ABSTRACT
The problems and processes of doing moral research are first discussed so as to bring out the guidelines followed in constructing this working proposal of interactional morality. The importance in research of positing an ideal, cherished form of morality, with clearly stated moral grounds, as distinct from its derivative, enacted forms is argued. Further, the process of research on morality is described as necessarily an inductive search for the prototypic morality of everyday life.
The basic structures of the proposed system are then described, beginning with the moral dialogue, which is thought to be the sine qua non of moral activity. Further discussions of the moral balance and its grounds of equalization, dialogues that do not equalize, moral motivation and emotion, and the self as a moral being give the basic outlines of the system. Because people’s usual methods of problem-solving are probably also employed in resolving moral conflict, a formulation of coping and defending, which is relatively neutral morally, completes the picture. Finally research work in moral development and action is presented in two sections. The worth of common sense as a guide in moral investigation as well as its limitations are underscored as several phenomena that confound common sense is explained within the terms of the interactional theory. This latter exercise is to test the comprehensiveness of the proposal.
