HOW PSYCHOLOGIES SECRETE MORALITIES

We are concerned with cultural continuities in ''technical'' and ''fol k'' models of psychology, and in the relation of psychological theory to a culture's moral codes. Practical psychologies derive from underly ing metaphysical ontologies of the person. We compare features of a tr aditional Western metaphysics of the person with a metaphysics indigen ous to South Asia, with particular attention to the different conseque nces these have for their respective ''psychologies,'' and from these to their theories of prescriptive morality. We analyze the relationshi ps between metaphysical ontologies, practical psychologies, and moral codes and discuss the potential relevance of these relationships for u nderstanding and evaluating the psychological and moral models of fami liar and unfamiliar cultures.