Moral Point of View1

8/8/2019 Moral Point of View1

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1/30/2006 Lawrence M. Hinman

Why Study Ethics?

n Moral concerns are unavoidable in

life.

n Analogy: morality is a lot likenutrition.

Principal concern: health

The role of experts

Disagreement


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Ethics as an Ongoing

Conversation

n Professional discussions of ethical

issues in journals.

n We come back to ideas again and

again, finding new meaning in them.


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Ethics and Morality

n Morality: first-order set of beliefs and

practices about how to live a good

lifen Ethics: a second-order, conscious

reflection on the adequacy of our

moral beliefs.


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Moral Health

n The goal of ethical reflection is moral

health.

n Thus we seek to determine what willnourish our moral life and what will

poison it.


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Ethical Inventory

n Take the ethical inventory on pp. 8-10

now or on the web at:

http://ethics.sandiego.edu/ActiveWebSurvey/theory/ .

n Return to your answers after

finishing each chapter.
http://ethics.sandiego.edu/ActiveWebSurvey/theory/


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The Moral Point of View

n What makes something a moral

issue?

Content:

duties, rights, human welfare, suffering,

character, etc.

Perspective:

impartial, compassionate, etc.


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Example: Cheating

Imagine a situation in which you see aclassmate cheating. There are severalelements from a moral point of view: Some people are hurt by the cheating

There is deception in the situation

Cheating seems to be unfair to those whodont cheat

There are conflicting valueshonesty, loyalty,

etc. There are questions of character.


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The Language of Moral Concerns

n Some philosophers have argued that

moral issues are characterized by a

particular kind of languageterms

such as duty, obligation, right, and

good.


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Impartiality

Many philosophers have argued that

the moral point of view is

characterized by impartiality, that is, Idont give my own interest any

special weight.

Immanuel Kant

John Stuart Mill


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Compassion

n Other philosophers have seen the

origin of the moral life to be in

compassion, feeling for the sufferingof other sentient beings.

n Josiah Royce: Such as that is for

me, so is it for him, nothing less.


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Universally Binding

n Moral obligations, somephilosophers maintain, areuniversally binding and that is what

gives them their distinctivecharacter.

n Kant: morality is a matter of

categorical imperatives.

Distinguish between hypothetical andcategorical imperatives.


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Concern for Character

n Philosophers from Aristotle onward

have seen the primary focus of

morality to be character.n Two questions:

What ought I to do? (Kant and Mill)

What kind of person ought I to be?(Aristotle)


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The Focus of Ethics

n Ethics as the Evaluation of Other

Peoples Behavior

We are often eager to pass judgment onothers

n Ethics as the Search for Meaning and

Value in Our Own Lives


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Ethics as the Evaluation of Other

Peoples Behavior

n Ethics often used as a weapon

n Hypocrisy

n Possibility of knowing other people

n The right to judge other people

n The right to intervenen Judging and caring


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What to Expect from a Moral

Theory

Functions of theory:

n Describe

n Explain

n Give strength (Stockdale)

n Prescribe

Open new possibilities

Wonder


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What to Expect from a Moral

Theory, 2

What is ethics like?

n Physics

Clear-cut, definitive answers

n Engineering

Several possible ways of doing things,

many ways that are wrong


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The Point of Ethical Reflection

n Ethics as the evaluation of other peoplesbehavior Sources of mistrust about moral judgments

Hypocrisy

Knowing other people

The right to judge

Judging and intervention

Judging and caring

n Ethics as the search for the meaning ofour own lives


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Conclusion:

Ethics & Good Health

n Ethics is like nutrition

One studies bodily health, the other

moral health Significant disagreement in both fields

Still there is a significant common

ground.

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Moral Point of View1