Ethics: Kantian Theory & Social Contract Theory

Harry Truman

The man who made the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Elizabeth Anscombe

Some things may not be done, no matter what. It does not matter if we could accomplish some great good, it is simply wrong

Hypothetical Imperative

tells us what to do provided that we have the relevant desires

Categorical Imperative

derived from a principle that every rational person must accept

Universal laws

moral rules that hold true in all circumstances.

Kant’s Arguments on Lying

The can never be certain about what the consequences will be—we cannot know that good results will follow. The results of lying might be unexpectedly bad.

Moral Judgement

______ must be backed by good reasons

Moral reasons

__________, if they are valid at all, are binding on all people at all times

An intrinsic worth, dignity, above all price

Human beings have _________ or ________that makes them valuable ___________.

• People have desires, things that satisfy those desires can have value for people.

• People have “an intrinsic worth or dignity” because they are rational agents

Facts about people that support Kant’s ideas

Free Agents

capable of making their own decisions

Treat people “as an end” means, on the most superficial level, treating them well.

Kant’s Second Formulation of Categorical Imperative

Jeremy Bentham

Punishment by its nature, always involves inflicting some harm on the person punished

Retributivism

The idea that punishment is justified as a way of “paying back” the offender for his wicked deed.

• Punishment provides comfort and gratification to victims and their families.

• By locking up criminals, or by executing them, we take them off the street.

• Punishment reduces crime by deterring would-be criminals.

• A well-designed system of punishment might help to rehabilitate wrongdoers.

Several benefits of punishing a person

First, people should be punished simply because they have committed crimes and for no other reason.

Second, punishment should be proportionate to the seriousness of the crime.

“Punishment should be governed by two principles” (Kant)

Rational Being

can freely decide what to do, based on his own conception of what is best.

Thomas Hobbes

To escape the state of nature, people must agree on rules to govern their interactions, or “the social contract”

Moral Rules

precepts we need to follow in order to get the benefits of social living.

• There is equality of need.

• There is scarcity.

• There is the essential equality of human power.

• Finally, there is limited altruism.

Hobbes think state of nature would be awful because of 4 basic human life facts:

The Social Contract theory

rules that rational people will accept, on the condition that others accept them as well.

to make social living possible

purpose of morality

to enforce vital moral rules.

purpose of government

The Prisoner’s Dilemma

Invented by Merril M. Flood and Melvin Dresher around 1950

• Social Contract Theory is based on historical Fiction

• Social Contract Theory is grounded in self-interest and reciprocity

Difficulties about the theory