Seminar 3
Question
What is moral disengagement?
Identify one claim about moral judgement for which the existence of moral disengagement is the source of a potential objection.
What is the claim and what is the objection?
Does the objection succeed?
Reading
Preparation
Please follow the instructions for Seminar Tasks.
Lecture Notes
Where to Find the Reading?
In some cases the reference section of the lecture notes already includes a link to help you find the reading.
If there is no link in the lecture notes, start by searching for the title (and, if that fails, by title and authors) on google scholar. If this fails, the library has resources. If those fail, please check first with others on the course. If you still have problems, you may email your seminar tutor.
Glossary
moral disengagement :
Moral disengagement occurs when self-sanctions are disengaged from
conduct. To illustrate, an executioner may avoid self-sanctioning for killing
by reframing the role they play as ‘babysitting’ (Bandura, 2002, p. 103).
Bandura (2002, p. 111) identifies several
mechanisms of moral disengagement: ‘The disengagement may centre on
redefining harmful conduct as honourable by moral justification, exonerating
social comparison and sanitising language. It may focus on agency of action
so that perpetrators can minimise their role in causing harm by diffusion
and displacement of responsibility. It may involve minimising or distorting
the harm that follows from detrimental actions; and the disengagement may
include dehumanising and blaming the victims of the maltreatment.’
References
Bandura, A. (2002). Selective Moral Disengagement in the Exercise of Moral Agency.
Journal of Moral Education,
31(2), 101–119.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0305724022014322