Theories of Morality Kant Bentham Aristotle

Morality  Morality: Action for the sake of principle  Guides our beliefs about right and wrong  Sets limits on desires and actions  Where does Morality get its Authority?  (1) God  (2) Parents (i.e., commands, threats, modeling)  (3) Society (i.e., laws, mores, folkways)

Common Considerations in Morality  Should we follow rules/laws when it conflicts with our conscience?  Ought we follow our conscience? Why/Why Not?  Should we emphasize rules/principles or character/virtue?  What makes a law/principle moral?

3 Key Groups of Moral Theory:  1). Duty-Defined Moralities (Immanuel Kant)  Based on Authority  The principle itself that ought to be obeyed  2). Consequentialist Moralities (J. Bentham)  Based on the results of actions  Principle/Authority holds no moral weight  3). Virtue Ethics (Aristotle)  Based in Authority & results of actions  Virtues benefit the overall community & individual  One should avoid excess and deficiency

Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative  Categorical: Without Qualification  Imperative: Command/Order  Kant believed that our actions were not as important as our intentions in morality  Kant also believed all humans were capable, through reason, of figuring out right/wrong.  Reason is an authority ‘in’ us but it transcends us  Why be Moral?: “It is the rationale thing to do.”

Kant’s Categorical Imperative 1). Act only on that maxim [intention] whereby you can at the same time will that is/should be a universal law. 2). Act as if the maxim of your action were to become by your will a universal law of nature 3). Always act so as to treat humanity, whether in yourself or others, as an end in itself, never merely as a means 4). Always act as if to bring about, and as a member of, a Kingdom of Ends (that is, an ideal community)

The Utility Principle: “Always act for the greatest good for the greatest number of people.”  Places all emphasis on the actual consequences and insists morality is only justified by positive effects (how happy they make us)  For Bentham (pictured above) one shouldn’t ask the Kantian question: “What if everyone lied?” but instead: “What would be the actual consequences of me lying?”  Duty-defined makes no appeal to happiness/actual consequences (usually intended consequences)

Key Difference between Bentham & Mill: Quantity vs. Quality  For Bentham factors include: length, intensity, certainty of result, speed of result, number of people affected, mixture of pleasure/pain  For Mill: He insisted that there are different qualities of pleasure and pain as well as different quantities. It is better to be satisfied with a lower amount of a higher pleasure.  I.E.: “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.” pg.265

Aristotle: Virtue Ethics & The Doctrine of the Mean  Virtue: Morally good habits  needs teaching & repetition  Why be moral? So our lives go well (achieve Eudemonia) Usually we think of this as a selfish want, but Aristotle points out that people only think of their life as going well when the one’s they care about are also doing well. Are you happy when ________ is upset?  Morals must be habituated (made habit) through practice What does this say about “Protecting our children from tough material?”

The Virtues of Living Aristotle tries to create a list of universal virtues that any human needs to ensure their life goes well (achieves Eudemonia). He attempts to use only those which are fundamental, universal facts about human nature.  Courage, Temperance, Generosity, Self-control, Honesty, Sociability, Modesty, Fairness (Justice)  Character plays a large role in Aristotle’s model as well. It ties into habit. Our character is what we repeatedly do (e.g. I am a thief because I often steal).  Character is built up in our actions whenever we choose between what we would like to do and what we should do

The Doctrine of the Mean  Each of the virtues lies at a mean between two extremes (excess or deficiency).  Courage, therefore, lies at the mean before the excess (rashness) and deficiency (cowardice).  This is not a mathematical system. If eating 100 apples is too many and eating 0 apples is too few, that does NOT mean that eating 50 apples is the mean. Instead, mean is determined rationally (“as a prudent man would determine it”)  Thus, the proper mean is relative to the individual, not the situation.  “In this way, then, every knowledgeable person avoids excess and deficiency, but looks for the mean and chooses it”