Comments for AME Op Ed

Comment on Racial Integration is a Civic Imperative by Lawrence Blum by Grace Mcdowall

Grace Mcdowall — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:39:32 +0000

Thanks for the fun blog. Keep it up!

Comment on Navigating the Semantic Minefield of Promoting Moral Development by Marvin W. Berkowitz by Cheryl Armon

Cheryl Armon — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:03:22 +0000

Marvin,
I was unaware that such pieces were being e-published on the AME website. I recall our unanimous AME Board vote sometime between 1988 and 1990 that the AME president would attempt to publish in major newspapers at least one op-ed per year taking a position on a current social issue. I don’t think that ever happened. I want to re-read your piece again on paper, but I can say now that I completely agree with you that what many of us were and are so passionate about has remained somewhere in the caves of the ivory tower, and has not grown and developed the way I naively thought it would when I was one Kohlberg’s last grad students. One thing that really bothers me, and might address part of your concern, is that I have not found one “popular” book, that is, a book written for a curious, interested, educated audience–those NOT in moral development, dev psych. or any of the related fields you mentioned–on moral development as well know it. I don’t understand this at all. Any decent writer in AME could do this. Why hasn’t this happened, or have I missed titles on the NYT non-fiction best seller’s list? Of course, the same can be said of cognitive development. I decided to try something like this. I am attempting to write such a book on developmental conceptions of the good life, my own research area. It has been really challenging. I have been working on it off and on for years, but I am finally making progress. Meanwhile, I think such a book on moral development is much more important. There are hundreds of books on values and character, most of which are not (yet) supported by empirical research. Why do you think this hasn’t happened? And what do you think of the idea?

Comment on Racial Integration is a Civic Imperative by Lawrence Blum by Stacey Shub

Stacey Shub — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 08:58:39 +0000

I’m impressed, I must say. Really rarely do I encounter a blog that’s both educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. Your idea is outstanding; the issue is something that not enough people are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy that I stumbled across this in my search for something relating to this.

Comment on Navigating the Semantic Minefield of Promoting Moral Development by Marvin W. Berkowitz by Jay Brandenberger

Jay Brandenberger — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 19:49:34 +0000

Important essay Marvin. I especially like the last sentence.

The key point, as you suggest, is that in such an important domain, we too often take sides quickly out of a need to preserve what we have ‘constructed’ over a life of moral meaning making. We need to understand more fully what types of language and semantic triggers keep us from communicating deeply and creating common ground for moral/character education.

Comment on Racial Integration is a Civic Imperative by Lawrence Blum by Susana Frisancho

Susana Frisancho — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:26:55 +0000

Very important topic! As I always say to Larry, for us Latinamericans the term “race” is not used as he does. For me, it sounds weird because it is very problematic to make acute racial distinctions, and people still argue if the different races are a continuous fenomena (different variations ina continium) or a discret one (races as separate entities).The references I know about the topic are not clear… Generally speaking, I think that the term race is used to point out the fenotype, and etnicity is used for cultural aspects. In Peru,I believe, the lack of integration has more to do with economic and cultural issues than with race.