Research Projects
Current Projects
The Value of Admiration
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We admire heroes, saints, and film stars but what is admiration and what role should it play in our lives? Using tools and insights from philosophy and psychology, this project will investigate the nature and value of admiration, when admiration is appropriate and admiration’s role in education and leadership.
Funded by an NWO Veni Grant (€213,000) Full proposal available here. Publications: Books Archer, Alfred and Matheson, Benjamin (2021) Honouring and Admiring the Immoral: An Ethical Guide Routledge. (Open Access) Archer, Alfred and Grahle, Andre (Eds.) (2019) The Moral Psychology of Admiration Lanham MA: Rowman and Littlefield. Special Issue Archer, Alfred and Wildman, Nathan (2019) Emotions in Sports and Games. Special issue of Journal of the Philosophy of Sport Vol.46 (2). Articles Archer, Alfred (2019) Admiration and Motivation Emotion Review Vol.11 No.2 pp.140-150 (Open Access). Archer, Alfred and Matheson, Ben (2019) Shame and the Sports Fan Journal of the Philosophy of Sport Vol. 46 No.2 pp.208-223. Archer, Alfred and Matheson, Ben (2019) Admiration and Education: What Should we do with Immoral Intellectuals? Ethical Perspectives Vol.26(1) pp.5-32 Archer, Alfred; Cawston, Amanda; Matheson, Ben; Geuskens, Machteld (Forthcoming) Celebrity, Democracy, and Epistemic Power Perspectives on Politics Archer, Alfred and Matheson, Ben (2019) When Artists Fall: On Honoring and Admiring the Immoral Journal of the American Philosophical Association Archer, Alfred and Matheson, Ben (2020) Pacific Philosophical Quarterly Vol.101 (4) pp. 669-689. Archer, Alfred and Matheson, Ben (Forthcoming) Commemoration and Emotional Imperialism Journal of Applied Philosophy |
The Moral Psychology of Inequality and Its Impact on Well-Being
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This project subjects to critical scrutiny four attempts to theorize the connection between inequality and well-being. When diagnosing the problems with inequality, prominent political philosophers refer to key emotions such as envy, shame, and anxiety. Yet their specific claims about the impact of inequality on these emotions are rarely subjected to scrutiny from empirical psychology. Our goal is to assess these claims in the light of our best current empirical understanding of their nature and significance. In so doing we will draw together literatures – and researchers – currently artificially divided by disciplinary boundaries. We aim to bridge the gaps between the conceptual and empirical literature on well-being, psychological theorizing of the emotions and philosophical work on (in)equality, respect and status.
Co-Investigators: Professor Alan Thomas (PI) (York), Dr. Bart Engelen (Tilburg). Funded by The Happiness and Well Being Project, St. Louis University ($133,000) |
Identifying Morally Exceptional People
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What is distinctive about moral exemplars? What role can exemplars play in moral education? In this interdisciplinary research project, we will draw on the team’s expertise in moral philosophy and social psychology to investigate how moral exemplars can be identified and what their appropriate role in moral education is.
Co-Investigators: Professor Alan Thomas (York), Dr. Bart Engelen (Tilburg), Dr. Niels van de Ven (Tilburg) Funded by The Moral Beacons Project, Wake Forest University ($74,511) Publications: Archer, Alfred (2017) "Integrity and the Value of an Integrated Self" Journal of Value Inquiry (Open Access) Archer, Alfred (2018) "The Moral Value of Compassion" In Justin Caouette and Carolyn Price (Eds.) The Moral Psychology of Compassion (Rowman and Littlefield) Engelen, Bart; Thomas, Alan; Archer, Alfred and Van de Ven, Niels (2018) "Exemplars and Nudges: Combining Two Strategies for Moral Education" Journal of Moral Education (Open Access) Vol. 47 No.3 pp.346-365. Thomas, Alan; Archer, Alfred and Engelen, Bart (2019) “Lord Jim: How Moral Exemplars Can Ruin Your Life” In Alfred Archer and Andre Grahle (Eds.) The Moral Psychology of Admiration Lanham MA: Rowman and Littlefield). Van de Ven, Niels; Archer, Alfred and Engelen, Bart (2019) "More Important and Surprising Actions of a Moral Exemplar Trigger Stronger Admiration and Inspiration" Journal of Social Psychology |
