Ethics and Political Philosophy Notes

Cultural Relativism

• An action is moral because it conforms to a norm.
• This is the ethic answer.

Divine Command Theory

• An action is moral because God commands it.

Deontology

• An action is moral because it conforms to a rational principle or a good rule.
  Example: telling the truth keep promises
• It is the adherence to moral duties and rights.

Utilitarianism

• An action is moral because it maximizes overall happiness.

Determining Morality

• Utilitarianism proposes calculating morality by assessing actions.
  Example: grade school student with two Twinkies, friend with none. Should the student eat both or share?
• Utilitarians believe you can calculate it.
• Consider how the action affects everyone involved.

The Calculation

• List individuals affected (You, Friend).
• Quantify happiness for each if you eat both, and if you share ($\text{Action A}$, $\text{Action B}$).
• Sum happiness values for a total.

Background Assumptions

• Pleasure varies in quantity (like water). More pleasure is better.
  Example: Stepping on toe vs. leg sawed off or Drinking Coke vs. riding Superman

Utility and Twinkies

• Eating one Twinkie gives 7 pints of pleasure; the second, 4 pints.
• Tenth Twinkie yields negative pleasure as marginal utility decreases.
• If you eat both, you get 11 pints, but your friend suffers -3 pints, totaling 8 pints of pleasure.
• Sharing yields 7 pints for you and 9 for your friend, totaling 16 pints and more total happiness.
• Utilitarians deem sharing morally superior because it produces more overall happiness.

Pleasure and Money Analogy

• Utilitarians value all pleasure equally, like money. Your $5 bill is worth the same as mine.
• To be moral, treat everyone's pleasure as equally valuable.

Three people scenario

• It's the pints of Pleasure not the number of people.
  Example: Option A: Person 1 (+1), Person 2 (+1), Person 3 (-8) = -6
  Option B: Person 1 (-1), Person 2 (-1), Person 3 (+8) = +6

Immanuel Kant and Morality Principles

Immanuel Kant, a philosopher, posited a principle of morality known as the categorical imperative. Under this principle:

The categorical narrative

• Act only according to rules that you would want everyone to follow.
• If considering breaking a promise, evaluate if a world where everyone breaks promises is rational.
• If not, keeping promises is the moral action.

Political Philosophy

Ethics vs. Political Philosophy

• Ethics concerns individual moral actions.
• Political philosophy examines the ideal purpose and actions of government.

Purpose of Government

• What does an ideal government do, and what does it not do?

Political Philosophies

• Political Realism (Hobbes, Machiavelli)
• Political Idealism (Rousseau, Plato, Marx)

Realism vs Idealism

Human nature

• Realism view of humans: pessimistic
• Idealism view of humans: optimistic
• Realism emphasizes security due to a pessimistic view of human nature.
• Idealism focuses on developing citizens' capacities, such as arts and education.

Chart: Realism vs. Idealism

Realism Quotes

• Hobbes: "a perpetual and restless desire for power."
• Hobbes: Life is "nasty, brutish, and short."
  Humans live in continual fear and danger of violent death.

Idealism Quotes

• Rousseau: Humans are naturally compassionate and uncorrupted.
• Gentle, Nothing can be we're gentle. Humans are gentle, not violent and cruel.

Harvard President Example

The example of Harvard's president suggesting that there are fewer woman physics professors because of testosterone biology vs systemic oppression.

Enlightenment Belief in Progress vs. Rousseau's Criticism

Historical Context

• Enlightenment (1700s): Belief in progress (Voltaire, Steven Pinker).
• Rousseau, a critic, challenges standard views.

Enlightenment View

• Scientific, economic, artistic, cultural (scientific, technology, AI).
• Moral progress (happiness and virtue).
• As humans are making scientific progress, they are also making moral progress

Rousseau's Criticism

• Scientific and economic progress causes moral decline.

Alienation Theory

• Self-alienation:
  • Commercial society creates obsession with unnatural desires, decreasing happiness.
  • Separates from simple, natural self.
    Relationship to simple human beings as hunter gatherers.
• Social Alienation: