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275 Midterm
Arguments
Week 1: Introduction to Morality and Ethical Theories
Glaucon's challenge (Plato's Republic):
Premise 1: People generally believe justice is valuable for its consequences (rewards, reputation).
Premise 2: Glaucon questions whether justice is also valuable in itself, irrespective of consequences.
Conclusion: It is essential to determine whether justice is inherently good or merely instrumentally good.
AAA Statement on Human Rights:
Premise 1: Cultures vary significantly in their values and practices.
Premise 2: Imposing values from one culture onto another can be detrimental.
Conclusion: A universal declaration of human rights must account for cultural diversity and avoid being merely a reflection of Western values.
Week 2: Cultural Relativism and Objectivity
Mackie - The Subjectivity of Values: Argument from Relativity:
Premise 1: Moral codes vary across societies and within complex communities.
Premise 2: Disagreement in other fields like science results from inadequate evidence, which doesn't sufficiently explain moral disagreement.
Conclusion: Radical differences in moral judgments suggest they are not apprehensions of objective truths.
Mackie - The Subjectivity of Values: Argument from Queerness:
Premise 1: Objective values would have to be intrinsically prescriptive and authoritative.
Premise 2: Such objective prescriptivity, when isolated from desires, feelings, and social contexts, is "queer" or strange.
Conclusion: The strangeness of objective moral requirements suggests they do not exist.
Enoch - Why I'm an Objectivist about Ethics: The Spinach Test:
Premise 1: People tend to be happy they were raised with their moral beliefs.
Premise 2: If morality were subjective, it wouldn't make sense to be glad about this, as other beliefs would be equally valid.
Conclusion: This reveals a commitment to the objective correctness of one's moral beliefs.
Week 3: Utilitarianism and Consequentialism
Bentham - Principles of Morals and Legislation: Principle of Utility:
Premise 1: Actions should be evaluated based on their impact on happiness.
Premise 2: Happiness can be quantified by considering factors such as intensity, duration, certainty, and propinquity.
Conclusion: The principle of utility provides a rational basis for moral and legal decisions.
Mill - Utilitarianism:
Premise 1: Morality should aim to maximize happiness.
Premise 2: Happiness is defined as pleasure and the absence of pain.
Conclusion: Actions are morally right if they contribute to overall happiness.
Week 4: Deontology and Kantian Ethics
Kant - Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals: Formula of Universal Law:
Premise 1: Moral actions must be based on reasons that can be universalized.
Premise 2: If a maxim cannot be consistently willed as a universal law, it is morally impermissible.
Conclusion: Moral duties are those that can be universally applied without contradiction.
Kant - Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals: Formula of Humanity:
Premise 1: Rational beings should be treated as ends in themselves.
Premise 2: It is immoral to use people merely as means to achieve one's own goals.
Conclusion: Moral actions respect the inherent dignity and autonomy of all rational beings.
Week 5: Morality, Action, and Outcome
Kamm's Critique of Consequentialism regarding inherently bad actions (Inferred from discussion):
Premise 1: Consequentialism evaluates actions based solely on their outcomes.
Premise 2: This could lead to justifying inherently bad actions if they result in the best overall consequences.
Conclusion: Consequentialism is potentially flawed because it might justify morally problematic actions.
Kamm's Argument against solely evaluating states of affairs (Inferred from discussion):
Premise 1: Consequentialism primarily focuses on evaluating states of affairs to determine morality.
Premise 2: Moral judgments should also consider the nature of the actions and the principles of the agents involved.
Conclusion: Evaluating states of affairs alone is insufficient for comprehensive moral judgment.
Week 6: Virtue Ethics
Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics:
Premise 1: All human activities aim at some end or good.
Premise 2: Happiness (eudaimonia) is the ultimate end that is desired for its own sake.
Conclusion: The purpose of ethics is to understand and achieve happiness.
Hursthouse - Virtue Ethics:
Premise 1: Virtues and vices generate adjectives describing people and actions.
Premise 2: Every virtue generates a prescription (do what is benevolent), and every vice a prohibition (do not do what is malevolent).
Conclusion: Virtue ethics provides action guidance through v-rules based on virtues and vices.
Week 7: Care Ethics
Held - The Ethics of Care:
Premise 1: Dominant moral theories focus on abstract reasoning, impartiality, and independent individuals.
Premise 2: These theories neglect the moral significance of care, emotions, and particular relationships.
Conclusion: Moral theories should prioritize care, connectedness, and the needs of particular others.
Integrating care and justice:
Premise 1: Both care and justice are essential moral considerations.
Premise 2: Care addresses relational needs and responsiveness, while justice ensures fairness and rights.
Conclusion: An adequate moral framework should integrate both care and justice, recognizing their distinct contributions.
Week 8: Moral Pluralism and Ross
Ross - What Makes Right Acts Right:
Premise 1: Moral duties arise from various relationships and circumstances.
Premise 2: Each of these grounds (fidelity, gratitude, etc.) generates a prima facie duty.
Conclusion: Morality is based on multiple, distinct duties rather than a single principle.
Metaethics
Enoch's View (Realism):
Premise: The compelling appearance of objectivity in morality gives good reason to think that morality is indeed objective.
Conclusion: Morality is objective.
Mackie's Error Theory (Antirealism):
Premise: Claims to objectivity in moral judgements are false.
Conclusion: Moral values are not objective.
Mackie's Argument from Queerness (Antirealism):
Premise: Objective moral values, if they existed, would be unlike anything else in the universe and would require a special faculty of moral perception.
Conclusion: Objective moral values do not exist.
Vocab
Week 1: Introduction to Morality and Ethical Theories
Morality: This refers to a system of principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour.
Ethics: This is the philosophical study of morality, exploring different approaches to understanding moral principles.
Values: These are principles or standards of behaviour; one's judgement of what is important in life or in morality. Cultures vary significantly in their values and practices.
Descriptive claims: These are statements that describe or report how things are.
Normative claims: These are statements that make recommendations or judgments about what ought to be done. They try to explain the connection between moral obligations and values.
Justice: In the context of Glaucon's challenge, justice is questioned as to whether it is valuable for its consequences (rewards, reputation) or if it is also valuable in itself, irrespective of consequences.
Instrumentally good: Something that is good for its effects or consequences.
Inherently good: Something that is good in and of itself.
Moral considerations: These involve judgments about actions in specific circumstances and can seem subjective.
Week 2: Cultural Relativism and Objectivity
Cultural relativism: This is the idea that different cultures have different moral codes. It suggests that moral beliefs and practices vary across cultures.
Moral objectivism: This is the view that moral values are objective and exist independently of personal opinion. It claims that there are objective moral truths.
Moral subjectivism: This is the view that moral truths are dependent on individual opinion or feeling.
Descriptive morality: This likely refers to the anthropological description of the moral codes of different cultures.
Meta-ethics: This branch addresses the fundamental nature of morality. It grapples with questions about the objectivity of moral values, the existence of moral truths, and the meaning of moral terms.
Objective values: These are values that would be intrinsically prescriptive and authoritative, existing independently of desires, feelings, and social contexts. Enoch argues for the objectivity of morality.
Argument from Relativity: This argument suggests that radical differences in moral judgments are not sufficiently explained by inadequate evidence (as in science disagreements) and thus imply that moral judgments are not apprehensions of objective truths.
Argument from Queerness: This argument claims that objective moral values, if they existed, would be unlike anything else in the universe (intrinsically prescriptive and authoritative) and would require a special faculty of moral perception, making them seem "queer" or strange, suggesting they do not exist.
Spinach Test: This is a test for moral objectivity proposed by Enoch. The fact that people tend to be happy they were raised with their moral beliefs suggests a commitment to their objective correctness, as this sentiment would be less logical if morality were purely subjective.
Week 3: Utilitarianism and Consequentialism
Consequentialism: This is an ethical theory where morality is assessed based on the outcomes or consequences of actions. An action is morally right if it produces the best overall consequences.
Utilitarianism: This is a form of consequentialism that focuses on maximizing overall happiness or utility.
Principle of utility: This principle states that actions are approved or disapproved based on their tendency to augment or diminish happiness. Bentham defined it as that which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency it appears to have to augment or diminish happiness.
Greatest happiness principle: Mill stated that actions are right as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. Utilitarian morality aims for the greatest amount of happiness altogether, not merely the agent's own happiness, but the happiness of all concerned.
Intrinsic value: This refers to something that is valuable in itself, not merely as a means to something else. According to Mill, pleasure and freedom from pain are the only things desirable as ends.
Happiness (in utilitarianism): Defined by Mill as pleasure and the absence of pain. Bentham considered factors such as intensity, duration, certainty, and propinquity in estimating pleasure or pain.
Fecundity (of pleasure or pain): The tendency of a pleasure to be followed by sensations of the same kind (more pleasure), or of a pain to be followed by sensations of the same kind (more pain).
Purity (of pleasure or pain): The chance that a pleasure will not be followed by pain, or a pain by pleasure.
Extent (of pleasure or pain): The number of persons affected by the pleasure or pain.
The good is prior to the right (in consequentialism): This slogan indicates that what makes an action right is its tendency to produce good outcomes. The value of the consequences determines the rightness of the action.
Week 4: Deontology and Kantian Ethics
Deontology: This is an ethical theory that focuses on duties or obligations, not consequences. Certain actions are inherently right or wrong, regardless of consequences.
Categorical imperative: A moral law that is unconditional and absolute, derived from reason. Kant differentiates it from hypothetical imperatives, which are conditional commands based on desires.
Maxim: A subjective principle or rule guiding an individual's action.
Universal law: A principle that can be consistently willed as a law for everyone.
Humanity as an end: The principle that rational beings should be treated as ends in themselves and never merely as a means to an end.
Perfect duties: Obligations that have no exceptions. Examples include the duty not to commit suicide or make false promises.
Imperfect duties: Duties that allow for some exceptions or discretion in how they are fulfilled. Examples include the duty to develop one's talents or contribute to others' happiness.
A priori knowledge: Moral concepts originate in reason, not from experience.
A posteriori knowledge: Knowledge derived from experience.
Autonomy of the will: For Kant, this is the capacity of a rational being to legislate moral laws for themselves, rather than being subject to external influences or desires (heteronomy). It is essential to his moral theory because true moral action comes from internal, rational self-governance, not external forces.
The good is NOT prior to the right (in deontology): This slogan indicates that the rightness of an action is determined by its adherence to moral rules or duties, not by its consequences. Some actions are morally forbidden regardless of their outcomes.
Formula of Universal Law: Act only according to that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law. This requires considering whether the reason for action could be adopted by everyone without contradiction.
Formula of Humanity: Act that you use 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.
Week 5: Morality, Action, and Outcome
Doing vs. allowing: This distinction explores whether there is a morally relevant difference between performing an action that causes harm and allowing harm to occur.
Intending vs. foreseeing: This distinction concerns the moral relevance of whether harm is the intended outcome of an action or merely a foreseen consequence.
Moral responsibility: This refers to the status of being morally accountable for one's actions and their consequences.
Week 6: Virtue Ethics
Virtue: A character state that represents a balance between two extremes (the Doctrine of the Mean) and is involved in aiming at some good. Examples include courage, generosity, and temperance.
Vice: A character trWeek 5: Morality, Action, and Outcome
Character: The set of qualities of mind and feeling that distinguish a person or group. Virtue ethics emphasizes the role of character in moral life.
Eudaimonia (happiness or flourishing): Often translated as "happiness" or "flourishing," it refers to a state of living well and fulfilling one's potential, considered the highest good in Aristotle's ethics. It is achieved when the function of a human being (activity of the soul that implies a rational principle) is performed excellently, in accordance with virtue, over a complete life.
The Golden Mean: The idea that virtue is an intermediate state between extremes of excess and deficiency.
Phronesis (practical wisdom): The ability to know what to do in a particular situation, to reason correctly about what is right, and to make correct moral decisions. It is crucial for applying virtues correctly and is acquired through learning and experience.
V-rules: Moral rules derived from virtues and vices (e.g., be honest, don't be selfish) that provide action guidance. Every virtue generates a prescription (do what is benevolent), and every vice a prohibition (do not do what is malevolent).
Week 7: Care Ethics
Ethics of care: A moral theory that focuses on the importance of care, relationships, and context in moral decision-making.
Relationality: The idea that persons are fundamentally relational and interdependent, rather than isolated individuals.
Interdependence: The state of being mutually reliant on each other.
Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
Responsiveness: The capacity to attend to and meet the needs of particular others for whom we take responsibility.
Justice: Fairness and rights; care ethics seeks to integrate care and justice.
Impartiality: The principle of making decisions without bias or favouritism, which is critiqued by care ethics as neglecting particular relationships.
Care (as a practice and a value): Care is both the act of looking after and providing for someone, and a moral value emphasizing attentiveness to needs and fostering relationships.
Connectedness: Emphasized by care ethics as morally significant.
Critique of abstract reasoning (in care ethics): Care ethics questions the idea that abstract reasoning is always better for avoiding bias and highlights the importance of emotion and context.
Reconceptualization of public vs. private life (in care ethics): Care ethics rejects the sharp split between public and private, arguing that care is a societal value, not just a private one.
Critique of liberal individualism (in care ethics): Care ethics challenges the focus on independent individuals in dominant moral theories.
Week 8: Moral Pluralism and Ross
Moral pluralism: The view that there are multiple, distinct moral duties rather than a single fundamental principle.
Prima facie duties: Duties that are conditional and can be overridden by other more compelling duties in a specific situation. Ross identified several: fidelity, reparation, gratitude, beneficence, and non-maleficence. They are always important and generate an all-things-considered duty unless outweighed.
Duty proper: The actual duty one should perform in a specific situation after considering all prima facie duties and determining which one 'wins out' based on practical wisdom.
Fidelity: The duty to keep promises and be faithful to commitments.
Reparation: The duty to make amends for wrongdoings.
Gratitude: The duty to be grateful for benefits received and to reciprocate when possible.
Beneficence: The duty to do good and promote the well-being of others.
Non-maleficence: The duty to avoid harming others.
Metaethics
Realism (in metaethics): The view that moral values are objective and exist independently of personal opinion. Core vocabulary includes response-independent truth and objectivity.
Response-independent truth: Truth that exists regardless of anyone's beliefs or opinions about it.
Objectivity (in ethics): The idea that moral truths exist independently of human minds or practices.
Antirealism (in metaethics): The view that moral facts or values do not exist independently of human minds or practices. Core vocabulary includes moral relativism and subjectivity.
Moral relativism (in metaethics): The view that moral codes differ across societies, and there is no objective way to say which is better or worse.
Subjectivity (in ethics): The idea that moral values are based on individual feelings or opinions.
Error Theory (Mackie): Claims that all claims to objective moral judgements are false.
Moral Skepticism: The view that we cannot have moral knowledge, or that moral claims lack justification. Mackie argues for moral skepticism, the view that values are not objective. First-order moral skepticism involves rejecting conventional morality, while second-order skepticism questions the objectivity of moral values.
Normative Ethics (Overview)
Normative ethical theories: These provide frameworks for determining what is morally right or wrong and try to explain the connection between moral obligations and values. The three major types are consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics.
Other Key Terms
Utility Monsters: Hypothetical beings who derive an enormous amount of pleasure from any given unit of resources, often used as a critique of utilitarianism.
Hypothetical Imperative: A command of reason that depends on a person's desires or goals (e.g., studying to get a good grade).
Weeks
Week 1: Introduction to Morality and Ethical Theories
Important Vocab: Morality, ethics, values, descriptive vs. normative claims.
Key Info: Introduction to the fundamental questions in ethics, exploring different approaches to understanding morality.
Plato's Republic:
Glaucon's challenge: Is it better to be just or unjust?
Premise 1: People generally believe justice is valuable for its consequences (rewards, reputation).
Premise 2: Glaucon questions whether justice is also valuable in itself, irrespective of consequences.
Conclusion: It is essential to determine whether justice is inherently good or merely instrumentally good.
Moral vs. Subjective Considerations:
Moral considerations involve judgments about actions in specific circumstances.
Moral considerations can seem subjective.
AAA Statement on Human Rights:
Respect for cultural differences.
Premise 1: Cultures vary significantly in their values and practices.
Premise 2: Imposing values from one culture onto another can be detrimental.
Conclusion: A universal declaration of human rights must account for cultural diversity and avoid being merely a reflection of Western values.
Critiques of imposing external values.
Week 2: Cultural Relativism and Objectivity
Important Vocab: Cultural relativism, moral objectivism, moral subjectivism, descriptive morality, meta-ethics.
Key Info: Examining whether moral values are relative to culture or whether there are objective moral truths.
Cultural Relativism:
Different cultures have different moral codes.
Mackie - The Subjectivity of Values:
Denial of objective values.
Argument from Relativity:
Premise 1: Moral codes vary across societies and within complex communities.
Premise 2: Disagreement in other fields like science results from inadequate evidence, which doesn't sufficiently explain moral disagreement.
Conclusion: Radical differences in moral judgments suggest they are not apprehensions of objective truths.
Argument from Queerness:
Premise 1: Objective values would have to be intrinsically prescriptive and authoritative.
Premise 2: Such objective prescriptivity, when isolated from desires, feelings, and social contexts, is "queer" or strange.
Conclusion: The strangeness of objective moral requirements suggests they do not exist.
Enoch - Why I'm an Objectivist about Ethics:
Explores objectivity in ethics.
Moral beliefs imply a commitment to objectivity.
The Spinach Test:
Premise 1: People tend to be happy they were raised with their moral beliefs.
Premise 2: If morality were subjective, it wouldn't make sense to be glad about this, as other beliefs would be equally valid.
Conclusion: This reveals a commitment to the objective correctness of one's moral beliefs.
Rachel's - The Challenge of Cultural Relativism:
Darius and the differing customs of the Greeks and Callatians.
Week 3: Utilitarianism and Consequentialism
Important Vocab: Consequentialism, utilitarianism, principle of utility, greatest happiness principle, intrinsic value.
Key Info: Introduction to consequentialist ethical theories, focusing on maximizing overall happiness or well-being.
Consequentialism:
Morality is assessed based on consequences.
Right actions are those that tend to produce pleasure and the absence of pain; wrong actions are those that tend to produce pain and the privation of pleasure.
Bentham - Principles of Morals and Legislation:
Principle of Utility: Approving or disapproving actions based on their tendency to augment or diminish happiness.
Premise 1: Actions should be evaluated based on their impact on happiness.
Premise 2: Happiness can be quantified by considering factors such as intensity, duration, certainty, and propinquity.
Conclusion: The principle of utility provides a rational basis for moral and legal decisions.
Considerations for estimating pleasure or pain: intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity.
Mill - Utilitarianism:
Actions are right as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.
Premise 1: Morality should aim to maximize happiness.
Premise 2: Happiness is defined as pleasure and the absence of pain.
Conclusion: Actions are morally right if they contribute to overall happiness.
Core Concepts of Utilitarianism:
The good is prior to the right.
Maximize overall goodness.
Week 4: Deontology and Kantian Ethics
Important Vocab: Deontology, categorical imperative, maxim, universal law, humanity as an end, perfect and imperfect duties, a priori vs. a posteriori knowledge.
Key Info: Exploration of duty-based ethics, emphasizing the importance of moral rules and rational principles.
Deontology:
Focus on duties/obligations, not consequences.
Human beings as rational, intellectual beings.
Kant - Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals:
Moral concepts originate in reason, not experience.
Categorical Imperative:
Formula of Universal Law: Act only according to that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law.
Premise 1: Moral actions must be based on reasons that can be universalized.
Premise 2: If a maxim cannot be consistently willed as a universal law, it is morally impermissible.
Conclusion: Moral duties are those that can be universally applied without contradiction.
Formula of Humanity: Act that you use 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.
Premise 1: Rational beings should be treated as ends in themselves.
Premise 2: It is immoral to use people merely as means to achieve one's own goals.
Conclusion: Moral actions respect the inherent dignity and autonomy of all rational beings.
Duties to self and others, perfect and imperfect duties.
Key Ideas in Deontology:
Moral requirements are categorical.
Some actions are morally forbidden, regardless of consequences.
The Doing / Allowing distinction.
Week 5: Morality, Action, and Outcome
Important Vocab: Doing vs. allowing, intending vs. foreseeing, moral responsibility.
Key Info: Focus on whether there is a morally relevant distinction between doing something versus allowing something.
Kamm - Morality, Action, and Outcome:
Exploration of the moral relevance of intentions, actions, and consequences.
Distinction between allowing and initiating harm.
Consideration of rights and justice within consequentialist systems.
The relationship between virtues and moral action.
The complex relationship between moral judgments and the human will.
The connection between benevolence and moral action.
Week 6: Virtue Ethics
Important Vocab: Virtue, vice, character, eudaimonia (happiness or flourishing), the Golden Mean, phronesis (practical wisdom).
Key Info: Emphasizes the role of character and the development of virtues in moral life.
Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics:
Every action aims at some good.
The highest good is happiness (eudaimonia).
Premise 1: All human activities aim at some end or good.
Premise 2: Happiness is the ultimate end that is desired for its own sake.
Conclusion: The purpose of ethics is to understand and achieve happiness.
Virtues as character states.
Doctrine of the Mean: Virtue is an intermediate state between extremes.
Hursthouse - Virtue Ethics:
Focus on character and being a good person.
Virtues generate prescriptions (v-rules).
Premise 1: Virtues and vices generate adjectives describing people and actions.
Premise 2: Every virtue generates a prescription (do what is benevolent), and every vice a prohibition (do not do what is malevolent).
Conclusion: Virtue ethics provides action guidance through v-rules based on virtues and vices.
Practical wisdom (phronesis) is needed to apply virtues correctly.
Moral knowledge is gained through learning and experience.
Week 7: Care Ethics
Important Vocab: Ethics of care, relationality, interdependence, empathy, responsiveness, justice, impartiality.
Key Info: Focuses on the importance of care, relationships, and context in moral decision-making.
Held - The Ethics of Care:
Emphasis on the importance of care and relationships in morality.
Critique of dominant moral theories for neglecting care.
Premise 1: Dominant moral theories focus on abstract reasoning, impartiality, and independent individuals.
Premise 2: These theories neglect the moral significance of care, emotions, and particular relationships.
Conclusion: Moral theories should prioritize care, connectedness, and the needs of particular others.
Five major features of care ethics: focus on particular others, value on emotion, rejection of abstract reasoning, reconceptualization of public vs. private life, critique of liberal individualism.
Persons as relational and interdependent.
Care as both a practice and a value.
Integrating care and justice.
Premise 1: Both care and justice are essential moral considerations.
Premise 2: Care addresses relational needs and responsiveness, while justice ensures fairness and rights.
Conclusion: An adequate moral framework should integrate both care and justice, recognizing their distinct contributions.
Care as a political ideal.
Ethics of care is not simply a kind of virtue ethics.
The ethics of care rejects the sharp split between public and private.
Gilligan's "care perspective" emphasizes people's needs, how actual relations between people can be maintained or repaired, and values narrative and sensitivity to context in arriving at moral judgments.
Week 8: Moral Pluralism and Ross
Important Vocab: Moral pluralism, prima facie duties, duty proper, fidelity, reparation, gratitude, beneficence, non-maleficence.
Key Info: Argues that there are multiple, distinct moral duties that can conflict, requiring judgment and practical wisdom to resolve.
Ross - What Makes Right Acts Right:
There are many distinct grounds for moral duty, which each generate a prima facie duty.
Premise 1: Moral duties arise from various relationships and circumstances.
Premise 2: Each of these grounds (fidelity, gratitude, etc.) generates a prima facie duty.
Conclusion: Morality is based on multiple, distinct duties rather than a single principle.
Our duty proper depends on which prima facie duty 'wins out', and figuring this out requires a sort of practical wisdom.
Prima facie duties: fidelity, reparation, gratitude, beneficence, non-maleficence.
Duties can conflict, requiring reasoning to determine actual duty.
Rejection of the idea that every duty is so for the same reason.
There is nothing arbitrary about these prima facie duties.
Memorization
1. Overview of Normative Ethical Theories
Normative ethical theories provide frameworks for determining what is morally right or wrong. These theories try to explain the connection between moral obligations and values.
Three major types:
Consequentialism: Focuses on outcomes or consequences of actions.
Deontology: Focuses on duties or rules, irrespective of consequences.
Virtue Ethics: Emphasizes character and virtues.
2. Consequentialism
Core Idea: An action is morally right if it produces the best overall consequences.
Key Question: "What action will lead to the best outcome?".
Types of Consequentialism:
Utilitarianism: A form of consequentialism that focuses on maximizing overall happiness or utility.
Principle of Utility: Actions are approved or disapproved based on their tendency to increase or decrease happiness. Right actions produce pleasure and absence of pain, while wrong actions produce pain and privation of pleasure.
Thinkers: Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill.
Bentham's Approach: Defines the principle of utility as that which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency it appears to have to augment or diminish happiness.
Mill's View: Argues for a fundamental principle or law at the root of all morality.
Evaluating Pleasure and Pain (Bentham): Consider intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent (number of persons affected).
Slogan: "The good is prior to the right".
Criticisms/Worries:
Can lead to counterintuitive results.
Potential justification of actions that might be considered immoral.
3. Deontology
Core Idea: Moral judgments should be derived from reason. Certain actions are inherently right or wrong, regardless of consequences.
Key Question: "Does this action adhere to moral rules or duties?".
Thinker: Immanuel Kant.
Emphasis: Rationality and intellectual capacity of human beings.
A Priori Knowledge: Moral concepts originate in reason, not from experience.
Categorical Imperative: A moral law that is unconditional and absolute.
Two Main Formulations:
Formula of Universal Law: Act only according to a maxim that you can will to become a universal law.
Example: Making a false promise when in need of money violates this formula because if everyone made false promises, the concept of promise would become meaningless.
Formula of Humanity: 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.
Duties:
Perfect Duties: Obligations that have no exceptions.
Example: The duty not to commit suicide.
Imperfect Duties: Duties that allow for some exceptions.
Example: The duty to develop one's talents.
Four Types of Duties: Duties to oneself (perfect and imperfect) and duties to others (perfect and imperfect).
Slogan: The good is NOT prior to the right.
Focus: Adherence to moral laws or duties.
Critiques/Worries:
Can be complex to understand and apply.
Potential for conflicting duties.
4. Virtue Ethics
Core Idea: Morality depends on character rather than consequences or rules.
Emphasis: Cultivating virtues to lead a moral life.
Key Question: "What would a virtuous person do in this situation?".
Thinker: Aristotle.
Virtue as a Mean: Virtues are character states that represent a balance between two extremes.
Example: Courage is the mean between recklessness (excess) and cowardice (deficiency).
Phronesis (Practical Wisdom): The ability to know what to do in a particular situation.
Moral Knowledge: Acquired through learning and experience.
V-Rules: Moral rules derived from virtues and vices (e.g., be honest, don't be selfish).
Eudaimonia: Often translated as "happiness" or "flourishing," it refers to a state of living well and doing well.
Critiques/Worries:
Can be challenging to apply in specific situations.
May not provide clear guidance in cases of conflicting virtues.
5. Pluralism
Core Idea: There are multiple distinct grounds for moral duty.
Key Figure: Ross.
Prima Facie Duties: Duties that are conditional and can be overridden by other duties.
Examples: Fidelity, reparation, gratitude, beneficence, non-maleficence.
Duty Proper: The duty that 'wins out' in a specific situation.
Practical Wisdom: Needed to determine which prima facie duty is the duty proper.
Compromise: Attempts to incorporate elements from utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics.
6. Ethics of Care
Core Idea: Emphasizes the importance of relationships, caring, and meeting the needs of particular others.
Focus: Moral significance of attending to and meeting the needs of those for whom we take responsibility.
Values: Emotion (sympathy, empathy, sensitivity) in moral reasoning.
Critique of Abstract Reasoning: Rejects the idea that abstract reasoning is always better for avoiding bias.
Conception of Persons: Views individuals as relational and interdependent.
Care as Labor: Highlights the work and energy expenditure in caring activities.
Political Implications: Advocates for meeting needs for care as a high social goal.
Rejection of Public/Private Split: Argues care is a societal value, not just a private one.
Critiques/Worries:
Potential for conflicting moral demands.
Possible inability to prioritize relationships.
7. Subjectivity vs. Objectivity in Ethics
Subjectivity: Moral considerations can seem subjective.
Objectivity: The claim that there are objective values.
Argument from Queerness: If objective values existed, they would be very different from anything else in the universe.
Enoch's View: Argues for the objectivity of morality.
Tests for Objectivity:
Spinach Test.
Phenomenology-of-Disagreement-and-Deliberation Test.
Counterfactual Test.
Objective facts are discovered, not made true.
8. Cultural Relativism
Core Idea: Moral beliefs and practices vary across cultures.
Challenge: Raises questions about universal moral principles.
AAA Statement on Human Rights: Emphasizes the importance of respecting cultural differences.
Individual vs. Culture: Individuals realize their personality through their culture.
Respect for Differences: Validated by the fact that no technique of qualitatively evaluating cultures has been discovered.
9. Key Questions for Comparison:
What makes an action morally right?
What role do consequences play in determining morality?
Are there universal moral principles?
How do we acquire moral knowledge?
What is the role of emotions in moral decision-making?
Themes
Metaethics
This branch addresses the fundamental nature of morality. It grapples with questions about the objectivity of moral values, the existence of moral truths, and the meaning of moral terms.
Realism:
Argues that moral values are objective and exist independently of personal opinion.
Core Vocabulary: Response-independent truth, objectivity.
Arguments:
Enoch's View: The compelling appearance of objectivity in morality gives good reason to think that morality is indeed objective.
Enoch's Tests for Objectivity: Includes the spinach test, the phenomenology of disagreement, and the counterfactual test.
Enoch's Response to Skepticism: Sceptics cannot appeal to moral disagreement without risking self-defeat.
Values: A core set of shared values is seen as necessary for societal existence. Examples include caring for children, truth-telling, and prohibiting murder.
Antirealism:
Denies the existence of objective moral values.
Core Vocabulary: Moral relativism, subjectivity.
Arguments:
Moral Relativism: Moral codes differ across societies. This stems from the claim that ideas of right and wrong are found everywhere, but they differ in their expression, and there is no method for definitively saying which is better or worse.
Mackie's Error Theory: Claims to objectivity in moral judgements are false.
Mackie's Argument from Queerness: Objective moral values, if they existed, would be unlike anything else in the universe and would require a special faculty of moral perception.
Normative Ethics
Consequentialism:
Focuses on the outcomes of actions to determine morality.
Core Vocabulary: Utility, maximization, intrinsic value, disvalue.
Central Idea: An action is morally right if it produces the best overall consequences.
Utilitarianism: A type of consequentialism that aims to maximize overall happiness or utility.
Bentham's Principle of Utility: Approves or disapproves of actions based on their impact on happiness.
Mill's Greatest Happiness Principle: Actions are right as they tend to promote happiness and wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.
Arguments:
The only rational morality involves increasing what humans are designed to seek (pleasure) and minimizing what humans are designed to avoid (pain).
Slogan: "The good is prior to the right".
Deontology:
Focuses on moral duties and rules, irrespective of consequences.
Core Vocabulary: Categorical imperative, maxim, universal law, duty (perfect and imperfect).
Central Idea: Certain actions are inherently right or wrong, regardless of their outcomes.
Kant's Categorical Imperative: Act only according to a maxim that you can will to become a universal law. Treat humanity as an end, never merely as a means.
Types of Duties: Perfect duties admit no exceptions, while imperfect duties allow for them.
Arguments:
Moral concepts originate a priori in reason, not from empirical examples.
Slogan: The good is NOT prior to the right.
Virtue Ethics:
Emphasizes character and virtues as the basis of morality.
Core Vocabulary: Virtue, vice, character, practical wisdom (phronesis).
Central Idea: Morality depends on character rather than consequences or rules.
Aristotle: Virtues are character states that strike a balance between two extremes.
The function of human beings is to be rational.
Moral virtues include courage, generosity and temperance. Intellectual virtues include wisdom and prudence.
Phronesis (Practical Wisdom): Knowing how to act in specific situations.
V-Rules: Moral guidelines derived from virtues and vices.
Care Ethics:
Emphasizes relationships, caring, and meeting the needs of particular others.
Core Vocabulary: Care, relationships, dependence, relationality, needs.
Central Idea: The compelling moral salience of attending to and meeting the needs of particular others for whom we take responsibility.
Values Emotion: Sympathy, empathy, sensitivity in moral reasoning.
Critique of Abstract Reasoning: Questions the idea that abstract reasoning is always better for avoiding bias.
Conception of Persons: Views individuals as relational and interdependent.
Held's Five Major Features: Focus on particular others, value on emotion, rejection of abstract reasoning, reconceptualization of public vs. private life, critiques of liberal individualism.
Care as Labor: Caring activities involve work and energy.
Pluralism:
Recognizes multiple distinct grounds for moral duty.
Core Vocabulary: Prima facie duties, duty proper.
Central Idea: There are many distinct grounds for moral duty, each generating a prima facie duty.
Ross: Duty proper depends on which prima facie duty is most important.
Prima Facie Duties: Include fidelity, reparation, gratitude, beneficence, and non-maleficence.
Requires practical wisdom to discern which duty is the duty proper.
Practice Quiz/Questions
Quiz
Instructions: Answer the following questions in 2-3 sentences each.
What is the core difference between moral skepticism as a first-order view versus a second-order view, according to Mackie?
Explain Bentham's view on the role of pain and pleasure in human life.
According to Mill, what is the ultimate standard of utilitarian morality?
What are Kant's hypothetical and categorical imperatives, and how do they differ?
Briefly explain Kant's Formula of Universal Law.
How does Kant define "autonomy of the will," and why is it essential to his moral theory?
According to Aristotle, what is the function of a human being, and how does it relate to happiness?
Explain Aristotle's concept of virtue as a "mean."
What does Hursthouse mean by "v-rules," and how do they guide action in virtue ethics?
What is a prima facie duty according to Ross, and how does it relate to our duty proper?
Quiz Answer Key
First-order moral skepticism involves rejecting or condemning conventional morality and taking a normative stand, while second-order moral skepticism questions the objectivity and status of moral values in the world, without necessarily rejecting morality. One addresses what is right or wrong, the other addresses whether right and wrong even exist.
Bentham argues that nature has placed mankind under the governance of pain and pleasure, which dictate what we ought to do and determine what we shall do. He viewed these as sovereign masters, forming the foundation of right and wrong.
Mill defines the ultimate standard of utilitarian morality as the greatest amount of happiness altogether, not merely the agent's own happiness, but the happiness of all concerned. The focus is on maximizing overall well-being for everyone.
A hypothetical imperative commands an action as a means to some other end (e.g., studying to get a good grade), while a categorical imperative commands an action for its own sake, regardless of any further purpose (e.g., not lying). The former is conditional, the latter is unconditional and represents moral law.
The Formula of Universal Law states that one should only act according to a maxim that one can, at the same time, will to become a universal law. This requires considering whether the reason for action could be adopted by everyone without contradiction.
Autonomy of the will, for Kant, is the capacity of a rational being to legislate moral laws for themselves, rather than being subject to external influences or desires (heteronomy). It's essential because true moral action comes from internal, rational self-governance, not external forces.
According to Aristotle, the function of a human being is an activity of the soul that implies a rational principle. Happiness, or eudaimonia, is achieved when this function is performed excellently, in accordance with virtue, over a complete life.
Aristotle views virtue as a means between two extremes: excess and deficiency. For example, courage is the mean between recklessness (excess) and cowardice (deficiency), representing a balanced and appropriate response.
Hursthouse describes v-rules as prescriptions and prohibitions generated by the virtues and vices. For instance, the virtue of benevolence generates the prescription to do what is benevolent, while the vice of malevolence generates the prohibition against doing what is malevolent.
Ross defines a prima facie duty as a duty that is always important and generates an all-things-considered duty, provided that no other reasons are weightier in the situation. Duty proper is whichever prima facie duty wins out. It is a moral consideration that is binding unless overridden by a stronger one.
Essay Questions
Compare and contrast utilitarianism and deontology as approaches to ethical decision-making. In what situations might these theories lead to different conclusions, and why?
Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of virtue ethics as a normative ethical theory. How does it compare to consequentialist and deontological approaches in terms of action guidance?
Evaluate Ross's pluralistic approach to ethics. How does his concept of prima facie duties address the limitations of both utilitarianism and deontology, and what challenges does his theory face?
Explore the concept of moral skepticism. What are its implications for moral reasoning and the possibility of objective moral truths?
Analyze the role of happiness in ethical theories. How do different ethical frameworks (e.g., utilitarianism, virtue ethics) conceptualize and prioritize happiness as a moral goal?
Glossary of Key Terms
Antirealism: The view that moral facts or values do not exist independently of human minds or practices.
Consequentialism: An ethical theory holding that the morality of an action is determined solely by its consequences.
Deontology: An ethical theory emphasizing moral duties and rules, regardless of consequences.
Duty Proper: In Ross's ethical framework, this is the actual duty one should perform in a specific situation after considering all prima facie duties.
Eudaimonia: A Greek term, often translated as "happiness" or "flourishing," representing a state of living well and fulfilling one's potential (Aristotle).
Hypothetical Imperative: A command of reason that depends on a person's desires or goals (Kant).
Maxim: A subjective principle or rule guiding an individual's action (Kant).
Moral Skepticism: The view that we cannot have moral knowledge, or that moral claims lack justification.
Phronesis: Practical wisdom or moral insight, enabling one to make correct moral decisions (Aristotle, Hursthouse).
Prima Facie Duty: A duty that is binding unless overridden by a more compelling duty (Ross).
Principle of Utility: The principle that actions are right insofar as they promote happiness or pleasure and wrong as they tend to produce unhappiness or pain (Bentham, Mill).
Universal Law: A principle that can be consistently willed as a law for everyone (Kant).
Utility Monsters: Utility monsters are beings, hypothetical or otherwise, who derive an enormous amount of pleasure from any given unit of resources.
V-rules: Rules derived from the virtues and vices that provide action guidance (Hursthouse).
Virtue Ethics: An ethical theory emphasizing the development of virtuous character traits as the basis for moral action.
Briefing Docs
I. Core Themes:
The Nature of Morality: The sources explore different perspectives on what constitutes morality, encompassing questions about its objectivity, sources, and application in specific situations.
Normative Ethical Theories: A central focus is on examining and contrasting various normative ethical theories like consequentialism (utilitarianism), deontology (Kantian ethics), virtue ethics, and pluralism. The texts analyze their strengths, weaknesses, and practical implications.
Duty and Obligation: The concept of duty and obligation arises frequently, particularly in discussions of deontology and pluralism. Different theories offer competing accounts of the basis and nature of our moral duties.
The Role of Reason and Emotion: The interplay between reason and emotion in moral decision-making is explored. Some theories (like Kantian deontology) prioritize reason, while others (like virtue ethics) emphasize the cultivation of appropriate emotions.
Practical Application of Moral Theories: The sources often ground theoretical discussions in concrete examples and scenarios, highlighting the challenges and complexities of applying ethical frameworks to real-world moral dilemmas.
II. Key Ideas and Facts from Each Source:
Antirealism (1).pdf:Moral considerations can seem subjective, as different individuals may hold differing opinions on what is right or wrong.
Quote: "it initially ‘seems to me’ that I ought to return the wallet, but someone else might think otherwise."
Consequentialism.pdf:Consequentialism evaluates the morality of an action based on its consequences.
Bentham's utilitarianism is based on the idea that humans are governed by pain and pleasure, which should be maximized. Quote: "Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure... They govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think" (Bentham).
Normative claims make recommendations about what we ought to do, while reasons claims provide justifications for actions.
Pluralism (1).pdf:Ross's pluralism proposes that there are multiple distinct grounds for moral duty, resulting in prima facie duties. Quote: “When I ask what it is that makes me in certain cases sure that I have a prima facie duty to do so and so, I find that it lies in the fact that I have made a promise; when I ask the same question in another case, I find the answer lies s in the fact that I have done a wrong."
These duties can conflict, requiring practical wisdom to determine the 'duty proper.'
Ross identifies prima facie duties: Fidelity, Reparation, Gratitude, Beneficence, Non-Maleficence.
Ross argues that prima facie duties are self-evident. Quote: “[I]n both cases we are dealing with propositions that cannot be proved, but that just as certainly need no proof”
Virtue Ethics (1).pdf:Virtue ethics focuses on character and the cultivation of virtues like courage, generosity, and temperance. Quote: "to feel them at the right times, with reference to the right objects, towards the right people, with the right motive, and in the right way, is what is both intermediate and best, and this is characteristic of virtue".
Phronesis (practical wisdom) is crucial for knowing how to act in specific situations.
Virtues generate prescriptions and prohibitions ('V-rules').
Aristotle emphasizes the importance of controlling desires through cultivating virtues.
W5 Deontology lecture.mp4:Deontology, particularly Kantian ethics, views humans as rational beings capable of understanding and acting according to moral laws.
Bentham's principle of utility: "by the principle of utility is meant that principle which approves or disapproves of every action. What whatsoever according to the tendency it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question or what is the same thing in other words to promote or oppose that happiness."
Kant differentiates between hypothetical imperatives (conditional commands) and categorical imperatives (unconditional moral laws).
The categorical imperative has two formulations: the formula of universal law (act only according to maxims that can be universalized) and the formula of humanity (treat humanity as an end, never merely as a means).
Kant identifies four types of duties: perfect duties to ourselves (e.g., refrain from suicide), imperfect duties to ourselves (e.g., develop talents), perfect duties to others (e.g., refrain from false promises), and imperfect duties to others (e.g., contribute to their happiness).
W1 - Plato The Ring of Gyges (1).pdf:The Ring of Gyges thought experiment questions whether people would remain just if they could act without consequences. Quote: "People think that no one would be sufficiently iron-willed to remain within the bounds of justice."
It suggests that justice may be practiced out of compulsion rather than intrinsic value. Quote: "Justice is not thought to be a good thing for individuals, since wherever anyone thinks he can do wrong, he does do wrong"
W2 - Mackie The Subjectivity of Values (2).pdf:Mackie argues for moral skepticism, the view that values are not objective or part of the fabric of the world.
- He distinguishes between first-order moral views (normative stances) and second-order views (about the status of moral values).
- The desire to know "whether this course of action would be wrong in itself" highlights the common belief in objective moral wrongness.
- W4 - Bentham An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1).pdf:Bentham outlines the principle of utility, which approves or disapproves of actions based on their tendency to increase or diminish happiness. Quote: "Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do."
He presents a method for calculating the value of pleasures and pains, considering intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent.
W4 - Mill Utilitarianism (1).pdf:Mill defends utilitarianism, asserting that pleasure and freedom from pain are the only things desirable as ends. Quote: "pleasure, and freedom from pain, are the only things desirable as ends; and that all desirable things...are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves, or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain."
He argues that utilitarianism aims for the greatest amount of happiness altogether, not just the agent's own happiness.
Mill acknowledges that some object to happiness being the goal and suggests the importance of mitigating unhappiness.
Mill argues that the multiplication of happiness is the object of virtue.
W5 - Kamm Morality, Action, and Outcome (1).pdf:Kamm critiques consequentialism, arguing that it can justify inherently bad actions if they prevent more of the same.
She challenges the assumption that moral judgments should be based solely on evaluating states of affairs.
Kamm rejects the idea of "good states of affairs" divorced from individual agents' values and moral principles.
W5 - Kant Groundwork (1).pdf:Kant asserts that moral laws must hold for all rational beings, not just humans.
He distinguishes between hypothetical and categorical imperatives, with morality based on the latter. Quote: "[One] must put the thought right out of one’s mind that the reality of this principle can be derived from some particular property of human nature. For duty is to be practical unconditional necessity of action; it must thus hold for all rational beings (to which an imperative can at all apply), and only in virtue of this be a law also for every human will."
Kant provides examples of duties derived from the categorical imperative, such as the duty not to commit suicide or make false promises.
He emphasizes the importance of treating humanity as an end in itself, not merely as a means.
W6 - Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics (2).pdf:Aristotle defines human good as activity of the soul in accordance with virtue. Quote: "human good turns out to be activity of soul in accordance with virtue, and if there are more than one virtue, in accordance with the best and most complete."
He describes virtue as a mean between extremes of excess and defect. Quote: "to feel them at the right times, with reference to the right objects, towards the right people, with the right motive, and in the right way, is what is both intermediate and best, and this is characteristic of virtue"
Aristotle discusses the virtue of pride, which involves claiming what is in accordance with one's merits.
He distinguishes between different kinds of self-love, arguing that the good man should love himself in the sense of loving and cultivating his rational nature.
W6 - Hursthouse Virtue Ethics (1).pdf:Hursthouse elaborates on virtue ethics, emphasizing the importance of phronesis (moral wisdom) for making correct moral decisions. Quote: "Phronesis is the knowledge that enables its possessor to make correct moral decisions about what to do—to reason correctly about what is right; we translate it as (moral or practical) wisdom."
She explains that virtues generate prescriptions (V-rules), such as "do what is benevolent" and vices generate prohibitions.
Hursthouse stresses that the understanding of virtues and vices is subtle, nuanced, and context-dependent.
W8 - Ross What Makes Right Acts Right.pdf:Ross proposes that there are several distinct grounds for moral duty. Quote: "When a plain man fulfils a promise because he thinks he ought to do so, it seems clear that he does so with no t'hought of its total consequences, still less with any opinion that these ilre likely to be the best possible. He thinks in fact much more of the past than of the futllre."
He argues that these are prima facie duties, creating the correct verdict to reach in particular cases.
III. Key Contrasts and Debates:
Consequentialism vs. Deontology: The tension between focusing on outcomes (consequentialism) and adhering to moral rules or duties (deontology) is a recurring theme. Is it ever right to break a promise to achieve a better outcome? Is an action inherently wrong regardless of its consequences?
Objectivity vs. Subjectivity: The debate about whether moral values are objective (existing independently of human opinion) or subjective (based on individual feelings or beliefs) is explored, particularly in Mackie's argument for moral skepticism.
Universal Principles vs. Contextual Judgment: The sources grapple with the challenge of applying universal moral principles to diverse and complex situations. Virtue ethics emphasizes the importance of practical wisdom (phronesis) in navigating moral dilemmas.
Egoism vs. Altruism: The "Ring of Gyges" and Aristotle's discussion of self-love raise questions about the relationship between self-interest and morality. Can genuinely moral behavior stem from self-love, or must it involve sacrificing one's own interests for the sake of others?
IV. Implications and Applications:
Understanding these different ethical frameworks can provide a more nuanced approach to moral decision-making.
The sources encourage critical reflection on the underlying assumptions and values that shape our moral judgments.
The examination of practical examples and scenarios highlights the complexities and challenges of applying ethical theories to real-world situations.
These moral theories attempt to answer the questions: is something wrong because we don't like it, or do we dislike it because it is wrong?
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