Listening to People: Using Social Psychology to Spotlight an Overlooked Virtue

Notess, Susan E

Abstract

I offer a novel interdisciplinary approach to understanding the communicative task of listening, which is under-theorised compared to its more conspicuous counterpart, speech. By correlating a Rylean view of mental actions with a virtue ethical framework, I show listeners’ internal activity as a morally relevant feature of how they treat people. The listener employs a policy of responsiveness in managing the extent to which they allow a speaker's voice to be centred within their more effortful, engaged attention. A just listener's policy of responsiveness avoids unwarrantedly dismissing speakers’ messages on the basis of peripheral attention alone.

Citation

Notess, S. E. (2019). Listening to People: Using Social Psychology to Spotlight an Overlooked Virtue. Philosophy, 94(4), 621 - 643. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031819118000529

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jul 18, 2019
• Publication Date: 2019-10
• Deposit Date: Aug 2, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 2, 2019
• Journal: Philosophy
• Print ISSN: 0031-8191
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-817X
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 94
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 621 - 643
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031819118000529
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1296867