Character Trouble : Undisciplined Essays on Moral Agency and Personality

John M. Doris has been a leading proponent of interdisciplinary approaches to moral psychology since their rise to prominence in the 1990's. His work has helped foster a methodological reorientation in the field, and has had a transformative effect on the way philosophers approach questions of character, virtue, and agency. This volume collects a selection of Doris' work spanning 20 years, focusing on the ways in which human personality orders (and fails to order) moral cognition and behaviour. It also presents two new chapters, which together form an in-depth assessment of recent developments in the moral psychology of character, as well as a closing commentary outlining methodological recommendations for those aspiring to do empirically responsible moral psychology. Together, these works present a distinctive vision of moral psychology which will engage both philosophers and psychologists. Cover Character Trouble: Undisciplined Essays on Moral Agency and Personality Copyright Dedication Contents Preface 1: Persons, Situations, and Virtue Ethics Characterological Psychology, Empirical Inadequacy Empirical Inadequacy and Ethical Revisionism Character and Deliberation 2: Evidence and Sensibility Précis of Lack of Character Replies After Psychology: Virtue Ethics, the Empirical Turn, and Where It Might Lead Empirical Adequacy and Empirical Content The Depths of Character The Grammar of Character: I, Thou, and It 3: Out of Character: On the Psychology of Excusesin the Criminal Law Preliminaries Character Theory The Character in Character Theory Unsettled Characters The Epistemological Problem Conclusion 4: Variantism about Responsibility Introduction: Method and Stalemate The Animating Tension: Two Dogmas of Responsibility Conservativism and Stalemate: A Tale of Two Strawsons In Search of Folk Morality (1): Natural Incompatibilism—Or Not In Search of Folk Morality (2): Variantism In Search of Folk Morality (3): Normative Variations The Side Effect Asymmetry The Overwhelming Emotion Asymmetry The Unrealized Intention Asymmetry The Negligence Asymmetry In Search of Folk Invariantism: Explaining (Away) Variation Conclusion: The Dogmas Revisited 5: From My Lai to Abu Ghraib: The Moral Psychology of Atrocity The Argument for Non-responsibility Moral Responsibility: Exemptions and Excuses Bad Apples: Pathologizing Atrocity The Social Psychology of Moral Functioning The Experience of War (1): On the Battlefield The Experience of War (2): Martial Culture and Politics Normative Competence and Obedience to Orders Applying the Argument: My Lai Extending the Argument: Abu Ghraib Responding to Atrocity: Exculpation and Strict Liability 6: Heated Agreement: Lack of Character as Being for the Good 7: Doing Without (Arguing about) Desert 8: No Excuses: Performance Mistakes in Morality Introduction Performance Mistakes Normative Competences Helping Behavior Death by Hyperthermia Conclusion 9: Précis of Talking to Our Selves: Reflection, Ignorance, and Agency Preliminaries Skepticism Reflectivism Experience Values Ignorance Collaboration Rationalization Skepticism (Again) Selves 10: Making Good: Virtues, Skills, and Performance Science Preliminaries The Chess Analogy Practice Talent Fitness Personality Intelligence Arcana Gender The Lotta-LittlePrinciple Moral Practice Study Emotional Labor Literature Culture The Linguistic Analogy Moral Instruction Parents Schools Early Childhood Interventions Peers Moral Excellence and Cultural Competence Moral Talent Fitness Intelligence Moral Skill in Fragments Conclusion 11: The Future of Character Introduction: Character Trouble Character in the History of “Analytic” Philosophy Rereading the Classic Studies What the Debate Is Not, and Is, About Making Sense of Effect Sizes Values, Emotions, and Traits Theory and Revision Moral Rules and Normative Pluralism APPENDIX: An Open Letter to Our Students: Doing Interdisciplinary Moral Psychology References Acknowledgments Sources of the Essays Index John M. Doris has been a leading proponent of interdisciplinary approaches to moral psychology for decades. His work has transformed the way in which philosophers approach questions of character, virtue, and agency. This selection of his work focuses on the ways in which human personality orders (or fails to order) moral cognition and behaviour.