Ethics Unit Test Review

Metaethics

Explores questions like:

• Is there such things as a universal, objective view of right and wrong?

• Where does morality come from? How do we form an idea of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’?

• Can human beings make sound moral judgments? If so, should we always act according to them?

• What is “good” life

Metaphysical Grounding

• Ethical systems grounded in metaphysics presuppose the existence of a reality that transcends the visible one

• Morality is located in this “higher” realm

• God is the foundation of our morality —> we ought to act in accordance with God’s will

Naturalistic Grounding

• Laws of nature suggest morality to us

• Certain ways of behaving have evolutionary value (and are therefore good, while others could have the opposite effect and lead to extinction, and are therefore bad).

E.g., jumping off a cliff is bad because it will end your existence, and existence is good

Flaws:

• Justifying actions “in the name of human advancement” can be a slippery slope

• Could be used to justify things like slavery, selective human rights violations, eugenics, etc.

Hume’s Guillotine:

• Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711-1776) argued against the logic of naturalistic ethics

• He argues that there is a difference between the way things are in nature and how they ought to be

• For example, just because I can infer that punching someone will hurt them does not logically entail that I ought not to do it.

Sociological Grounding

• Looking at human society to try and understand the basis of morality

• Looking at a wide-base of examples of actions and behaviours and their impact on society/other people to determine what is right and wrong

E.g. consumption of certain drugs can lead to addiction, overdosing, homelessness, etc. Therefore, it is wrong to sell harmful drugs to the public.

Rationalistic Grounding

• Instead of looking at society, we could just work based on the mathematical tules of reason

• If the rules of reason and logic could show us what morality really is, then this would likely give us a rule or type that all rational people would logically bound to accept

Normative ethics

• Most ethical discussions and studies in philosophy are part of normative ethics

• The ‘battleground’ for pricing what is right and wrong, and establishing moral principles

• Hypothetical or real scenarios are often used as examples to justify claims

Utilitarianism - Normative Ethics School of Thought

Rooted in consequentialism (actions are judged by consequences)

Theorists: Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill

Deontology - Normative Ethics School of Thought

Rooted in rules; you ought to follow certain moral principles no matter the context

Theorist: Immanuel Kant

Virtue Ethics - Virtue Ethics School or Thought

Act in a way that builds good character and demonstrates good virtue (e.g. temperance, patience, courage, honesty, compassion, etc.)

Theorists: Aristotle, St.thomas Aquinas, Stoics

Applied Ethics

• The more practical ethical judgements are applied to particular problems or situations

• “takes ethics to the streets”

E.g. many professions like healthcare, law, educations and many more have specific codes of ethics

Moral Relativism

• To the question whether there is a universal ‘right’, moral relativists would say “no”

• This group of ethicists believe that all moral judgement are centred around the individual, the situation, the place, and the time

Egoistic Relativism

• There is no universal right and wrong because it’s all relative to the individual

• Your definition of what is “right” is no more right or wrong than mine

• This group argues that ethics is more about how we feel and how we assess actions, rather than a specific feature of these actions

Social/Cultural Relativism

• This concept holds that morality is indeed relative and not universal

• A persons morality is dependent on the morality of the social group or culture that an individual belongs to

• In other words, what is “right” in one society or culture may be seen as wrong in another, so moral relativism is necessary and legitimate

Determinism

• Insists we do not have free will

• Decisions are impacted by forces outside ourselves

• These forces can include: environment, fate, and natural laws

• For determinists, human beings have no moral responsibility for their actions, because decisions and actions are beyond our control

• Thus, praise or blame cannot be assigned to actions from this determinist standpoint

Libertarianism

• Believe we have absolute freedom (free will)

• Each decision an individual makes is only one of many options

• Therefore, libertarians believe we do have moral responsibility

• Praise and blame can be assigned to our actions

Existentialism

• A philosophy generally accredited to Soren Kierkegaard and Jean Paul Sartre

• Sartre said, “existence precedes essence,” which is the basis of existentialism

• Everything in the world comes into existence AFTER it’s essence/purpose has been determined

• The exception to this rule is human beings. For us, our existence comes before our “essence” or “purpose” is determined - we get to choose that for ourselves

• We are born into this absurd world with an abundance of freedom. We are “condemned to be free”

• We have absolute responsibility over our actions and decisions

• We can choose to be good or cruel - we do have moral responsibility

Key Figures: Soren Kierkegaard, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Paul Sartre, Friedrich Nietzsche

Altruism

Absolute selflessness; acting with regard for the concerns of others rather than oneself

Self-interest

Acting in a way that puts oneself above others

Deontology

• We have a duty to live by a set of ethical “maxims” or “imperatives” - things we ought to do; principles we ought to live by

• Absolutist (e.g. lying is always wrong, no matter the situation)

Problems that can arise from this school of ethics:

• Absolutist

• Difficult to uphold maxims in varying contexts

• Does not take into account the complexities of moral descision making

Categorical Imperative

• The belief of Immanuel Kant in a moral law that applies to everyone and does not depend on circumstances and contengencie

• It's a principle that guides ethical decision-making by requiring actions to be based on universalizable maxims and treating humanity as an end in itself.

• In essence, it's a way of ensuring that actions are morally justifiable based on the principles that guide them, rather than their potential consequences. 

Utilitarianism

• Purity: Minimize acts that mix pain with pleasure; pleasures that bring zero pain are the purest

• Extent: Moral value of a pleasure increases with the number of people who experience it: “the greatest good for the greatest number”

Virtue Ethics

• Morality is based more on building good character than on the outcome or a duty

• The goal is to form virtues of character that help us makegood etjical judgements throughout our lives

• Aristotle says we must find a balance or moderation between extremes - that is the virtuous way

  → “equilibrium of the soul”

  → “choose the action knowingly and for its own sake”

The Golden Mean

Virtue is the “golden mean” between extremes

Personhood

The state of being a person, with qualities that result in distinct individuality

Immanuel Kant (deontology)

Categorical Imperative

• “Act according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should be a universal law.”

• “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.”

Jeremy Bentham (utilitarianism)

Looked at the pleasure an action may produce and based “rightness” on these six criteria

Looked at the pleasure an action may produce and based “rightness” on these six criteria:

1. Intensity - intense pleasures are more valuable than mild pleasures

2. Duration - long lasting pleasures are worth more

3. Certainty - its better to aim for pleasures that we are more likely to achieve

4. Propinquity - the sooner the pleasure may occur, the more we should concern ourselves with it

5. Fecundity - will the pleasure bring more pleasures asa result? If yes, it is worth more than those that will not yield further pleasures

6. Purity - minimizes acts that mix pain with pleasure; pleasures that bring zero pain are the purest

John Stuart Mill (utilitarianism)

Added a 7th criteria

• Extent → moral value of a pleasure increases with the number of people who experience it: “the greatest good for the greatest number”

Aristotle (virtue ethics)

Aristotle says we must find a balance or moderation between extremes - that is the virtuous way

• “Equilibrium of the soul”

• “Choose the action knowingly and for its own sake”

St. Thomas Aquinas (virtue ethics)

Thomas Aquinas revived an interest in Aristotle’s ethics by bringing virtue ethics into mainstream Catholic thought

John Locke (Personhood / human rights)

• We are born with a set of intrinsic human rights that no one can legitimately take away from us. Of course tehse rights can be violated, but morally, no one should ever violate them

• His ideas influenced the American Declaration of Independence