Ethics and activism : the theory and practice of political morality /

Gross engages in a rich application of theoretical principles to empirical data. The traditional strong version of political morality relies heavily on cognitive development psychology, grounded in moral development and culminating in the attainment of universal moral reasoning. But because this cognitive capacity eludes a great many citizens, it is an uncertain basis for efforts dedicated to successful ethical and social activism. The latter is more likely to rely on the weak political morality of small groups, rational incentives, and well-developed social and organizational infrastructures. Gross melds the psychologies of cognitive development and collective action into an integrated research model and then applies this model to the rescue of Jews in wartime France and Holland, to pro-life and pro-choice abortion activism in the US, and to the Gush Emunium and Peace Now movements in Israel. He finds in all cases that the most politically competent citizens are often the least morally competent individuals. Democratic education might thus best focus on the development of a more limited social altruism relative to well-defined interest groups, not on the encouragement of principled moral reasoning. Upper-division undergraduates and above. E. R. Gill Bradley University