Ethical Theories Study Guide

Virtue ethics

\-Acting according to virtue -Virtue is a good habit -To act according to reason Leads to well-being/happiness -Do not ask “what should I do?” but “what person should I be?” -Virtues are the means to happiness -how do we identify a virtue? • Determining the means between two extremes • Imitating a moral exemplar. (teachers’, parents, saints, heroes)

Virtue ethics Objections

\-Different cultures value different Virtues How do we know how much is “too much” and how little is “too little”? How do we choose between two virtues ex. (loyalty, honesty)?

Utilitarianism

Consequentialist ethics -Good is that which maximizes utility -Utility is the capability of producing benefit -Actions are judged by their consequences: the most benefit for the majority -what rules tend to produce more happiness?

Utilitarianism Objections

\-Can risk individual rights. (Sacrifices one’s suffering for the -benefit of the majority) -Demand too much from the individual. It is impossible to know what the consequences of an action may be

Ethics of principle

\-Happiness is not the supreme good - the supreme good is to be autonomous and free beings -Every human being acts according to principles: “I will keep a healthy diet” “I work out daily” “I will not lie to my friends” -Principles are rules that guide our actions and we impose them to ourselves -Principles are assessed by using reason -Reason gives humans their dignity and freedom -Reason vs. inclination (desires, instincts). -Right action is the one performed according to dutyWe know our duty through: Categorical imperative Never treat humans as means only, always as ends in themselves -Duty is universal

Ethics of principle Objections:

\-sometimes we need to break a rule (ex. “do not lie”) to avoid bigger harms -Doesn’t make enough room for feelings -leaves out non-human beings

Social Contract

\-Morality consists in the roles people accept on the condition that others accept them as well. -We accept rules because we want others to commit to their side of the contract. - To break the rules is to act wrongly - Only the state can enforce the rules -It is not rational to make an agreement that we do not expect will benefit us -Contractualism- to guarantee a just social order imagine yourself in the original position: (what rules would you create if you did not know your position in society.

Social Contract Objections:

\-The contract is an illusion -It creates many limits to the individual -Impossible to make decisions without bias

Feminist/ Care ethics

\-Approach to morality that includes women’s perspective -Humans are relational and emotions/ feelings matter -Against moral rules that are abstract. They need to respond to particular situations -Ethics is learnt in community where virtues and feelings of empathy, compassion, love, fidelity, are important -Inclusive of differences (Gender, race, social class),

\-Offers guidance in issues concerning private life: Intimate relations, childbearing, etc.

Feminist/ Care ethics Objections:

\-May put in tension justice vs. care because too impartial -It might fall into stereotypes

Environmentalist Ethics

\-Human- nonhuman interaction has moral status -Awareness of environmental issues is required to make better moral decisions -Economies of privatization obstruct morality -The environment has value - The human individual is part of a broader moral community that includes the land -All members of the earth deserve respect

Environmentalist Ethics Objections:

\-How to determine whose interests are more important - Too much emphasis on the whole, individual rights be violated - Not possible to value things in a non-human centered way