Issues in Ethics-1

Descriptive morality Normative ethics

which moral principles are defensible

which actions are genuinely good or bad

Issues in Ethics-2

Relationship to religion Divine command theory Plato's Euthyphro

Evaluating ethical issues actions motives consequences character

Why Be Moral?-1

Glaucon's question again Why does society need morality? Why should I be moral?

Hobbes Morality and law protect society Motivation for individual?

Why Be Moral?-2

Religious answers Because God commands it Out of love for God

Plato: self-interest in keeping spiritual health

“Because it's right”

Theories of Ethics-1

Ethical relativism Subjective ethical relativism Conventional ethical relativism

Ethical objectivism

Ethical egoism

Theories of Ethics-2

Utilitarianism

Kantian ethics

Virtue ethics

Feminist ethics

Ethical Relativism

Action relativism Moral principles relativism Subjectivism: right or wrong is only

individual opinion Sophists Jean-Paul Sartre

Conventionalism

Defined: Morality is relative to each society

Herodotus Ruth Benedict: Anthropology and the

Abnormal John Ladd

Diversity thesis Dependency thesis

Ethical Objectivism

Defined: Certain moral principles are universal and objective

Absolutism: principles can never be overridden

Problems with relativism Is there a core morality?

Ethical Egoism

Defined: people should always do what is in their self-interest

Psychological egoism Altruism Types of ethical egoism

personal individual universal

Arguments for Universal Ethical Egoism-1

Selfishness versus self-interest

Argument 1: Psychological egoism Bishop Butler

Argument 2: Egoism leads to the best society Adam Smith

Arguments for Universal Ethical Egoism-2

Argument 3: Egoism Is the ultimate ethical principle Ayn Rand's Objectivism The Virtue of Selfishness

Egoism and the conflict of interests

Utilitarianism

Defined: the right action is that which produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number

Consequentialism, or teleological ethics morality of an act depends on the

desirability of its consequences utilitarianism is most common form

Bentham’s Utilitarianism

Psychological hedonism

Ethical hedonism

An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation

A calculus of pleasures and pain

Mill’s Utilitarianism

Qualitative and quantitative hedonism

Pleasures can differ in quality and amount

Utilitarianism is a form of objectivism, not relativism

The Consequences of Consequentialism

Norcross: Comparing Harms: Headaches and Human Lives “Lives for convenience”

Act-utilitarianism An action is right if its result is more

happiness than any other alternative Rule-utilitarianism

An action is right if it is required by a rule that would result in more happiness

Themes of Kantian Ethics

Irrelevance of consequences in determining moral rightness

Importance of consistency Irreducible dignity and worth of every

person Necessity of having moral absolutes

Kantian Ethics

Deontological ethics nonconsequentalist judgment of moral rightness based

on the intrinsic moral value of the act itself

Good will motivating force in all morality

Two Imperatives

Hypothetical imperative what means to use to achieve an end

Categorical imperative not dependent on prior conditions or

subjective desires has no qualifications universalizable reversible

Absolute Duties Prima facie duty

morally binding unless in conflict with more important duty

fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice, beneficence, self-improvement, nonmaleficence

Actual duty duty obligated to perform after circumstances

are considered

Virtue Ethics

Arete Virtue The problems with the utilitarian view The problems with the Kantian view

The Positive Case for Virtue Ethics-1

1. Virtues are necessary conditions for human flourishing and well-being

2. Moral rules are inadequate unless they are grounded in a virtue-based ethics

3. Judgments about character are more fundamental than judgments about the rightness or wrongness of conduct

The Positive Case for Virtue Ethics-2

4. Virtue ethics is more comprehensive, because it deals with the whole person and not simply the person in so far as he or she performs an action

5. The key to morality is found in the character of moral role models

Aristotle

Eudaimonia

Nicomachean Ethics

Intellectual and moral virtues

Doctrine of the mean

The Virtues in Confucian Thought

Doctrine of the mean

Analects

Characteristics of the superior person

Feminist Ethics-1

Care-focused Gilligan’s In a Different Voice Ethics of justice Ethics of care Maternal, care-focused ethics

(Held, Ruddick)

Feminist Ethics-2

Power-focused Friedman’s Liberating Care