavior, we talk about her about the thing that we called moral accountability. In which the moral accountability is the assumption that people are credited or blamed for their behavior with respect to moral truth. That in order to determined our actions, it is credited for the behavior we did that will be based on moral truth. The moral relativism on the other hand is the belief that there are no moral truths "out there" in the world that are morally binding. That the action is morally required of a person. So in this case, we can see that agency is really important, based on what people claim on the judgment. For example is when a person believes that abortion is morally wrong, then it is wrong for her. The next one is indeterminism refers to the assumption that free will is the same as randomness, or noise in the data. That in order to have agency means our choices are un-influenced by biological, developmental, environmental, and social factors. So on this case, it is said that we have the free will, that us people have the ability to act independently for ourselves. And lastly is our agency which is described to be the ability to step into one possibility among many in a horizon of possibilities. In all of this term, I will say that agency do really matters to us, and for whatever we choose, it will be reflect on us. As what we are taught by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that God had given us agency to choose from good and evil. This is a gift for us, and that we need to use this wisely. 4. In your own words, identify three different misconceptions about agency.  Misconception #1 “Rules, laws, and norms violate our moral agency.” In the reading, it is said that the Latter-day Saints believe that in the premortal life, the Adversary’s plan was to force us to be good so that we could all be saved in the afterlife. So, this led to some people to think of agency as synonymous with political

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or moral freedom, and to believe that laws, rules, and norms that they disagree with violate our agency. From this view, they said that anything that adds costs to our choices interferes with our agency. In short, what makes us moral agents is being placed in a context where we face choices of moral significance. As what Elder Boyd K. Packer taught, “Agency is defined in the scriptures as ‘moral agency,’ which means that we choose between good and evil.”  Misconception #2 “Agency is freedom from duty and responsibility” In the reading agency is define as being able to decide and freely enact our own preferences, and responsibilities, norms, and duties that keep us from doing so stifle our agency. It is said that it can lead us to the erroneous conclusion that making covenants with God, and stepping into communities with robust norms – including the norms of our church and our school – deprives us of agency. Yet, making covenants does not eliminate agency, it expands our agency by giving otherwise mundane choices moral significance. For example is that flirting with a colleague might have no moral valence prior to marriage, but afterwards, it has tremendous moral valence. Drinking a cup of coffee prior to being baptized into the Church might be a matter of personal taste, but after baptism, it is no longer neutral at all. By adding moral dimensions to our day-to-day lives, our occasions for moral agency and moral accountability increase.  Misconception #2 “Moral agency involves rational deliberation.” Many assume that agency is the process by which we weigh two alternatives and study out the consequences of our choices. From this view, it is said to us that we are agents to the extent that we stop and think about our actions, rationally considering them in a reflective and detached manner. This is where those psychologists who embrace the idea of agency often get agency a little bit wrong because of this. 5. Review the unit vocabulary terms here . Keep practicing until you have mastered them! (Some of these terms will be learned in class – master the ones that are in the book, and the rest after class.) Indicate below that you’ve done so. Additional resources  Williams, R. (1999). Agency: Philosophical and Spiritual Foundations for Applied Psychology . Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy , 4 (1).

Moral Agency

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