tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post115997686827302262..comments2024-03-18T23:49:35.716-07:00Comments on The Splintered Mind: Do Ethicists Steal More Books?Eric Schwitzgebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541402189204286449noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-624637932447439162008-06-12T07:22:00.000-07:002008-06-12T07:22:00.000-07:00I just discovered this blog and I am amused at the...I just discovered this blog and I am amused at the irony here. An ethicist who never returned ("stole?") the set of Classical Chinese grammar books I once loaned him is posting on a different thread of this bolg about the ethical behavior of ethicists.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-40884475093743939932007-02-10T06:05:00.000-08:002007-02-10T06:05:00.000-08:00But how are other people going to know that that's...But how are other people going to know that that's the ethical thing, if you steal the books that say so? Better to steal chemistry textbooks! ;)Eric Schwitzgebelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11541402189204286449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-73708408044442517292007-02-10T05:36:00.000-08:002007-02-10T05:36:00.000-08:00That's disappointing: I thought the ethical thing ...That's disappointing: I thought the ethical thing to do was to steal ethics books, sell them on Amazon, and donate the proceeds to Oxfam.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-32575374420320766062006-11-24T08:10:00.000-08:002006-11-24T08:10:00.000-08:00Interesting thought! Nozick's Anarchy, State, and...Interesting thought! Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia does tend to go missing at high rates -- but I'm not sure those rates are statistically higher than Rawls's A Theory of Justice....Eric Schwitzgebelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11541402189204286449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-4480564250758068322006-11-21T08:11:00.000-08:002006-11-21T08:11:00.000-08:00I'm not sure if these fit in under the category of...I'm not sure if these fit in under the category of political philosophy/ethics, but I've noticed that books on non-liberal political philosophy tend to go missing from libraries, notably stuff on anarchism. I assume that those who steal books on anarchism on doing so under anarchist principles, but that could be over-assuming. I was trying to find a few texts for a course this term and 4 of the 7 books on anarchism I tried to find were missing, stolen, or not returned.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-1160577366318209082006-10-11T07:36:00.000-07:002006-10-11T07:36:00.000-07:00Thanks!Thanks!Eric Schwitzgebelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11541402189204286449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-1160569562640466402006-10-11T05:26:00.000-07:002006-10-11T05:26:00.000-07:00I just came across this today, which is somewhat r...I just came across this today, which is somewhat relevant, albeit not scholarly...<BR/><BR/>http://www.calendarlive.com/music/cl-et-christian10oct10,0,1519920.story?coll=cl-musicAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-1160496146999258332006-10-10T09:02:00.000-07:002006-10-10T09:02:00.000-07:00Yes, I must do this. Thanks so much for the refer...Yes, I must do this. Thanks so much for the references!Eric Schwitzgebelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11541402189204286449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-1160442260525795022006-10-09T18:04:00.000-07:002006-10-09T18:04:00.000-07:00One relevant study is described here: http://moses...One relevant study is described here: http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html<BR/><BR/>Another relevant study is Batson, C. D. 1983. Sociobiology and the role of religion in promoting prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and<BR/>Social Psychology 45:1380–85.<BR/><BR/>Sometime I'm sure it would be worthwhile to try to get a wider sampling of relevant literature.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-1160405580685036312006-10-09T07:53:00.000-07:002006-10-09T07:53:00.000-07:00Thanks for the comment, Eric! I'm worried about t...Thanks for the comment, Eric! I'm worried about the same thing.<BR/><BR/>I haven't yet looked systematically at the literature on the relationship (or lack of it) between religiosity and moral behavior, but the results you mention don't surprise me. Where have you seen this?Eric Schwitzgebelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11541402189204286449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-1160398302004753572006-10-09T05:51:00.000-07:002006-10-09T05:51:00.000-07:00There has been some research that shows no appreci...There has been some research that shows no appreciable correlation between religiosity and ethical behavior. After seeing how some of my colleagues who teach ethics sometimes behave, I have come to have strong suspicions that something very similar goes on regarding academic ethics. Also, I’ve caught more students cheating in Ethics classes than in any other.<BR/><BR/>I’m not sure what to make of this. One possibility is that people suffer such massive weakness of the will that they often do what they believe to be wrong because they are overwhelmed by temptation. Another possibility is that people are so good at rationalizing their behavior that they manage to make themselves believe what they are doing is not wrong at all.<BR/><BR/>The fallout from this, for me, has been that I have serious doubts regarding how useful classes in Ethics really may turn out to be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-1160136814464540802006-10-06T05:13:00.000-07:002006-10-06T05:13:00.000-07:00Thanks for clarifying, genius. I'd like to accept...Thanks for clarifying, genius. I'd like to accept your view here, genius -- and in fact I think most other views are either empirically dubious or distressingly cynical -- but I'm willing to let the empirical chips fall where they may. Unfortunately, at the same time, as you point out, it could be empirically rather complex, with confounding factors....Eric Schwitzgebelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11541402189204286449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-1160127716634196412006-10-06T02:41:00.000-07:002006-10-06T02:41:00.000-07:00I think a little lower. I think we are SURPRISED b...I think a little lower. <BR/><BR/>I think we are SURPRISED by ethisists not being amazingly moral - but I'd be surprised if they are not at least a little more comunity minded since the economists seem to be a little less so.<BR/>There are probably all sorts of other things at play of course. for example if the book is very complex there may be somthing socio economic in it.Geniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11624496692217466430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-1160058032728540622006-10-05T07:20:00.000-07:002006-10-05T07:20:00.000-07:00Hi, genius! When you say "keeping ahead", do you ...Hi, genius! When you say "keeping ahead", do you mean higher or lower rates of delinquency among ethicists?Eric Schwitzgebelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11541402189204286449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-1160027110952521122006-10-04T22:45:00.000-07:002006-10-04T22:45:00.000-07:00In my experience I'd say there is a very small rel...In my experience I'd say there is a very small relationship between being in a field with more a social approach and being in a more Individual dog eat dog field (not a scientific analysis - just a general impression).<BR/><BR/>Not much of a connection but I think in a big enough sample you will find that 16.1 % keeping ahead of the 17.4% even if not by much.Geniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11624496692217466430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-1159998473477096562006-10-04T14:47:00.000-07:002006-10-04T14:47:00.000-07:00Thanks for your comments, kboughan and anonymous! ...Thanks for your comments, kboughan and anonymous! What you say, kboughan, comports with what I've found many graduate students and junior faculty to say about ethicists -- though I still wonder to what extent it's driven by saliency. The union supporter who opposes the student union may loom larger in our memory and thought than the union supporter who opposes the student union.<BR/><BR/>I'm sympathetic with the concerns you raise, too, anonymous. The matter must be handled carefully. However, most of the books I looked at, including most of the delinquent books, were the kinds of things few undergraduates would read: contemporary research monographs in ethics. In all likelihood, most of the checkouts are by graduate students and professors doing research in ethics -- people I'd be happy enough to call "ethicists" for the purposes of these reflections. Now maybe even if most of the checkouts are by such people, most of the delinquencies are by non-ethicists -- undergrads or non-philosophers or philosophers who don't work in ethics -- but my guess would be that's not the case. In some libraries (such as UCR) you can get a sense of who has a book out by its due date; that might be worth looking at.Eric Schwitzgebelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11541402189204286449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-1159987775837889932006-10-04T11:49:00.000-07:002006-10-04T11:49:00.000-07:00It seems to me that without information pertaining...It seems to me that without information pertaining to <I>who</I> checks out the books, we will be unable to draw any of the conclusions mentioned about Ethicists. What we would be in a better position to infer, and what might be equally interesting, is something like "Do the contents of ethics books influence their borrowers?". (Rates of delinquency similar to the general catalog implying that they do not.) Is it safe to assume that a large enough number of those borrowing ethics books are indeed what one would want to call Ethicists? <BR/>Just some concerns about method. I am not an Ethicist so far as I know.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com