> If philosophical moral reflection tends to promote moral behavior, one might think that professional ethicists would behave morally better than do socially comparable non-ethicists. We examined three types of courteous and discourteous behavior at American Philosophical Association conferences: talking audibly while the speaker is talking (versus remaining silent), allowing the door to slam shut while entering or exiting mid-session (versus attempting to close the door quietly), and leaving behind clutter at the end of a session (versus leaving one's seat tidy).

It seems like there’s a pretty big logical leap conflating “moral behavior” with “courteous behavior”. All of the behaviors measured could indicate someone is absent-minded, lacks social awareness, or is perhaps rude. But they all could just be honest mistakes. Moral (or amoral) behavior, I would think, requires intent.

Sometimes you think a door will slowly close quietly and instead it slams. Such is life. I don’t think it’s fair or honest to use these behaviors as a proxy for morality.