Integrity and Supererogation in Ethical Communities Essay -- Sociology

Integrity and Supererogation in Ethical CommunitiesABSTRACT This paper explores the connection between supererogation and the integrity of ethical agents. It argues two theses (1) in that respect is a generally unrecognized but crucial social dimension to the moral integrity of individuals which challenges individual ideals and encourages supererogation (2) the social dimension of integrity, however, must have limits that preserve the individualss integrity. The concept of integrity is explored through recent works by Christine Korsgaard, Charles Taylor, and Susan Babbitt. A life of integrity is in part a life whereby one lives up to ones own deeply held values. Yet, as one seeks to transcend the realm of the morally customary or the dutiful, one must check ones progress not only(prenominal) against ones own ideals but against the ideals and behavior of the ethical community. To answer affirmatively to ones own ideals is to hear the call of integrity both from within oneself and f rom without. However, by being free to hear, the freedom to close ones ears inevitably will arise. Only actions displaying such freedom can be actions of moral integrity. Since supererogatory actions are always left to an agents discretion-that is, are richly optional-they show in paradigmatic fashion the integrity of moral agents. While an ethic of integrity and supererogation provides challenges to members of an ethical community by encouraging them continually to value their actions and character in reference to postulated ideals, it also leads us to be quite wary of judging individuals moral motives from the outside. A passage by Jonathan Kozol is cited that suggests our society routinely demands supererogatory action from its poorest members. This i... ...lly published 1958.Murphy, Liam B. 1993. The Demands of Beneficence. Philosophy and Public Affairs 22 (4) 269-292.Nagel, Thomas. 1986. The View from Nowhere. New York Oxford University Press.Putnam, Robert. 1993a. Making D emocracy Work Civic Traditions in modern Italy. Princeton Princeton University Press.Putnam, Robert D. 1993b. The Prosperous Community Social Capital and Public Life. American Prospect 13 35-42.Putnam, Robert D. 1995. Bowling Alone Americas Declining Social Capital. Journal of Democracy 6 (1) 65-78.Singer, Peter. 1986. Famine, Affluence, and Morality. In Introduction to Philosophy Classical and Contemporary Readings, ed. John Perry and Michael Bratman 573-580. New York Oxford University Press. Originally published 1972.Taylor, Charles. 1992. The Ethics of Authenticity. Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press.