Biopsychoconceptual determinants of moral equivocation and moral will

This inquiry looks into three related causes of moral uncertainty and errors: biological (information-processing substrates), psychological (needs and motives that are the effects of experience within the family and community), and conceptual (the mistaken values of the community). Moral equivocation may be defined in relation to two universal principles of right: the Dependency Principle, found (but not endorsed) in Plato's Republic, and the Democracy Principle. The Dependency Principle maintains that the empowered are responsible for attending to the needs of dependents, and the Democracy Principle maintains that in ambiguous cases involving the identification and/or weighting of conflicting needs, the individual's right to an independent judgment must be respected. Abiding by these principles requires a moral will. Decades of child development research indicate that, normatively speaking, a moral will is not metaphysically free; it develops through socialization if emotional and rational dimensions of self come to relate coherently.