In this paper, I argue that it is quite useful, both theoretically and empirically, to adopt a sociocultural approach to the study of moral development. This entails viewing ‘moral functioning’ as a form of mediated action, and moral development as the process by which persons gradually appropriate a variety of ‘moral mediational means’. Mediated action entails two central elements: an ‘agent’,...

It is well known that disabilities of the mind are often found together with motor defects. The latter show sometimes in the lack ?f skill in the use of the hands or the fingers, sometimes in some clumsiness in movements of the legs or feet. Amongst the educationally subnormal, we can at first sight distinguish two main groups. There are those children who are ?ften considered as maladjusted, w...

The writer explores Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, where Smith presents a rich and provocative account of morality. The writer offers an explication of Smith's moral psychology as a stage theory of moral development, with the intention of generating critical points on both mattes of detail and larger implications.

this article explores the forms of moral repair that the wrongdoer has to perform in an attempt to make amends for her past wrongdoing, with a focus on the issues of interpersonal moral repair; that is, what a wrongdoer can do to merit her victim‘s forgiveness and achieve reconciliation with her community. the article argues against the very general demands of atonement that amount to an obliga...

Today’s robots are used mainly as advanced tools and do not have any capability of taking moral responsibility. However, autonomous, learning intelligent systems are developing rapidly, resulting in a new division of tasks between humans and robots. The biggest worry about autonomous intelligent systems seems to be the fear of human loss of control and robots running amok. We argue that for all...

In his famous 1950 paper where he presents what became the benchmark for success in artificial intelligence, Turing notes that "at the end of the century the use of words and general educated opinion will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted" (Turing 1950, 442). Kurzweil (1990) suggests that Turing's prediction was correct...

In this chapter, the authors present an intention-based decision-making system. They exhibit a coherent combination of two Logic Programming-based implemented systems, Evolution Prospection and Intention Recognition. The Evolution Prospection system has proven to be a powerful system for decision-making, designing, and implementing several kinds of preferences and useful environment-triggering ...