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VALUES AND THE GOOD LIFE
The good, the right, & the Virtuous
WHAT ARE YOUR VALUES?WHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES?
Accomplishmen
t
Love
Fun
Money
A fulfilling sex
life
A good job
Children
Long life
Travel
Recognition
Enjoyment
Happiness
Spirituality
Contribution to
something outside
the self
Friendship
Entertainment
Safety
Intelligence
Recreation
Honesty
Adventure
Romance
Creativity
Knowledge
Generosity
Self-discipline
Talent
Good health
Respect
Meaningful
work
Nice car
Freedom
Fame
Good
education
Big house
Vacations in
the Bahamas
Leisure
GOOD STATES OF AFFAIRSIt’s good to eat. It’s better to eat well. It’s best that all eat well.
The best classes are those that are not just interesting and relevant, but teach you something about who you are and how you should be.
Replacing the drug war with a health-based approach would help preserve families, lower prison costs, and help addicts kick the habit.
We need the death penalty in order to deter would-be murderers from committing murders. Death penalty = less murders.
WHAT IS VALUABLE AND HOW IS IT VALUABLE
What type(s) of thing are valuable?
Individualism – Only individual beings can have intrinsic moral value (e.g. higher mammals, sentient beings, all living things)
Holism - Collective entities can also have intrinsic moral value (e.g., ecosystems, wilderness or endangered species)
In what way is it valuable?
intrinsic value: The worth objects have in their own right, independent of their value to any other end.
instrumental value: The worth objects have in fulfilling other ends
VALUING WHOLES
SOME (POTENTIAL) NONMARKET VALUES
THE RIGHTAs a parent, I have to look out for my children’s well-being first.
I have the right to be treated with respect like everyone else
It would be wrong to tell you what she said – I promised!
Give more to charity. You know that it’s the right thing to do.
Killing innocent people is wrong, no matter how much it lowers the price of oil.
It’s wrong to allow a murderer to live. Justifies demands retribution.
THE GOOD LIFE
The enviable life – a life that we would like to have when viewed from the inside
The admirable life – a life that we admire and respect.
THE GOOD LIFE
1.Are there many kinds of desirable lives
2.Are there many kinds of admirable lives?
3. Is the admirable life the enviable life?
4. Is the enviable life the admirable life?
KEY QUESTION: What is the connection between good states of affairs, right actions, and a good character?
Sample approach 1: consequence-based ethics
o Start/focus on good states of affairso Right actions are those that bring about good states of
affairso A good character is one that leads you bring about good
states of affairsSample approach 2: duty-based ethics
o Start/focus on right actionso Good states of affairs are those in which right actions
are takeno A good character is one that leads you to perform right
actionsSample approach 3: character-based ethics
o Start/focus on good charactero Good states of affairs are those in which good
characters are developedo Right actions are those that bring about (arise from)
good character
SELF-INTEREST & MORALITY
1. Are we universally selfish?
(descriptive question)
2. Should we be universally
selfish? (prescriptive
question)
PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISM
(PE)Every person only cares intrinsically about him or herself. All human motivations are selfish. Objection: Sometimes people truly behave altruistically
Reply: People help others because it makes them feel good, not from altruism. Objection: That pleasure can be the biproduct, rather than the motivation
ETHICAL EGOISM
ETHICAL EGOISM – One ought to do what is in his or her own rational self-interest.
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“The achievement of his own happiness is man’s highest moral purpose”– Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness (1964)
ARGUMENT 1: THE RING OF GYGES
P1. Everyone would pursue their self-interest if they could
P2. Whatever everyone would do is what anyone should do.
C. We ought to pursue only our own interests.
ETHICAL EGOISM
ETHICAL EGOISM - Everyone ought to do what is in his or her own rational self-interest.
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ARGUMENT 2: BEST FOR EVERYONE
P1. It is by pursuing our own benefit that we best help others achieve theirs
C. We ought to pursue only our own interests.
ETHICAL EGOISM
14
ARGUMENT 3: RESPECTING INDIVIDUAL INTEGRITY (Rand)
P1. A person has only one life to live. If we value the individual then we must treat this life is of supreme importance – it’s all one has and is.
P2. The ethics of altruism regards the life of the individual as something one must be ready to sacrifice for the good of others
C1. Therefore, the ethics of altruism doesn’t properly value the individual.
P3. Ethical Egoism, which allows each person to view his or her own life as being of ultimate value, is the only philosophy that takes the life of the individual seriously.
C2. Thus, Ethical Egoism is the philosophy that ought to be accepted
ETHICAL EGOISM
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ARGUMENT 4: EGOISM UNDERLIES COMMON MORALITY
P1. The hodge-podge of various duties prescribed by common sense morality requires an explanation
P2. The best explanation of common sense morality is that all of our duties are ultimately derived from the fundamental principle of self-interest
C. Therefore, we should accept Ethical Egoism
Morality requires that we sometimes act against our own best interest…
Option 1: … and morality is right
Problem: Why should I do what is against my self-interest?
Option 2: … and morality is wrong
Problem: Morality seems like it has force and can’t be ignored.
The morally right thing to do is also what is in our best interest. Being a good person leads to rewards and being a bad person leads to punishments.
Problem 1: It seems easy to come up with some potential act that will benefit me, but wrongly harm others.
Problem 2: Implausibly implies that moral and immoral people have same motivation, but one is just smarter.
WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MORALITY AND SELF-
INTEREST?
Conflict Harmony