Moral imagination

Werhane, Patricia H. 1999. Moral Imagination and Management Decision-Making. New York Oxford University Press. 

Training Engineers in Moral Imagination for Global Contexts... 

Keywords Moral imagination Engineering ethics Global ethics Teaching ethics... 

Both Johnson and Werhane tie their treatments of moral imagination closely to Kant, especially his division of imagination into the reproductive, productive, and free reflection functions (Werhane 1999, pp. 96-107 and Johnson 1986, pp. 139-172). But they also incorporate recent findings from moral psychology, cognitive science, and systems theory. 

Esther s reasons pose challenges that can be addressed by moral imagination. Thus, engineers who would address their efforts toward helping those in developing nations should be mindful of the following ... 

Esther s criteria highlight the problem for which moral imagination provides the solution. Moral imagination will help engineers adapt to complex global circumstances. Moreover, it brings into relief the pitfalls of a well-intentioned telescopic philanthropy. To teach it, one must target three skill sets ... 

Dramatic Rehearsals. Moral imagination can also create a space in deliberation between an impulse or action plan and its execution in the real world. Dewey shows how this imaginative space facilitates dramatic rehearsals that test alternatives before committing them to action in the real world. Here is how he describes dramatic rehearsal in Theory of the Moral Life ... 

Johnson treats Winter s notion of transperspectivity as an essential component of moral imagination (Johnson 1994, p. 241). 

Moral imagination also contributes to teaching moral expertise in engineering. Huff, in a study of moral expertise in the computing field, has identified two modes of moral expertise, craftspersons and reformers. Craftspersons tended to... 

Globally-Focused Craftspersons preserve values, provide services, and strive to bring about ethically sound results at the global level. Moral imagination is crucial because it provides ethical engineers with effective means for overcoming the pitfalls of telescopic philanthropy and clues engineers into the salient particulars of remote communities. 

While there is no question that the OLPC initiative is well-intentioned and backed by excellent engineering, there is a case to be made here that more strenuous efforts at exercising moral imagination could have anticipated and deflated many of the concerns outlined above. 

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