A balance between theory and practice TOK and Ethics A balance between theory and practice

Some major ethical thinkers Plato Aristotle Immanuel Kant Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill Nietzsche You

PLATO b.427BC Plato believed in an absolute standard of goodness, independent of God; The Form of Good, just like the Form of Beauty, exists timelessly and spacelessly; The main pursuit of the philosophical life is to escape a world of shadows, and see the clear, bright light of the forms; Balance of wisdom, courage and self-control.

Problems with Plato? Highly elitist; only a few philosophers (men!) will ever come close to the Form of Good; Strongly opposed to democracy; the greatest number of people do not necessarily think morally; Plato assumes that those who “come out of the cave” will necessarily act morally. Is this human nature? No allowance for moral relativism.

ARISTOTLE 384-322BC “Nicomachean Ethics” describes the various qualities of mind and character necessary for moral conduct; The Supreme Good is “Happiness” (which the Greeks called Eudaimon; hence Eudaimonism); Community is central; there is no such thing as a free-thinking individual.

Aristotle and Virtue Theory Aristotle believed there were moral virtues and intellectual virtues; Everyone has the potential to develop these virtues, but only a few will; “Doctrine of the Mean”- We must avoid excess or deficiency; Friendship is the key aim of a moral life.

Problems with Aristotle It is easy to cultivate the virtues if you are wealthy and your every need is catered for by slaves (and women)! Arguably he is racist; a non-Greek is likely to be barbarous and sub-human; He is also sexist and speciesist; Bertrand Russell says “The sufferings of mankind… do not move him”.

Immanuel Kant 1724-1804 All moral concepts have their origin a priori; Morality is deontological; A human being should act rationally to eliminate desires which tend to undermine rational decision making; We must be free to make decisions.

Kant’s Maxims The underlying principle which motivates an action and determines its moral worth, is called a maxim. “Always tell the truth.” “Always tell the truth, unless you are sure you can get away with lying,” is not a moral maxim.

Kant’s Categorical Imperative Only act on a maxim that you could will a universal law; Always treat others as ends, never as means to an end (love thy neighbour); Act as if through your maxims you were a law-making member of a kingdom of ends.

Problems with Kant Peter Singer would call it speciesist; Emotion seems to be subservient to reason; Many modern thinkers have a problem with a universal view of ethics; Pays no attention to the consequences of an action.

John Stuart Mill 1806-1873 Influenced by his friend and mentor Jeremy Bentham; Discussed his ethical theories in his book “Utilitarianism”. Utilitarianism is the moral theory which declares that the morally right action is the one which is most likely to maximise happiness.

The Greatest Happiness Principle Higher and lower pleasures; The ultimate aim of all human activity is happiness; It should be possible to calculate the greatest amount of happiness in any given situation; The theory is hedonistic.

Problems with Mill Who is to say that reading poetry is morally higher than playing pool? Are human beings really interested in pursuing happiness and avoiding pain? Are human beings really interested in pursuing a general happiness? There are lots of problems associated with calculating the greatest happiness.

Nietzsche (1844-1900) God is dead. Believed that western morality was based on outmoded moral concepts based on Christianity; By studying the etymology of moral concepts he attempts to cast doubt on the universality of morality; Those who have power should not be denied the natural expression of their power.

A question on ethics “Our technologies establish the truth of many of our scientific laws.” Is there any comparable means of establishing moral rules and norms?