My dissertation explores the role of narrative in the cultivation of empathy for ethical attitudes and behaviors. I begin by exploring an uncommon view of human nature, concluding that we are not autonomously individualistic rational deciders but ultrasocial moral intuitionists. Our intuitions are developed through our social engagements and the moral imagination. Intersubjective relations run deep in our psychology and provide the basis by which we shape the meaning of our lives as individuals in communities. It is because of this that we need to reconsider and redesign our moral cultivation programs both for the child-rearing years and throughout adult life. I look at empathy, the means of our mutual understanding, care, and help, as a key site for moral cultivation. I explicate the neurophysiological bases of empathy, both conscious and unconscious. Empathy is on the continuum with very primitive, automatic mirroring systems, which through varying levels of mimicry facilitate social cognition and moral insight and action. It is thus the ideal means of cultivating a skillful morality. Empathy enables us to enter the worlds and feelings of others in rich and full-bodied ways and so can reveal others in their full subjectivity. Such experiences can incite empathic regard and compassionate action, but empathy, like all of our psycho-social capacities, requires cultivation to develop its skillfulness in practice. Narrative is an obvious means of cultivating empathy because it is humanity’s primary meaning-making structure, utilizing the empathic imagination to seduce us into the inner worlds of others. Through narrative dramatizations of experience, we learn to see and feel from another’s point of view, sensitizing us to their inner states and outward behavior. Such sensitivity can facilitate improving our moral attitudes and action by dislodging preoccupation with self-concern and instigating higher regard for others. In narratives we can imaginatively practice various moral actions, witnessing possible results. Reflective engagement can then bring the moral insights of these imaginative experiences to life in our practical worlds by attuning us to what is morally salient. Narrative engagement is thus a natural and vital part of shaping empathic moral perception for compassionate action. By reading and feeling with others reflectively, we can expand empathy for the pluralistic communities in which we live, make meaning, and grow.

The fate of Susan Pevensie has been one of the most controversial and interesting topics of debate about The Chronicles of Narnia since readers realized that she was no longer a friend of Narnia. Many critics have condemned C. S. Lewis for being sexist, thus making the stereotypically feminine Susan with her love of parties, nylons, and lipstick ineligible for salvation. This thesis proposes to look at Susan's choices and fate from the perspective of moral imagination. It argues that Lewis did not bar Susan from heaven to belittle femininity, but rather to comment on the consequences of choice, belief, and the vital exercise of moral imagination. Placing Susan in a fairy-tale world highlights the differences between what is real and what seems impossible and pushes both Susan and the readers to develop their own moral imagination in the pursuit of belief in the truth. Looking at Susan's ambiguous fate and comparing her story to other characters' journeys throughout the series shows readers the power of the imagination and offers hope that Susan, like the rest of her siblings, may make it to Aslan's Country after all.

In this thesis I argue literary readership allows us to gain imagined experiences necessary to sympathize with people whose experiences are different from our own. I begin with a discussion of Adam Smith’s conception of sympathy and moral education. Although sympathy is a process we take part in naturally as members of a society, we can only be skilled spectators if we practice taking the position of the impartial spectator and critically reflect on our judgments. As I will argue in this thesis, literature provides a way for us to practice spectatorship without the consequences that come along with making mistakes when judging real people. Literature also provides a way to build up a stock of experiences, which can be applied together with our personal life histories to create the most informed judgments possible.

Moral questions surrounding businesses’ labour practices and the ethical management of working conditions in developing countries are gaining increasing attention. This dissertation is an exploratory investigation on moral imagination amongst managers and union stewards involved in the management of working conditions in the Kenyan tea industry. Semi-structured interviews were used to generate information from participants on their thoughts and experiences as they managed potentially morally-laden issues related to working conditions of lower-tier workers. Thematic analysis was used to examine the accounts participants shared, in order to uncover the deliberative processes participants engaged in as they strived to make sense of these issues. The use of a qualitative approach facilitated a comprehensive examination of the context in which these organizational stakeholders are embedded. The moral imagination framework allows for an examination of how individuals attend to contextual cues as they deliberate on situations of moral import in the work environment. Overall, the findings of this research show that there are diverse patterns of analysis of moral situations among organizational stakeholders. The findings provide empirical support for Bartlett’s (2003) argument that there are many, yet unexplored, intervening processes between problem perception and action when it comes to moral deliberation and decision-making. Among the managers in the study, they were found to include processes of attribution of agency for observed harm, analysis of individual, organizational and social consequences, reflection on conflicts of interest and values, as well as creative imagination in envisioning and enacting actions that could address perceived problems. Among the stewards, they included reflections on principles of justice and human rights, reflection on opportunities for self-development, as well as creative imagination. In addition, the findings suggest role-related differences in the nature of individuals’ moral deliberations. Managers often appealed to an ethics of care in their deliberations on their employees’ working conditions. Union stewards appealed to both an ethics of care and an ethics of justice.

This rhetorical analysis of a contemporary and historical social movement, American conservatism, through a prominent intellectual figure, Russell Kirk, begins with a description of the author's work. Ideologies, arguments, and sentiments are considered as implicit rhetoric, where social relations are defined by persuasion, ideas, historical appeal, persona, and various invitations to shared assumptions. First, a descriptive historical context is the foundation to explore the beliefs, communicative strategies, and internal tensions of the conservative movement through the development of various identities and communities during its rise as a formidable political power. Second, an analysis of the author and the author's texts clarifies argumentative and stylistic choices, providing a framework for his communicative choices. The thesis of this discussion is that the discourses implicit and explicit in the author's writing and conduct of life were imaginative and literary products of what he termed "moral imagination." How this imagination developed, and its impact upon his persuasion, was a unique approach not only to an emergent intellectual tradition but also to the disciplines of history, fiction, policy, and audience. This work argues there were two components to Kirk's rhetoric of moral imagination. First, his choosing of historical subjects, in biographical sketch and literary content, was an indication of his own interest in rhetorical efficacy. Second, he attempted to live out the sort of life he claimed to value. I argue he taught observers by an ethos, an endeavor to live a rhetorical demonstration of what he genuinely believed was good. As demonstrated by what many who knew Kirk identified as an inner strength of character and conduct, his rhetorical behavior was motivated by a love for and a curiosity toward wonder and mystery. By an imaginative reading of history, his exemplars of more properly ordered sentiments of a moral order sought to build communities of associational, relational persons that found identity in relation to other persons. His ambition was to explore and communicate what it meant to be human - in limitation, in promise, and in the traditions and customs that provide a framework for "human" in a culture.

No description available.

John Dewey (1859-1952) responde por reflexões pedagógicas de grande disseminação, encontradas em meio a uma vasta produção que trata de múltiplas questões prementes de seu tempo, em particular aquelas relacionadas à democracia. Partindo da premissa de que sua filosofia da educação é melhor compreendida quando associada a suas reflexões mais abrangentes, elegeu-se como objetivo desta pesquisa a análise da ressonância da ética de John Dewey em seus ideais pedagógicos, diante de sua concepção de sociedade democrática. O autor se opõe à compreensão da moral como reduto exclusivo da subjetividade sua ética é social e cultural, nascendo o exercício moral de um contexto que serve de base para a busca de alternativas diante de conflitos. Impulso, dever, desejo, interesse, hábito e consequência são componentes da deliberação moral, que ocasionalmente entram em disputa e contam com o apoio da razão e da sensibilidade para descobrirem formas de se harmonizar esse ajuste é a ética, que se efetiva ao considerar as possibilidades de crescimento pessoal e comum que uma decisão traz. Importa a Dewey devolver a ética ao homem comum, nas sua ações cotidianas, para que cada um possa tomar parte das responsabilidades sobre si mesmo e sobre a vida comunitária. Somos constituídos por nossos atos e, portanto, a conduta expressa o caráter. Por isso, o autor confere importância aos hábitos, enquanto resposta rápida às demandas da vida prática, mas assegura à inteligência o papel de conduzi-los, interrompendoos sempre que não respondem adequadamente. Porque não estamos sozinhos no mundo, a ética se faz necessária e é condição para a convivência. Todavia, esse contato não é apenas restritivo; é também chave para uma expansão de sentidos da experiência e para a descoberta de dimensões mais profundas de existência. Essa relação complexa com o outro desafia a inteligência a prospectar alternativas mais integrativas quando escolhemos a democracia. Com isso, a imaginação moral é imprescindível para que o homem desvende novos caminhos em situações de crise. Ela permite ao sujeito um deslocamento para variadas posições, viabilizando a empatia efetiva por interesses alheios. Logo, a imaginação moral é vista por Dewey como um ensaio dramático, em que antecipamos mentalmente resultados esperados em diversos cursos de ação. Essa variedade de opções é criada pela imaginação, cuja liberdade em desenhar mundos possíveis deriva de sua capacidade de articular razão e sensibilidade. Para Dewey, a educação fomenta hábitos e valores, ou seja, promove um certo tipo de cultura. Assim, para que se volte a uma ética democrática, precisa cotidianamente trabalhar com práticas e princípios condizentes. Deve formar hábitos flexíveis e alargar a imaginação, para que esta possa se expressar viva e criativamente. Educação, democracia e ética têm como sujeito o homem comum, que pode forjar um caráter para si e, ao mesmo tempo, participar da condução do mundo que habita. Apenas pelo uso de meios democráticos, em que o interesse pessoal e o comum se articulam, pode uma sociedade se tornar democrática: a filosofia da educação de Dewey ressoa em suas muitas proposições a busca ética por essa harmonia. / John Deweys (1859-1952) pedagogical ideas are largely propagated, as part of a vast body of intellectual work dealing with several pressing issues of his time, especially those related to democracy. Assuming that his philosophy of education is best understood when associated to his broadest reflections, the main objective of this research is the analysis of the resonance of John Deweys ethics on his pedagogical ideals, in face of the authors conception of democratic society. Dewey opposes the idea of morality confined in subjectivity; his ethics is social and cultural, since moral exercise emerges in a context that serves as basis for the search of alternatives before conflicts. Impulse, duty, desire, interest, habit and consequence are components of moral deliberation, occasionally confronting each other; it is through the aid of reason and sensibility that they find ways of harmonizing this adjustment is ethics, which becomes effective through the consideration of possibilities for personal and collective growth implied in its decisions. Dewey is concerned in returning ethics to the common man, throughout his daily actions, so that every person can be responsible for himself and for the community. We are made from our actions and, therefore, conduct expresses our character. Hence, the author attributes great importance to habits, understood as fast responses to the demands of practical life; however, intelligence also has its role, interrupting habits when they do not function properly. Because we are not alone ethics is necessary, it is prerequisite to cohabitation. Nonetheless, this social contact cannot be seen as solely restrictive; it is also key to an expansion in the meaning of experience and to the discovery of a deeper understanding of existence. This complex relationship with others challenges intelligence to search for more unifying alternatives, whenever we live in democracy. Thus, moral imagination is necessary for man to find new paths in a crisis situation. It allows us to shift to other perspectives, effectively enabling sympathetic feelings. Accordingly, moral imagination is seen as a dramatic rehearsal, through which we mentally anticipate expected results of multiple courses of action. This variety of options is created by imagination, whose freedom to design possible worlds derives from its ability to articulate sense and sensibility. For Dewey, education fosters habits and values, i.e., it promotes a certain kind of culture. Therefore, in order to be in agreement with democratic ethics, education must work daily with appropriate practices and principles. It must form flexible habits and broaden imagination, in order for it to express itself lively and creatively. The common man is the subject of education, democracy, and ethics. It is he who can forge his own character and, simultaneously, take part in the making of the world in which he lives. Only through the use of democratic means, where personal and common interests are articulated, can society become democratic: Deweys philosophy of education states in many of its propositions this ethical search for harmony.

Submitted by Noeme Timbo (noeme.timbo@metodista.br) on 2017-01-25T13:38:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo Cruz.pdf: 1065817 bytes, checksum: c89d4c886e6d9f4f04095b666ec92c44 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-25T13:38:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo Cruz.pdf: 1065817 bytes, checksum: c89d4c886e6d9f4f04095b666ec92c44 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-18 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This paper presents a study on C. S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy — that embraces Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength. We analize the theological concepts used by the author, specially the Original Sin doctrine and its relations with the concept of moral imagination, developed by the american thinker Russell Kirk. / O presente trabalho apresenta um estudo da obra Triologia Cósmica de C. S. Lewis — composta pelas obras Além do Planeta Silencioso, Perelandra e Essa força medonha —, analisando os conceitos teológicos utilizados pelo autor, sobretudo a doutrina do Pecado Original, e suas relações com o conceito de Imaginação Moral, desenvolvido pelo filósofo americano Russell Kirk.

John Dewey (1859-1952) responde por reflexões pedagógicas de grande disseminação, encontradas em meio a uma vasta produção que trata de múltiplas questões prementes de seu tempo, em particular aquelas relacionadas à democracia. Partindo da premissa de que sua filosofia da educação é melhor compreendida quando associada a suas reflexões mais abrangentes, elegeu-se como objetivo desta pesquisa a análise da ressonância da ética de John Dewey em seus ideais pedagógicos, diante de sua concepção de sociedade democrática. O autor se opõe à compreensão da moral como reduto exclusivo da subjetividade sua ética é social e cultural, nascendo o exercício moral de um contexto que serve de base para a busca de alternativas diante de conflitos. Impulso, dever, desejo, interesse, hábito e consequência são componentes da deliberação moral, que ocasionalmente entram em disputa e contam com o apoio da razão e da sensibilidade para descobrirem formas de se harmonizar esse ajuste é a ética, que se efetiva ao considerar as possibilidades de crescimento pessoal e comum que uma decisão traz. Importa a Dewey devolver a ética ao homem comum, nas sua ações cotidianas, para que cada um possa tomar parte das responsabilidades sobre si mesmo e sobre a vida comunitária. Somos constituídos por nossos atos e, portanto, a conduta expressa o caráter. Por isso, o autor confere importância aos hábitos, enquanto resposta rápida às demandas da vida prática, mas assegura à inteligência o papel de conduzi-los, interrompendoos sempre que não respondem adequadamente. Porque não estamos sozinhos no mundo, a ética se faz necessária e é condição para a convivência. Todavia, esse contato não é apenas restritivo; é também chave para uma expansão de sentidos da experiência e para a descoberta de dimensões mais profundas de existência. Essa relação complexa com o outro desafia a inteligência a prospectar alternativas mais integrativas quando escolhemos a democracia. Com isso, a imaginação moral é imprescindível para que o homem desvende novos caminhos em situações de crise. Ela permite ao sujeito um deslocamento para variadas posições, viabilizando a empatia efetiva por interesses alheios. Logo, a imaginação moral é vista por Dewey como um ensaio dramático, em que antecipamos mentalmente resultados esperados em diversos cursos de ação. Essa variedade de opções é criada pela imaginação, cuja liberdade em desenhar mundos possíveis deriva de sua capacidade de articular razão e sensibilidade. Para Dewey, a educação fomenta hábitos e valores, ou seja, promove um certo tipo de cultura. Assim, para que se volte a uma ética democrática, precisa cotidianamente trabalhar com práticas e princípios condizentes. Deve formar hábitos flexíveis e alargar a imaginação, para que esta possa se expressar viva e criativamente. Educação, democracia e ética têm como sujeito o homem comum, que pode forjar um caráter para si e, ao mesmo tempo, participar da condução do mundo que habita. Apenas pelo uso de meios democráticos, em que o interesse pessoal e o comum se articulam, pode uma sociedade se tornar democrática: a filosofia da educação de Dewey ressoa em suas muitas proposições a busca ética por essa harmonia. / John Deweys (1859-1952) pedagogical ideas are largely propagated, as part of a vast body of intellectual work dealing with several pressing issues of his time, especially those related to democracy. Assuming that his philosophy of education is best understood when associated to his broadest reflections, the main objective of this research is the analysis of the resonance of John Deweys ethics on his pedagogical ideals, in face of the authors conception of democratic society. Dewey opposes the idea of morality confined in subjectivity; his ethics is social and cultural, since moral exercise emerges in a context that serves as basis for the search of alternatives before conflicts. Impulse, duty, desire, interest, habit and consequence are components of moral deliberation, occasionally confronting each other; it is through the aid of reason and sensibility that they find ways of harmonizing this adjustment is ethics, which becomes effective through the consideration of possibilities for personal and collective growth implied in its decisions. Dewey is concerned in returning ethics to the common man, throughout his daily actions, so that every person can be responsible for himself and for the community. We are made from our actions and, therefore, conduct expresses our character. Hence, the author attributes great importance to habits, understood as fast responses to the demands of practical life; however, intelligence also has its role, interrupting habits when they do not function properly. Because we are not alone ethics is necessary, it is prerequisite to cohabitation. Nonetheless, this social contact cannot be seen as solely restrictive; it is also key to an expansion in the meaning of experience and to the discovery of a deeper understanding of existence. This complex relationship with others challenges intelligence to search for more unifying alternatives, whenever we live in democracy. Thus, moral imagination is necessary for man to find new paths in a crisis situation. It allows us to shift to other perspectives, effectively enabling sympathetic feelings. Accordingly, moral imagination is seen as a dramatic rehearsal, through which we mentally anticipate expected results of multiple courses of action. This variety of options is created by imagination, whose freedom to design possible worlds derives from its ability to articulate sense and sensibility. For Dewey, education fosters habits and values, i.e., it promotes a certain kind of culture. Therefore, in order to be in agreement with democratic ethics, education must work daily with appropriate practices and principles. It must form flexible habits and broaden imagination, in order for it to express itself lively and creatively. The common man is the subject of education, democracy, and ethics. It is he who can forge his own character and, simultaneously, take part in the making of the world in which he lives. Only through the use of democratic means, where personal and common interests are articulated, can society become democratic: Deweys philosophy of education states in many of its propositions this ethical search for harmony.