1. MNU Five Other Ethical Systems Dr. Judy Martin Session 7 – February 18, 2014

2. 5 Other Systems Kantian – It’s Your Duty Virtue – Be Good Situation – All You Need Is Love Natural Law – Doing What Comes Naturally Divine Command Theory – God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It

3. Kantian – It’s Your Duty More than any other philosopher, Kant emphasized the way in which the moral life was centered on duty.

4. Kant’s Duty Ethics For Kant, the morally important thing is not consequences but the way choosers think when they make choices. Kant says that only one [kind of] thing is inherently good, and that is the good will. The will found in humans but not nonhuman animals not a material thing it is our power of rational moral choice its presence gives humans their inherent dignity

5. Definition Kantian ethics is a theory on how one should act. The theory focuses on how one should act without putting into consideration the consequences of the particular action,

6. Food for Thougth What makes the will good? The will is good when it acts out of duty, not out of inclination. What does it mean to act out of inclination? To do something because it makes you feel good or because you hope to gain something from it. What does it mean to act out of duty? Kant says this means that we should act from respect for the moral law. How do we do that? We must know what the moral law is. How do we know that? We use the "Categorical Imperative."

7. Kantian Ethics CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE Act only on those maxims (or rules of action) that you could at the same time will to be a universal law.

8. Kantian Ethics in 6 Minutes Kantian Ethics in less than 6 minutes

9. Virtue: Be Good Virtue ethics is a broad term for theories that emphasize the role of character and virtue in moral philosophy rather than either doing one’s duty or acting in order to bring about good consequences. A virtue ethicist is likely to give you this kind of moral advice: “Act as a virtuous person would act in your situation.”charactermoral philosophy

10. Virtue Virtue-based ethical theories place less emphasis on which rules people should follow and instead focus on helping people develop good character traits, such as kindness and generosity. These character traits will, in turn, allow a person to make the correct decisions later on in life. Virtue theorists also emphasize the need for people to learn how to break bad habits of character, like greed or anger. These are called vices and stand in the way of becoming a good person.

11. Virtue Ethics Key questions which virtue ethical systems ask include: What sort of person do I want to be? What virtues are characteristic of the person I want to be? What actions will cultivate the virtues I want to possess? What actions will be characteristic of the sort of person I want to be?

12. Situational Ethics Situation ethics teaches that ethical decisions should follow flexible guidelines rather than absolute rules, and be taken on a case by case basis.

13. Situational Ethics A person who practices situation ethics approaches ethical problems with some general moral principles rather than a rigorous set of ethical laws and is prepared to give up even those principles if doing so will lead to a greater good.

14. Good Points of Situational Ethics It's personal Situation ethics is a personal approach - Situation ethics is sensitive to circumstances, context, particularity, and cultural traditions. Every moral decision is required to demonstrate respect for individuals and communities and the things that they regard as valuable. This avoids the logical, detached, impersonal ways of thinking that some people think are overemphasised in some other forms of ethics. It's particular Because moral decisions are treated on a case-by-case basis, the decision is always tailored to particular situations. It's based on doing good Situation ethics teaches that right acts are those motivated by the wish to promote the well-being of people.

15. Bad points of Situational Ethics It excludes most universal moral truths By doing this it seems to remove any possibility of guaranteeing universal human rights, and satisfying human needs for a useful ethical framework for human behaviour. It's not clear what 'love' means Although the notion of love used in situation ethics seems attractive, it's pretty vague and can be interpreted in many ways. It's difficult to implement Situation ethics seems to be little more than a form of act consequentialism, in that a person can only choose the right thing to do if they consider all the consequences of their possible action, and all the people who may be affected. It can't produce consistent results Situation ethics produces a lack of consistency from one situation to the next. It may be both easier, and more just and loving, to treat similar situations similarly - thus situation ethics should not be treated as a free-for-all, but should look for precedents while continuing to reject rigid ethical rules. It may approve of 'evil' acts Situation ethics teaches that particular types of action don't have an inherent moral value - whether they are good or bad depends on the eventual result. So it seems that situation ethics permits a person to carry out acts that are generally regarded as bad, such as killing and lying, if those acts lead to a sufficiently good result.

16. Natural Law Ethics Natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature — both social and personal — and deduce binding rules of moral behavior from it.

17. Natural Law: 9 Summary Points 1.the natural law is given by God [in laws of nature together with human reason] 2.is naturally authoritative over all human beings [is necessarily binding on everyone, not subject to individual choice: to reject it is to be evil] 3.is naturally knowable by all human beings [those with defective reasoning must defer to those with better reasoning] 4.the good [consisting of our natural, common ends] is prior to the right 5.right action is action that responds nondefectively to the good [Right action aims appropriately at our natural, common ends] 6.there are a variety of ways in which action can be defective with respect to the good [and a variety of ways to reach our natural, common ends] 7.some of these ways can be captured and formulated as general rules [and some allow for a range of interpretations]

18. Continued 8.When there is more than one way to reach our natural, common ends, human law is rightfully introduced to supplement natural law. 9. A human law is morally binding if it meets five validity conditions: – It must be reasonable [which includes recognition of all of our basic human interests]. – It must be made by someone with appropriate authority in that community. – It must be directed toward the common good. – It must be promulgated. – It must be just.

19. Divine Command Theory God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It

20. Divine Command Theory Divine Command Theory is the view that morality is somehow dependent upon God, and that moral obligation consists in obedience to God’s commands. Divine Command Theory includes the claim that morality is ultimately based on the commands or character of God, and that the morally right action is the one that God commands or requires.

21. A moral theory or framework according to which actions are right or wrong because of God's commands. Stealing is wrong because the Ten Commandments prohibit it.

22. Arguments for Divine Command Theory 1.God created the universe and everything in it, including human beings. 2.If God created human beings, then God has an absolute claim on our obedience. 3. If God has an absolute claim on our obedience, then we should always obey God's commands. 4. Therefore, the Divine Command theory is true.

23. Arguments Against Divine Command Theory 1.If the Divine Command theory is true, then we should always obey God's commands, no matter what they are. 2.2. If we should always obey God's commands, no matter what they are, then we should do so even if God were to command us to commit atrocities, such as to create as much pain among innocent children as possible. 3.3. It is absurd to think that we should create as much pain among innocent children as possible, even if God were to command us to do so. 4.4. Therefore, the Divine Command theory is not true.

24. Recap the 5 Other Systems Kantian – It’s Your Duty Virtue – Be Good Situation – All You Need Is Love Natural Law – Doing What Comes Naturally Divine Command Theory – God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It