MEDRADSC 3Y03 - Are There Moral Truths

Founder of utilitarianism

Jeremy Bentham

Year utilitarianism was founded

1748 in London

Utilitarianism

Theory that we are morally required to do whatever produces the greatest total of pleasure minus pain

Utilitarianism is an ___ theory of morality

Arithmetic 

Problem with utilitarianism

Fails to see individual rights

Definition of happiness and pleasure according to utilitarianism

What is moral is what leads to happiness and pleasure

Who developed ‘Categorical Imperative’?

Immanuel Kant, 1724

Who founded deontology?

Immanuel Kant, 1724, Germany

Deontology

All actions must be morally good and followed regardless of outcome

The right action is one that fulfills the agent's duties and lies within the bounds of his/her rights

Deontology

The right action is one that brings about the greatest benefit to the most people

Utilitarianism 

Problems with deontology and utilitarianism

Too general and abstract, difficult to gauge applications

Virtue ethics

Virtues are traits that make a person a good person

Question that virtue ethics brings up

What are the traits of a good person?

Who developed virtue ethics?

Aristotle

According to Aristotle, what character traits allow humans to function/socialize well in society?

Justice, generosity, courage

According to Aristotle, what character traits allow humans to function in a rational capacity?

Practical wisdom, patience, temperance

Virtuous person

Does the right thing at the right time, for the right reason and act from the right motives

Morality

The extent to which an action is right or wrong

Good thing about virtue ethics

Flexible and can be learned, improved on, recognizes complexity of situations

Problems with deontology

Frustrating because it does not give quick, easy answers to moral questions

Utilitarianism vs Deontology

Outcomes vs actions

According to Aristotle, why be moral in the first place?

To attain eudaimonia

Eudaimonia

Highest good humans can strive toward

According to Nietzsche, why be moral in the first place?

Create own values and define morality for yourself

David Hume

Sense of right and wrong comes from feelings in reaction to what we see; no objective moral facts

What does Shafer-Landau say about moral skepticism?

Defines moral skeptics as morally schizophrenic

According to Shafer-Landau, why has moral skepticism grown?

1. Loss of faith in authority figures

2. Increased exposure to other cultures

3. Cautionary tale of our century’s fanatics

Thin accounts

Definitions apply everywhere (universal)

Thick accounts

Exact details differ by culture (local)

Examples of thin accounts

• Courage: acting well in situations of fear

• Justice: acting well when dividing goods

Fear of harm/death

Courage

Bodily desires (food, sex, pleasure)

Moderation

Sharing goods/resources

Justice

Using property with others

Generosity

Hospitality to strangers

Friendliness/expansiveness

Self-worth

Proper self-respect

Responding to insults

Mildness of temper

Living together

Honesty, playfulness, friendliness

Reacting to others’ luck

Proper judgement, not envy/spite

Thinking/learning

Intellectual virtues

Life planning

Practical wisdom, phronesis

Objections to Aristotle

1. Different cultures, different answers

2. No pure universal experiences

3. Some virtues depend on specific conditions

Utilitarianism is a form of what broader ethical theory that judges actions by their results?

Consequentialism 

According to Jeremy Bentham’s Utilitarianism, morally correct choices produce ___

Pleasure

In utilitarianism, whose pleasure is considered to matter?

Everyone’s pleasure counts or matters the same

Who proposed a thought experiment involving a sheriff and a mob to challenge utilitarianism?

HJ McCloskey, Australia

Thought experiment that critiqued utilitarianism

Sheriff framing an innocent person to prevent a riot

In deontology, what is the term for the rule/principle that an action is based on?

A maxim

According to deontology, what role do the outcomes or consequences of an action play in its moral evaluation?

None, all actions must be morally good and followed regardless of the outcome

According to Aristotle, what 2 key traits define the function of human beings?

Human being are rational and social

According to Aristotle, what are 3 character traits that allow humans to function well socially?

Justice, generosity, courage

According to Aristotle, what are 3 character traits that allow humans to function in a rational capacity?

Practical wisdom, patience, temperance

Nietzsche used the term ___ to describe the historical origin of the dominant moral code

Genealogy

Historical event that Nietzsche claimed to have led to a reversal of the ancient Roman moral code

Slave revolt

Who argued against the existence of objective moral facts?

David Hume, Scottish

Who explores the nature of virtue?

Socrates

In Plato’s famous dialogue, Socrates questions which character about the nature of virtue?

Euthyphro

Aristotle was a student of

Plato

According to Shafer-Landau, what is the difference between ethics and meta ethics?

Ethics: the act itself

Meta ethics: nature of the act