PSYC14H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Culture War, Moral Authority, Nuclear Family
PSYC14 – Chapter 12
A Danish newspaper published cartoons that depicted the prophet Muhammad and it violated a deeply
held belief Muslims hold that the prophet should never be portrayed
A lot of westerns argued for freedom of expression
Muslims argued that they did not want freedom to trump other values – they used the sign
“freedom go to hell”
In the book the Clash of Civilizations, Samuel Huntington argued that the fundamental source of conflict
in the new world would not be primarily ideological or economic but cultural and religious
Secularization theory: theory that the religion is on the decline and that people around the world are
discovering new secular and rational ways to make sense of their lives
German philosopher Fridrich Nietzsche said that “god is dead”
We don’t see this in the US, the US has believed in god and there are sign that religiosity has
increased over the past decades in the US
There is an increase in religiosity but people from different cultures and religions are coming into
contact with each other more than before
Christians think that the Muslims are doing it wrong and vice versa
Ethnocentrism and Interpreting Cultural Variability
Ethnocentrism leads people to assume that their own culture’s way of life is in some ways better or
more natural than that of others
Cultures tend to value characteristics that their own culture is accomplished for
Kohlberg’s stages of Moral Development
Level 1: the Preconventional level
People understand what is good and bad but interpret these labels in term of either physical or
hedonistic consequences
Preconventional moral reasoning is when people do a calculation of how much better or worse
they are for acting a certain way
Level 2: The Conventional Level
Conventional moral reasoning is about viewing actions as moral to the extent that they help
maintain and facilitate the social order
Actions are seen as morally wrong if they involve violating any rules or laws that the social order
has maintained
Level 3: the post conventional Level
This is based on the abstract ethical principles of what is right and wrong and moral decisions
are reached based on the logical extensions of those principles
Cross-cultural Evidence for Kohlberg’s Model
Participants are presented with moral dilemmas and are asked to choose the right solution to that
dilemma
Kohlberg’s model is universal
studies on this this model found that:
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In all cultures, there were adults who reasoned at the conventional levels
In no groups, did the adults reason at the preconventional level
Evidence of postconvnetional reasoning was not universally found – western sample contained
some who thought of justice and individual rights but no one in traditional tribal and village folk
populations showed such reasoning
oTraditional societies do not provide educational experiences for members to reason
about justice and individual rights in postconventional terms
oRisk of ethnocentric bias
oThe western is a different environment than the tribes and so people might have a
moral framework that best fits their environment
Ethics of Autonomy, Community and Divinity
Ethic of autonomy: views morality in terms of individual freedom and rights violations
An act is seen as immoral when it directly hurts another person or infringes on another’s rights
and freedoms as an individual
Ethic of community: individuals have duties that conform with their roles in a community or social
hierarchy
There is an ethical principle to uphold one’s interpersonal duties and obligations toward others
Actions are seen as wrong when people fail to perform their duties
Ethic of divinity: one is obligated to preserve the standards mandated by a transcendent authority
Actions are seen as immoral if they cause impurity or degradation to oneself or others
Westerns usually protect individual rights whereas other countries might uphold ethics of community
and divinity
The case of the newspaper publishing that picture: the Muslims thought it was an immoral act
based on the ethic of divinity while the westerners thought that censoring free speech is not fair
based on ethic of autonomy
Ethic of Community
Women are more likely to think this way than men are.
Gemeinschaft and Geselleschaft relations
There are 2 ways that individuals can relate to each other:
Gemeinschaft: characteristic of smaller folk organizations and within these groups interpersonal
relationships play an especially important role
oEx: a nuclear family – you wouldn’t have contracts with your family members on who
will do dishes or give each family member (including children) equal rights and power
over all family decisions
Gesellschaft: these societies treat relationships as imaginary, instrumental and a means to an
end
oin these groups, people cannot be thought to act in prosocial ways and so they need
formal rules to keep people in line
Ethic of community in India:
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find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
A danish newspaper published cartoons that depicted the prophet muhammad and it violated a deeply held belief muslims hold that the prophet should never be portrayed. A lot of westerns argued for freedom of expression. Muslims argued that they did not want freedom to trump other values they used the sign. In the book the clash of civilizations, samuel huntington argued that the fundamental source of conflict in the new world would not be primarily ideological or economic but cultural and religious. Secularization theory: theory that the religion is on the decline and that people around the world are discovering new secular and rational ways to make sense of their lives. German philosopher fridrich nietzsche said that god is dead . We don"t see this in the us, the us has believed in god and there are sign that religiosity has increased over the past decades in the us.
