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ETHICS
Philosophy 120Also known as
Religious Studies 120
Professor Marcella Norling
Philosophy 120Also known as
Religious Studies 120
Professor Marcella Norling
The Oxford English Dictionary definition of PHILOSOPHY:
• Use of reason and argument in seeking truth and knowledge of reality, especially knowledge of the causes and nature of things and of the principles governing existence
• Particular system or set of beliefs reached by this
Branches of Philosophy
• Epistemology: What is knowledge?
• Ontology: What is the nature of existence?
• Aesthetics: What is beauty?
• Ethics: What should I do?
Ethics, or moral philosophy, ask basic questions about the good life, about what is better and worse, about whether there
is any objective right and wrong, and about how we know it if there is.
An ethical theory is
• A systematic exposition of a particular view about what is the nature and basis of good or right
An ethical theory provides reasons or norms for judging acts to be right or
wrong and attempts to give a justification
KANTIANISM
You should do your moral duty by following the Categorical Imperative:
• Form 1) Do only that which you would will to be a universal law
• Form 2) Treat all people as ends, never as merely means
NATURAL LAW ETHICS
You should act in accordance with your human nature and with the natural laws of the universe
FEMINIST ETHICS
• Recognize and care for all people as equally human, and attend ethically to the full range of human experience however shaped by gender.
If NO objective truth exists:
• Relativism: Do what your society says is right
• Subjectivism: Do what you think is right
• Emotivism: Do what you feel is right
• Nihilism: Do whatever. Or not. Doesn’t matter.
What is ethical relativism?
• The view that ethical values and beliefs are relative to the various individuals or societies that hold them.
• The view that NO objective right or wrong exists.
Arguments FOR and AGAINST ethical relativism
• Moral Diversity
• Moral Uncertainty
• Situational Differences
Moral Diversity
• FOR ER:• There is no
agreement on basic moral principles
• AGAINST ER:• Disagreement does
not prove there is no truth.
• Some apparent disagreements are factual, not moral
Moral Uncertainty
• FOR ER• We just don’t know
for sure what is right, or if anything is right or wrong
• AGAINST ER• Maybe we just don’t
know YET• We may be unsure if we
can know, but not knowing does not prove we can’t know
• We act as if we believe some things are better than other things
Situational Differences
• FOR ER:• Times and places
are so different, one moral code could not possibly be right for all
• AGAINST ER:• There may be same
underlying values, just expressed differently
• Objective truth may exist without being absolute
Objective is not the same as absolute
• OBJECTIVISM: says truth exists,objectively
• Something may be right, good, true, but exceptions may exist in various contexts
• ABSOLUTISM:• Says rules or
principles have NO EXCEPTIONS
• Context and the particular are not considered
Some attempts to come up with a universal morality:
• Four Directives of the Parliament of the World Religions
• United Religions Initiative
• United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights
• Nuremberg Code
• Geneva Conventions
Declaration of the Parliament of the World’s Religions (1993)Four Irrevocable Directives
1. Commitment to a culture of non-violence and respect for life
2. Commitment to a culture of solidarity and a just economic order
3. Commitment to a culture of tolerance and a life of truthfulness
4. Commitment to a culture of equal rights and partnership between men and women.
Psychological Egoism
• The view that we all act in our own interest all the time
• Descriptive: It is a claim about how people ARE
• NOT an ethical theory, just a possible foundation for a theory
Psychological Egoism
• Is TRUE because:
– We do what we want so our actions are selfish
– Even ‘unselfish’ actions bring us pleasure
– People do what they can get away with
• Is NOT True because:
– We sometimes act out of a sense of obligation
– Our own pleasure may be a by-product of unselfish actions, not a motivation
ETHICAL EGOISM
• An ethical theory which claims that we all SHOULD act in our own interest
• NORMATIVE, makes a claim about how humans SHOULD act
Arguments for Ethical Egoism
• Psychological egoism is true; we all are selfish, therefore we all should act selfishly
• Since everyone else will be selfish you should be too or you will lose out
• Everyone will be better off if we each look after our own interests
Arguments against Ethical Egoism
• Psychological egoism is untrue
• If PE is true, it is superfluous (unnecessary) to tell us to act selfishly if we all do anyway
• Cannot get “Ought” from “Is” (if something IS a certain way, does not prove it SHOULD be that way)
Arguments against Ethical Egoism (cont.)
• We seem inhuman if we truly do not care about others; we ought not hurt them even in self interest
• It is inconsistent and contradictory for me to will you to act in your interest when it may not be in my interest that you do so
Famous Egoist: Thomas Hobbes
• Published “Leviathan” in 1651
• Without strong central government, Hobbes says we will be in a “war of all against all”
• Life in time of war is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”
Famous Egoist: Adam Smith
• Published “Wealth of Nations” in 1776
• Intellectual foundation of capitalism
• Claims everyone will be better off if we each act in our own interest
• “Invisible hand” of free market keeps balance
Famous Egoist: Ayn Rand
• Author, screenwriter • Emigrated to US
from USSR in 1926• Promoted egoism
which she called “objectivism”, or ‘rational self-interest’
• Wrote “The Virtue of Selfishness”
Hobbes’ LEVIATHANCh XIII Of the Natural Condition of Mankind Concerning
their Felicity and Misery
• Nature hath made man so equal in the faculties of the body and the mind…the weakest has strength to kill the strongest…by secret machination or by confederacy with others.
• As to the faculties of the mind…I find yet a greater equality among men, for such is the nature of men…they will hardly believe there be any so wise as themselves.
• From this equality of ability arises equality of hope in the attaining of our ends.
Hobbes’ LEVIATHANCh XIII Of the Natural Condition of Mankind Concerning
their Felicity and Misery
• Hereby it is manifest that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war, and such a war is of every man against every man.
• In such condition, there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain…no commodious building…no arts; no letters; no society; continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.
Hobbes’ LEVIATHANCh XIV Of the First and Second Natural Laws, and of
Contracts
• The Right of Nature is the liberty each man has to use his own power…for the preservation of his own…life.
• For as long as every man holds this right of doing anything he likes, so long all men are in the condition of war.
• Right is laid aside, either by simply renouncing it or transferring it…
• The mutual transferring of right is that which men call CONTRACT.
Hobbes’ LEVIATHAN CH XV Of the Other Laws of Nature
• But when a covenant is made, to break it is unjust: and the definition of INJUSTICE is no other than the non-performance of the covenant.
Hobbes’ LEVIATHANPart II: Of Commonwealth
Ch XVII Of the Causes, Generation, and Definition of a Commonwealth
• …covenants without swords are but words…• …the laws of nature… are contrary to our
natural passions…• The only way to erect…a common power…is
to confer all their power and strength upon one man or upon one assembly of men…
Jeremy Bentham
• Godfather to JS Mill• Promoted utilitarian
ideas• Created the Hedonic
Calculus to measure pleasure
Bentham’s Hedonic Calculus
• The Hedonic Calculus is an instrument for measuring the amount of pleasure to be created by a particular act
• Intensity• Duration (length of time)
• Certainty (likelihood)
• Propinquity (proximity, nearness in space/time)
• Fecundity (fertility, ability to increase upon itself)
• Purity (pleasure minus the amount of pain )
• Extent (effects overall)
John Stuart Mill
• ‘Utilitarianism” 1861• Godson of Jeremy
Bentham• Raised on principle
of utility by Bentham and Mill Sr.
• Improved upon Bentham’s ideas on utility
• MILL said there are
HIGHER and LOWER pleasures.
Humans can appreciate higher pleasures; pigs cannot.
• ACT Utilitarianism: Consider the consequences of this act alone
• RULE Utilitarianism: Consider the consequences of this act as a general practice (if most people did it most of the time)
Kant’s Categorical ImperativeForm One
I. I am never to act otherwise than so that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law
(Modern version: Do only that which you would will to be a universal law)
Kant’s Categorical Imperative
Form Two
II. So act as to treat humanity, whether in thine own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end withal, never as a means only
(Modern version: Treat all people, yourself included, as an end, never as merely a means)
Nothing can possibly be conceived in the world, or even out of it, which can be called good without qualification, except a Good Will.
Even if it should.... lack power to accomplish its purpose... like a jewel, it would still shine by its own by its own light, as a thing which has whole value in itself
• Kant’s four examples of how to apply the Categorical Imperative:
1.Suicide
2. Lying Promise
3. Rusting Talents
4. Aid the Needy
• How to become virtuous, according to Aristotle:
• 1. Practice habits of virtueIntellectual virtues: can learn from a teacher
-Moral virtues: can only learn through experience and habit
2. Aim for the Golden Mean
The Golden Mean is the midpoint between extremes, between deficiency and excess
• An example of the midpoint is the virtue of courage:
• Too little=cowardly
• Courage= just enough (the mean)
• Too much=foolhardy
• 3. Strive for excellence (arete)
• Develop your character to be the best it can be
• The word “natural” can mean
• The Norm: characteristic of most members of a species
• Right purpose: Using something as intended, for its intended purpose
• Occurring in nature: not created artificially, happens on its own without human intervention
• Sociobiology:
Systematic study of the biological basis of all forms of societal behavior in all species
• St. Thomas Aquinas accomplished the GREAT SYNTHESIS
• Combining Aristotle with Christianity to produce a religiously based concept of the ordered universe with natural laws operating in it
Natural Law? Used and abused:
Social Darwinism: Applies biological principles to societal constructs; survival of the fittest; justified exploitation of workers by industrialists
Racism: Presumes biological inferiority of some groups; used to justify slavery, legal inequality, limit access to goods
Sexism: Woman and men “naturally” have different roles; used to justify unequal legal, educational, and economic rights
IF men and women reason differently about morality, WHY
might that be?• Explanations for a difference MIGHT
include:
• BIOLOGY
• SOCIAL TRAINING
• PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
BIOLOGICAL INFLUENCES
• Brain structure
• Hormones
• Physical strength/ body and muscle mass
• Being able to get pregnant
• Giving birth
SOCIAL/CULTURAL INFLUENCE
• Socialization from birth
• Education
• Expectations (vocational, familial)
• Role training as caregivers
PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
• Freud
• Male life task: differentiate from feminine, develop autonomy
• Female life task: seek similarity to, and relationship with, feminine
Traditional Ethical Perspectives
• FEMININE:• Responsibility• Relationship• Solidarity• Personal• Partial• Private• Natural• Feeling• Compassionate• Concrete
• MASCULINE:• Rights• Individual• Autonomy• Impersonal• Impartial• Public• Contractual• Reason• Fair• Universal
Traditional justice theories of Ethics see people as:
• Detached (digital, isolated units)
• Self-sufficient
• Equal in social power
• Calculators and planners
Traditional idea of rationality :
• Leaves out a lot
• Exaggerates the role of reason
• Is a highly abstract idealization