CZ:Featured article/Current: Difference between revisions

From Citizendium
Jump to navigation Jump to search
imported>Chunbum Park
(→‎Thylakoid: Oxytocin)
imported>Chunbum Park
(→‎Oxytocin: Moral responsibility)
Line 1: Line 1:
== '''[[Oxytocin]]''' ==
== '''[[Moral responsibility]]''' ==
----
----
'''Oxytocin''' (Greek: "quick birth") is a [[mammal]]ian [[hormone]] that is secreted into the bloodstream from the [[posterior pituitary]] gland, and that is also released into the [[brain]], where it has effects on social behaviors. In pregnant women, it is secreted into the blood during labor in response to distention of the [[cervix]] and it stimulates contractions of the [[uterus]] to facilitate [[childbirth|birth]]. During [[lactation]], oxytocin is secreted in response to stimulation of the [[nipple]]s by the sucking of the infant, and it stimulates milk let-down in the [[mammary gland]]. Oxytocin is also secreted during [[orgasm]] in both sexes; in men it facilitates movement of [[sperm]]. In the brain, it is involved in social recognition, bonding, sexual arousal, reproductive behaviors and appetite regulation, and might be involved in the formation of trust between people. In some species, including rats, oxytocin also promotes sodium excretion ([[natriuresis]]) and inhibits [[sodium appetite]].<ref>Lee HJ ''et al.'' (2009) Oxytocin: the great facilitator of life.
'''Moral responsibility''' is an assignment of a duty or obligation to behave in a 'good' manner and refrain from behaving in a 'bad' manner. From a philosophical standpoint, the rationale behind 'good' and 'bad' is a subject for [[ethics]]<ref name=Shoemaker/> and [[metaethics]].<ref name=SayreMcCord/> Stent provides four conditions for assigning moral responsibility, among them the "duties and obligations devolving from moral, legal, or ritual imperatives".<ref name=Stent/> In everyday life, obligation in this context is distinguished in part from milder demands for conformity like etiquette by the intense and insistent social pressure brought to bear upon those who deviate or threaten to deviate.<ref name=Hart0/> From an anthropological or sociological standpoint, the specifics of what is 'good' or 'bad', and the ways of enforcing acceptable behavior, vary considerably from one group to another.<ref name=Kleinman/>  
''Prog Neurobiol'' 88:127-51. Review. PMID 19482229</ref><ref>Neumann ID (2008) Brain oxytocin: a key regulator of emotional and social behaviours in both females and males ''J Neuroendocrinol'' 20:858-65. Review.
:"Social learning theorists...feel that the learning of moral rules is not culturally invariant, but is, rather, critically related to particular learning environments and to the distinctive normative code of the society in question. The major influences on moral development are what B.F. Skinner calls "contingencies of reinforcement"...culturally variable factors that explain why different peoples acquire different types of moral orientations."
PMID 18601710</ref><ref>Arthur P ''et al.'' (2007) Oxytocin and parturition: a role for increased myometrial calcium and calcium sensitization? ''Front Biosci''  12:619-33. Review. PMID 17127323</ref>
<ref>Caldwell HK, Young WS III (2006) Oxytocin and vasopressin: genetics and behavioral implications. In Lim R. (ed.) ''Handbook of Neurochemistry and Molecular Neurobiology'' 3rd edition, Springer, New York, pp. 573-607. [http://refworks.springer.com/mrw/fileadmin/pdf/Neurochemistry/0387303480C25.PDF 320kb PDF]</ref>


''[[Oxytocin|.... (read more)]]''
'Moral responsibility' is part of the interplay between the individual and their society, and study of this relationship is both a scientific and a philosophical investigation.<ref name=Kendler/><ref name=Morgan/>
:"The study of ethics is concerned not only with identification of societal values but with thinking logically about ethical challenges and developing practical approaches to moral problem solving. Other disciplines also are concerned with discovering society's moral precepts. For example, sociology and anthropology each study cultural norms."<ref name=Carper/>
 
A large part of the philosophical discussion of 'moral responsibility' is focused upon the logical implications (as distinct from the ascertainable facts, such as they may be) of whether or not humans actually are able to control their actions to some or another extent.<ref name=Vargas/><ref name=Cane0/> Resolution of that issue is the philosophical subject of [[free will]], a continuing debate that began millennia ago and seems destined to continue indefinitely. It is known that humans' control over their actions is limited in some circumstances, and there is debate over the role of moral responsibility where there is only curtailed agency.
 
''[[Moral responsibility|.... (read more)]]''


{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width: 90%; float: center; margin: 0.5em 1em 0.8em 0px;"
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width: 90%; float: center; margin: 0.5em 1em 0.8em 0px;"
|-
|-
! style="text-align: center;" | &nbsp;[[Oxytocin#References|notes]]
! style="text-align: center;" | &nbsp;[[Moral responsibility#References|notes]]
|-
|-
|
|
{{reflist|2}}
{{reflist|2}}
|}
|}

Revision as of 19:12, 5 March 2014

Moral responsibility


Moral responsibility is an assignment of a duty or obligation to behave in a 'good' manner and refrain from behaving in a 'bad' manner. From a philosophical standpoint, the rationale behind 'good' and 'bad' is a subject for ethics[1] and metaethics.[2] Stent provides four conditions for assigning moral responsibility, among them the "duties and obligations devolving from moral, legal, or ritual imperatives".[3] In everyday life, obligation in this context is distinguished in part from milder demands for conformity like etiquette by the intense and insistent social pressure brought to bear upon those who deviate or threaten to deviate.[4] From an anthropological or sociological standpoint, the specifics of what is 'good' or 'bad', and the ways of enforcing acceptable behavior, vary considerably from one group to another.[5]

"Social learning theorists...feel that the learning of moral rules is not culturally invariant, but is, rather, critically related to particular learning environments and to the distinctive normative code of the society in question. The major influences on moral development are what B.F. Skinner calls "contingencies of reinforcement"...culturally variable factors that explain why different peoples acquire different types of moral orientations."

'Moral responsibility' is part of the interplay between the individual and their society, and study of this relationship is both a scientific and a philosophical investigation.[6][7]

"The study of ethics is concerned not only with identification of societal values but with thinking logically about ethical challenges and developing practical approaches to moral problem solving. Other disciplines also are concerned with discovering society's moral precepts. For example, sociology and anthropology each study cultural norms."[8]

A large part of the philosophical discussion of 'moral responsibility' is focused upon the logical implications (as distinct from the ascertainable facts, such as they may be) of whether or not humans actually are able to control their actions to some or another extent.[9][10] Resolution of that issue is the philosophical subject of free will, a continuing debate that began millennia ago and seems destined to continue indefinitely. It is known that humans' control over their actions is limited in some circumstances, and there is debate over the role of moral responsibility where there is only curtailed agency.

.... (read more)