Entering the Moral Middle Ground
Who Is Afraid of the Grey Wolf?

Introduces the concept of a moral middle ground to combat the effects of toxic polarization and divisive identity politics.

Hubert J. M. Hermans (Author)

9781009432009, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 March 2024

328 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.3 cm, 0.62 kg

'In a masterful interplay of philosophy, moral psychology, and cultural psychology, Hubert J. M. Hermans unites his work of Dialogical Self Theory to provide a roadmap for conceptualizing the fuzzy nature of goodness. The movement from I-positions to human-positions helps demonstrate the greyness of the false dichotomy of black and white, good and evil. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the dialogical self, moral psychology, and applied psychology.' Kevin Carriere, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Stonehill, USA

Many social and political groups consider each other as enemies rather than opponents with whom one can openly disagree. By introducing the concept of a moral middle ground, this book aims to overcome the perceived separation between good and bad, highlighting the possibility that human actions are permissible, understandable, and even valuable. To elucidate the nature of the moral middle ground and its psychological potentials, the author uses his theoretical framework, Dialogical Self Theory (DST). On the basis of these ideas, he portrays a variety of phenomena, including healthy selfishness, black humor, white lies, hypocrisy and the world views of some historical figures. He then demonstrates how the moral middle ground contributes to the development of a human and ecological identity. As a result, students and researchers in various disciplines, including psychology, literary studies, moral philosophy, political science, history, sociology, theology and cultural anthropology, will benefit from this book.

Introduction
1. Dialogical Self Theory and the process of positioning
2. Embracing bad as good via internalization
3. Rejecting bad via externalization
4. The vitality of the moral middle ground
5. Contradiction as intrinsic to the multiplicity of the self
6. Multi-level identity and the moral middle ground: toward a human and ecological identity.

Subject Areas: Social, group or collective psychology [JMH]