Philosophy

Chapter 1-6

The Rules of Fruitful and Moral Discourse

1. Moral positions should be explained.

2. Claims should be supported by reasons.

3. Reasoning should be judged by common rational standards.

Cultural relativism

the view that an action is morally right if one’s culture

approves of it

• That is, moral rightness and wrongness are relative to cultures (e.g., “My

culture approves of honor killing, so it is morally right.”).

Subjective relativism

the view that an action is morally right if one

approves of it

• That is, moral rightness and wrongness are relative not to cultures but

to individuals

Subjective Relativism: Implications

There are factors about _____ _____ that make it implausible. For

example, it implies that:

• Everyone is morally infallible. (We can never be in error when we approve of

an action.)

• Moral disagreements between individuals are not possible. (No one is

“wrong”; rather, people merely describe their attitudes on a subject.

Cultural Relativism: Stace’s Argument

Following are the premises of _____ ______, according to philosopher

Walter T. Stace (1886–1967):

1. People’s judgments about right and wrong differ from culture to culture.

2. If people’s judgments about right and wrong differ from culture to culture,

then right and wrong are relative to culture, and there are no objective

moral principles

3.Therefore, right and wrong are relative to culture, and there are no objective

moral principles

Cultural Relativism: Implications

There are factors about cultural relativism that make it implausible. For example, it

implies that:

• Cultures are morally infallible.

• Social reformers can never be morally right.

• Moral disagreements between individuals in the same culture amount to arguments

over whether someone disagrees with their own culture.

• Cultures cannot be legitimately criticized from the outside.

• Moral progress is impossible

Moral Reasoning

is ordinary critical reasoning applied to ethics

moral statement

s a statement affirming that an action is right or wrong or that a

person is good or bad.

For example:

• Capital punishment is wrong.

nonmoral statement

a state of affairs is true or false without

assigning a moral value to it.

For example:

• Many people think that capital punishment is wrong.

Testing Moral Premises

“Causing a person’s death is wrong.”

To test this premise, consider all the possible circumstances under which it may

be morally acceptable to “cause a person’s death”:

• in self-defense?

• in war?

• to save many other lives?

considered moral judgments

Checking a moral premise against possible counterexamples

Assessing Nonmoral Premises

Often, people on both sides of a dispute agree on a moral principle but disagree

on the nonmoral facts.

Nonmoral premises, like all premises, must be supported by good reasons.

Do the following when evaluating or creating nonmoral premises:

• Use reliable sources.

• Beware when evidence conflicts.

moral theory

is an explanation of what makes an action right or what makes

a person or thing good.

Its focus is not the rightness or goodness of individual, specific actions or

persons but the very nature of rightness or goodness itself.

Moral theories say that a particular action is right (or wrong) because it has this characteristic

Considered Moral Judgments

• They are not simply propositions you have always believed.

• They are formed after careful deliberation and reflect minimal bias.

• They are generally reliable—but not infallible—data.

• They may sometimes conflict and lack sufficient justification.

Utilitarianism:

a theory asserting that the morally right action is the one

that produces the most favorable balance of good over evil, everyone

considered (includes act-utilitarianism and rule-utilitarianism)

Ethical egoism

a theory asserting that the morally right action is the one

that produces the most favorable balance of good over evil for oneself.

Act-utilitarianism

a utilitarian theory asserting that the morally right

action is the one that directly produces the most favorable balance of good

over evil, everyone considered

Rule-utilitarianism

a utilitarian theory asserting that the morally right

action is the one covered by a rule that, if generally followed, would produce

the most favorable balance of good over evil, everyone considered

Act-egoism

the theory that to determine right action, you must apply the

egoistic principle to individual acts

Rule-egoism

the theory that to determine right action, you must see if an

act falls under a rule that if consistently followed would maximize your self-

interest

psychological egoism

the view that the

ultimate motive for all our actions is self-interest.

Evaluating Ethical Egoism

1: consistency with considered moral judgments

2: consistency with our moral experiences

3: usefulness in moral problem-solving

Evaluating Utilitarianism

1: consistency with considered moral judgments

2: consistency with our moral experiences

3: usefulness in moral problem-solving

Utilitarianism embodies three key truths about morality:

• The consequences of actions are important.

• Other people matter as much as we do (the principle of impartiality).

• Morality requires beneficence, acting for others’ well-being.

What is ethical relativism?

The general view that moral standards are not universal but are relative to a culture or an individual

Cultural relativism specifically holds that:

What is morally right or wrong depends on, and varies by, the moral code of a given culture

Subjective relativism (subjectivism) holds that:

What is morally right or wrong depends on what each individual believes or feels

What is the tolerance objection to relativism?

Relativism cannot consistently demand tolerance of other cultures, since tolerance would itself be a universal, non-relative moral standard

What is considered moral judgement

a moral judgement held after careful, unbiased reflection