What is Ethics

Morality is your sense of right and wrong What is Ethics Ethics is putting morality to practical use in decision making.

Following duties Where does morality or ethics come from? Deontological Ethics Do the maximum good Utilitarian or Consequentialist Ethics Virtuous people don’t need to worry about it Virtue Ethics What society generally says is right, is right Societal Ethics

Do what god told you to do Deontological Ethics Religious Ethics

Do what god told you to do Deontological Ethics Religious Ethics How do you know what he said? Does he tell you something is good because it is good and he has the wisdom to see that, Or is something good just because he says it is?

Do what god told you to do Deontological Ethics Religious Ethics Exodus 20/13: Thou shalt not kill. Exodus 22/18: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Exodus 22/19: Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.

Nobody can reliably predict the harm or good their actions will cause. So work out rules of behaviour that should in general be expected to cause the most good or the least harm. Always just follow those rules. No time to think it all through when situations arise. Deontological Ethics Rule-Utilitarian Ethics

Based on performing duties. People have a right to be free and happy. We have a duty to do things consistent with that right, and a duty not to do anything inconsistent with it. The only ethical action is to do your duty. The consequences of an action never matter, only the reason for it. Deontological Ethics Kantian Ethics

Duty is expressed as a set of rules, and being ethical is following those rules. The chief rules are: Kant Symmetry: Only do things to people if you would be happy for the situation to be reversed. Universalisability: Only do things if you would be happy for everyone to be doing those things.

Always do whatever causes the greatest total good. The consequences (or at least, the intended results) of your actions are what counts, not what those actions are. Utilitarian / Consequentialist Ethics Negative-Utilitarian Ethics Always do whatever will cause the least overall bad or unhappiness.

Good personal characteristics should be cultivated. People should have a personal tendency to (for example) be generous when it is appropriate. The virtuous person need not worry about ethics because they will naturally do the right thing. Aristotle’s big idea, and he was somewhat goofy. Virtue Ethics

What society generally says is right, is right. Obey the law. Your elders and betters know what is good for you. Societal Ethics

People from different societies often have very different ideas about right and wrong. There is no world consensus. What makes us so superior? Nobody has any business making judgments about people in other societies. Moral Relativism

Case 1. Why do we want Artificial Intelligences? What are robots for? What is intelligence?

What are robots for?What is intelligence?

Case 2. Copyright Some people want to make a living by creating or distributing works of art, music, literature, or even software.

Case 3a. Heroin Should you give a dose of heroin to an addict suffering from withdrawal because it would make him feel so much better, even though the long-term consequences would be bad?

Case 3b. Overpopulation Is it ethical to send food to the starving masses in the third world? It makes them better in the short term, but saving lives now results in even higher populations in the future. There will be worse food shortages, and even more suffering, starvation, and death.

Case 4. Harvest the Rich If we killed the 1000 richest people in the country and distributed all their wealth amongst the rest of us, how much suffering would that cause? How much good would it do?

OK then, what if we don’t kill them. Just seize their assets. The only bad thing that happens to them is that they now have to live like the rest of us do already. How can that be called suffering? If living like we all do is suffering, then surely it is our duty to do this.