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Editorial

Editorial A&KAnalyse & Kritik 2017; 39(2):195–197EditorialEvaluating Societies Morally?https://doi.org/10.1515/auk-2017-0012There is hardly a greater distance between our everyday attitudes and scientificcaution than in the case of evaluative statements concerning states and their representatives. Even though it is rare that whole cultures are called ‘evil’, judgingstate representatives in moral terms, often negatively, is wide-spread, and not onlyamong the politically involved. In contrast, classical moral ‘theories’ and their advocates in the human sciences are reluctant to apply moral judgements to items‘beyond’ the single individual person and her activities. According to them, morality only arises within the perspective of the individual agent, and to expand moraljudgement beyond this frame is problematical, if at all possible. Whole societiesare not agents—for an agent-bound moral conception they cannot be morally goodor bad. Instead, it is normal practice to judge them according to their welfare level.This, however, does not seem to be an exhaustive view. Morally acceptableconditions in life are an essential part of wellbeing, even if there is widespreaduncertainty or pluralism concerning moral standards. Are the classical Westerncriteria ‘freedom’ and ‘equality’ the decisive ones, manifested in diverse humanrights? Or is it a more substantial set of principles of political and social justice,perhaps even to be applied globally? If http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Analyse & Kritik de Gruyter

Editorial

Analyse & Kritik , Volume 39 (2): 4 – Nov 1, 2017
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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
© 2017 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
ISSN
0171-5860
DOI
10.1515/auk-2017-0012
Publisher site
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Abstract

A&KAnalyse & Kritik 2017; 39(2):195–197EditorialEvaluating Societies Morally?https://doi.org/10.1515/auk-2017-0012There is hardly a greater distance between our everyday attitudes and scientificcaution than in the case of evaluative statements concerning states and their representatives. Even though it is rare that whole cultures are called ‘evil’, judgingstate representatives in moral terms, often negatively, is wide-spread, and not onlyamong the politically involved. In contrast, classical moral ‘theories’ and their advocates in the human sciences are reluctant to apply moral judgements to items‘beyond’ the single individual person and her activities. According to them, morality only arises within the perspective of the individual agent, and to expand moraljudgement beyond this frame is problematical, if at all possible. Whole societiesare not agents—for an agent-bound moral conception they cannot be morally goodor bad. Instead, it is normal practice to judge them according to their welfare level.This, however, does not seem to be an exhaustive view. Morally acceptableconditions in life are an essential part of wellbeing, even if there is widespreaduncertainty or pluralism concerning moral standards. Are the classical Westerncriteria ‘freedom’ and ‘equality’ the decisive ones, manifested in diverse humanrights? Or is it a more substantial set of principles of political and social justice,perhaps even to be applied globally? If

Journal

Analyse & Kritik – de Gruyter

Published: Nov 1, 2017

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