The Measurement of Psychological Quality in the Fourteenth Century and Today

Simon Kemp

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Chapter 9 The Measurement of Psychological Quality in the Fourteenth Century and Today

In: Calculating Ethics in the Fourteenth Century

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Simon Kemp

Simon Kemp
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 310–331

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004696495_010

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Abstract

Fourteenth-century thinkers were interested in the measurement of psychological qualities, but their approach differed from the present-day one. For example, present-day psychologists measure the seriousness of crimes and agreeableness, qualities that are related to the seriousness of vice or sin and loving kindness (caritas), which concerned medieval theologians. The seriousness of crimes is often measured today using the method of magnitude estimation (making judgements such as “this crime is twice as bad as that one”). The seriousness judgements can then be compared with the prescribed punishments. Agreeableness is usually measured with a scale that adds up each individual’s responses to different items.

The mathematics for doing such measurement was available in the fourteenth century, but it does not appear to have been used in practice. I propose three possible reasons for this. First, it might not have occurred to the medieval calculators to do this. Second, they may have thought the methods methodologically suspect. The responses to magnitude estimation are often variable; adding up different items to make up a scale makes questionable mathematical assumptions. Third, the modern methods did not produce the types of scales the medieval thinkers would have regarded as particularly useful. In particular, they are not ideal for assessing small changes in people’s behavior.

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Calculating Ethics in the Fourteenth Century

Series: Investigating Medieval Philosophy, Volume: 22

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004696495

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 17 Jun 2023

Subjects
- History
  - Medieval History
  - Intellectual History
- Philosophy
  - Medieval Philosophy
  - Ethics & Moral Philosophy

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Chapter 9 The Measurement of Psychological Quality in the Fourteenth Century and Today

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Calculating Ethics in the Fourteenth Century

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