Citation

Kavolis V. Sociol. Relig. 1977; 38(4): 331-344.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1977, Association for the Sociology of Religion)

DOI

10.2307/3710117

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The most comprehensive concept for analyzing major sociocultural alternatives that have actually existed in particular spheres of social life is the sphere-of-life culture. While political cultures have been widely studied, sociologists have not given much attention to the comparative study of moral cultures. A moral culture is a particular constellation of ideas and feelings pertaining to the basic responsibilities and limitations of human beings. Moral logics are guidelines for acting with regard to the right-wrong distinction -- deriving obligations, justifying claims, making decisions in cases where right and wrong are not clear, and evaluating the goodness or culpability of actual behavior. The basic structures of several kinds of "traditional" and "modern" moral cultures and moral logics -- primarily Chinese, Indian, and Western -- are analyzed. The systems of moralization on which particular types of moral cultures tend to rely are described.