Business Case Studies & Business Publications

A Note on Moral Imagination

Werhane, Patricia ...

Technical Note

A Note on Moral Imagination

Werhane, Patricia H.

E-0114 | Published January 22, 1997 | 5 pages Technical Note

Collection: Darden School of Business

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Moral theories provide us with reasonable criteria for making moral judgments and evaluating decisions and actions. There is, however, one difficulty with approaching moral reasoning strictly from a "moral-theories" approach: Despite their knowledge of ethical theories, intelligent, reasonable people make moral mistakes. These mistakes cannot be attributed solely to ignorance or insensitivity or even merely to weakness of character, but rather to a paucity of moral imagination. Moral judgments involve a delicate balance of context, evaluation, projection of moral standards, and imagination. The linchpin of this process is a highly developed moral imagination that perceives the nuances of a situation, challenges the framework or scheme in which the event is embedded, and imagines how it might be different.