Practical Ethics

Doctrine of the Golden Mean

Lies between vices of excess and vices of virtue - not necessarily in the middle

Maxim

Reason for doing an action in any circumstance

Principle of Humanity

Treat people as ends in themselves not just means to an end

Hypothetical Imperatives

If/then - conditional can be cancelled

Categorical imperatives

Unconditional, can’t be cancelled

Acting on an action that can only be willed to become universal law

Happiness

Ratio of pleasure to pain

Measuring pleasure 1).

Intensity

Measuring pleasure 2).

Duration

Measuring pleasure 3).

Certainty or Uncertainty - likeliness of pleasure

Measuring pleasure 4).

Propinquity or Remoteness - how soon

Measuring Pleasure 5).

Fecundity - will it lead to more pleasure

Measuring pleasure 6).

Purity - not pure if pleasure leads to pain

Measuring pleasure 7).

Extent - how many people affected

Greatest Happiness Principle

Actions are right if it tends to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number

Care ethics Argument - Held

Human being are interconnected and dependent on one another

Care

1. Relationships and meeting the needs of others

2. Humans are not completely independent

3. Practice not a feeling - listening helping and responding to needs

4. Relationships determine responsibilities to people —> not everyone treated the same

5. Justice should complement

Leopold’s Land Ethics

Humans = citizens of land

Land = community + has moral value

Shouldn’t be valued because it is useful to man

Easy

A moral problem where the right thing is relatively obvious

Trivial

Treating an environmental ethic as if it doesn’t really matter because it seems small and insignificant

Leopold: conservation

Real conservation = changing how humans view their relationship with the land

Life Centered Environmental Ethics

We have moral obligations that are owed to plants and animals as members of the earths biotic community

• well being of wild = independent to human benefits

Anthropocentric Environmental Ethics

Nature matters because it benefits humans

Taylor’s Argument

Living things have their own good and their well being deserves moral consideration

Biocentric Outlook 1).

Humans + nonhumans = members of Earth’s community of life

Biocentric Outlook 2).

Earth’s ecosystem = complex and interconnected + each being’s function = dependent on one another

Biocentric Outlook 3).

Each organism has its own telos (function) of life, and lives to pursue its own good in its own way

(Irrational bias for human favor)

Biocentric outlook 4).

Claim that humans are naturally superior FALSE proven wrong by 1 + 2 and CANNOT BE PROVEN

Epistemologies in Crisis

When there’s crisis it may be a time where we don’t adhere to moral norms = make excuses

Presumption of Unprecedentedness

Assumption that the environmental crisis = completely new and unlike anything that humans have faced before

• requires new ways of thinking

Presumptions of Urgency

Environmental crisis = so urgent = we need to act immediately = urgency can make it hard to think critically

• urgency should not prevent from thinking critically and understanding deeper causes of environmental issues

Coordination

Ways of knowing the world that emphasizes the important of moral bonds for generating the responsible capacity to respond to constant change in the world

Kin Relationships

Mutual responsibilities - local or broader families that engage responsibly in coordinated action together to achieve particular goals that they have

Epistemologies in Coordination

Conductive to responding to change without validating harm or violence - emphasis on knowing the world thru kin relationships

Environmental Justice Framework 1).

‘Right’ of EVERYONE to be protected from environmental degradation

• Civil Rights act, fair housing act, voting rights act

Environmental Justice Framework 2).

Prevention method - eliminating threats before harm occurs —> not waiting for conclusive proof before preventative action is taken

Environmental Justice Framework 3).

Shift burden of proof to those who do harm rather than the affected - hold them accountable

Environmental Justice Framework 4).

Allowing statistical data to count as evidence rather than intent —> proving intent in court of law = impossible

Environmental Justice Framework 5).

Targeted Action - target resources to those who need it most

Procedural Equity

‘Fairness’ - governing rules, regulations, enforcement etc applied UNIFORMLY in a non-discriminatory way

Geographic Equity

Location and special configuration of communities and their proximity to environmental hazards

• discrimination in housing/jobs

Social Equity

Assessing the role of sociological factors on environmental decision making

Environmental Racism

Any policy or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages individuals, groups, or communities based on race or color

Using Someone As a “Mere Means”

Treating someone as a thing or a prop to be manipulated

Using someone as a means

Assuming each person has their own maxims and respecting each other’s autonomy

Universalization

Maxim does not work if you cannot honestly and consistently will that everyone has the same maxim in the same circumstances = you are not acting on moral duty

True Happiness

Regulation of virtues and vices (balance of one’s desires and reason - keeps other impulses in check