Social Interdependence: The Goal Structure of Moral Experience

Dissertation, University of Minnesota (1999)
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Abstract

A central problem in schools, youth agencies, churches, and leisure organizations is a lack of criteria that specify which experiences and influences are better than others for developing moral commitments, attitudes, and actions. This includes the question of which strategy works best but also the question of which ends or goals are worth pursuing in social life. ;MacIntyre's ethical theory anchors morality in these goals and provides criteria for interpreting moral experience. It suggests that moral values are associated with cooperative goals. Similarly, Johnson & Johnson proposed that cooperative interdependence is a normative social condition. Neither theory has been empirically confirmed, but they seem to be complementary in that the ethical theory provides a philosophical justification for social interdependence theory and the latter provides an empirical anchor for the ethical theory. ;This study examined whether MacIntyre's ethical theory could be used to interpret and identify moral values and whether they were attached to cooperative, competitive, and individualistic conditions in the predicted manner. Cooperative conditions were in fact associated with normative moral values---defined as having an "internal," necessary connection with the goal---while competitive conditions were associated with moral values defined as whatever helps one win, and individualistic conditions were associated with moral values defined as whatever helps one meet the needs of the self. ;By directing attention to the goals of social experience and to the meaning of being a person, these complementary theories may help avoid individualistic, competitive, or manipulative strategies underlying some types of work with youth in formal and informal education

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