1. AOK: Ethics “If you’re going to study ethics seriously, you must be prepared to examine your views critically and be open to a range of ideas that may be quite different from your own.” - R.Bowie

2. Defining Ethics and Morals Ethics Morals O from Greek word ethikos, meaning ‘character’ O Refers to customary way to behave in society O from Latin word moralis, O Concerned with which actions are right and which are wrong

3. Ethics, Morals and Don’t forget Values O Value is any object or quality desirable as a means or as an end in itself O We make judgments on our values based upon the belief that one is more right than wrong. It typically involves the words should and ought. O People should be married before they have children.

4. WHAT MAKES SOMETHING MORAL? O Complete the moral questionnaire worksheet. O What are some of the similarities between morally upright statements? O What are some of the similarities between morally neutral statements?

5. Moral Acts o Involve Agents o Involve Intentions o Affects Others

6. Moral Reasoning O Skeptics of moral knowledge claim that moral values and judgments are simply ‘matters of taste’. O Saying ‘abortion is wrong’ is no different to saying ‘I like spinach’. O Emotivist’s argue all moral debate is nothing more than a set of boos and cheers. O Do you agree with this?

7. Moral Relativism O According to moral relativism our values are determined by the society we grow up in, and there are no universal values. O Moral values are simply customs that vary from one culture to another.

8. Two arguments in support of moral relativism O The Diversity Argument – The sheer variety of moral practices suggests that there are no objective moral values. O The Lack of Foundations Argument – Moral values appear to be ungrounded or lacking in foundation.

9. Hume and the Problem of is and ought: O To highlight the lack of foundation to moral arguments consider: O Some people in the world are starving. – descriptive statement O Therefore, I ought to give some of my food to the starving. – normative statement O It can be seen that there is no logical link between what is the case, to what ought to be the case. How can the ought be derived from the is? This is the lack of foundation. O The argument is emotive but it is not rational/logical.

10. Does relativism imply tolerance? O One of the attractive features of moral relativism is that it seems to encourage a tolerant ‘live and let live’ attitude to other cultures. O Each and every culture’s values and beliefs are to be respected as no one cultures values are better or more important than another. O Tolerance therefore avoids – Cultural Imperialism.

11. However… O The belief in universal tolerance is not consistent with moral relativism. O Consider the following example…..

13. Moral Intuition and Moral Principles O Moral intuition is the idea that our actions appear to be morally good or morally wrong – it is a moral judgment O Torturing animals is morally wrong O Most people do not need to consult other beliefs to agree with this statement O Intuition is typically about a moral act or moral principle that is not the result of inferential reasoning (arises on its own)

14. Which of the following ‘cultural practices’ should we tolerate and which should ban? O Punishing adultery by stoning to death O Punishing murder by lethal injection O Female genital mutilation O Infanticide O Imprisoning suspected terrorists without trial O Discriminating against minority groups O Child Prostitution O Gentrification O Drug testing for welfare recipients O Polygamy

15. Arguments against moral relativism: Moral Absolutism O There appears to be shared moral values amongst all nations, people, culture and religions such as limiting violence, protecting property, promoting honesty etc. O The moral systems of the major world faiths contain very similar moral codes. O Some values can be justified as intuitively obvious. Admittedly it can’t be proved but it can be argued that ‘random torture is wrong’ is as obvious as 2+2=4

16. Self-Interest theory O The theory that human beings are always and everywhere selfish: there are four arguments to support this theory O Egoism is an aspect of this theory. This is the idea that one self should be the motivation and goal of one’s owns actions –this is a normative statement (a theory about how we ought to behave

17. The definitional argument O It is necessarily true that everyone is selfish. O You are being selfish when you do what you want to do and you always end up doing what you most want to do – otherwise you wouldn’t do it. O Hugh Heffner is comparable to Mother Theresa because there is no such thing as ‘genuine altruism’. O Altruism – principle of putting the welfare of others above one self.

18. The evolutionary argument O Human beings are naturally selfish creatures who are programmed to pursue their own interests. O Looking after number 1 is intrinsic to the struggle for survival.

19. The fear of punishment argument O Fear of punishment keeps us in line and prevents us from wrong doing. O The fear of a fine, imprisonment or even death is enough to deter most people from acting immorally. O Consider what it is like living in places where law and order has broken down. What do you think takes place?

21. The hidden benefits argument O We get various hidden benefits such as gratitude, praise, and a positive image of ourselves from being kind to other people. O If we help people when they’re in trouble then we can ask for help when we’re in trouble. O This correlates to the concept of Reciprocity or the Golden Rule which indicates that if we treat others how we hope to be treated they should in turn do the same for us.

22. Theories of Ethics O While it may be that some values are relative (Ethical Relativism) and that people are often selfish, we do not need to conclude that all values are relative and that people are always selfish. O It follows that there is room for the idea that there is such a thing as moral knowledge (Ethical Objectivism). O Ethics is the study of morals and moves this discussion into the academic realm

23. Religious Ethics O Often reduced to slavish obedience to religious codes of conduct laid out in holy writings: the Bible, Torah, Old Testament, Quran. O However, this raises serious questions. O Should we really put people to death for working on the Sabbath? O It was Plato who first introduced us to the problem of attempting to derive ethics from religion.

24. Plato and the Euthyphro Dilemma O Is something good because God says it’s good, or does God say it’s good because it is good? O On the one hand, if something is good simply because God says it’s good, then if God suddenly decided that murder was good, it would be good. O Most people would reject this conclusion. O On the other hand, if God says something is good because it is good then it seems values are independent of God. Goodness exists outside and beyond of God. We therefore do not need to appeal to Him in order to justify our values. O This is a very convincing argument against religious ethics.

25. Deontological or Duty Ethics O The failure of religious ethics to counter Plato’s argument as well as religious ethics not appealing to atheists has led to the idea of ‘duty ethics’. O Ethics is a matter of doing your duty. O The problem is finding out what exactly it is we need to be dutifully performing.

26. How do we know what our duties are? O People have different views on duty O Some people believe it their duty to remain faithful – others do not. O Some people believe it is their duty to not take life – others do not.

27. Kant’s Approach to Ethics: Categorical Imperative O Argued that all duties can be known through reason. O Something is your duty if you can consistently generalize it. For example – if you wanted to jump the dinner queue because you can’t be bothered to wait – you should ask yourself what would happen if everyone did that. The answer of course would be chaos. If everyone jumped the queue there would be no more queue to jump. O So if you were to generalize the rule ‘jump the queue whenever you feel like it’. You end up with a contradiction. O Therefore it is your duty to stand in line and not jump the queue whenever you feel like it. O The same reasoning is applied to every moral decision O Consider Kant’s response to the following…..

32. Motives not consequences O This is another key area in Kant’s thinking. O It is sincere motives behind our actions that are important and not the consequences our actions produce. O If you genuinely try to help a blind man cross the road but he gets knocked over, you should not be blamed. O If however, you intended to murder someone but they escaped unharmed you are still considered a bad person.

33. Kant’s belief about ethical motives O 3 different motives for doing good 1. You expect something in return 2. Sympathy 3. Duty O Kant believed the only moral actions are ones performed out of duty with sincere motives behind them and without regard for consequences.

34. Argument against Kant O Consequentialist Theories O An action is right or wrong based upon the basis of the result not our intention. O For example, just because we intend to tell the truth to our parents after lying and stealing the car we do not. Therefore, our actions are wrong because the result is that our parents do not know the truth.

35. The classic criticism of Kant’s thinking… O Kant has been instrumental in shaping modern approaches to ethics however, it can be seen that Kant’s theory suffers from very serious difficulties. O Consider…

36. A madman asks you where he can find the person he’s trying to kill and you know where they are hiding. What should you do? According to Kant you have a duty to tell the truth, and not lie regardless of the murderous consequences that are likely to happen. This seems clearly counter intuitive.

37. Utilitarianism O There is only one supreme moral principle O that we should seek the greatest happiness for the greatest number. O Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill O Wanted to give a scientific foundation for ethics in the same way science was discovering natural laws Bentham and Mill were looking for moral laws.

38. The Principle of Utility O The only thing that is good in itself is happiness and actions are right if they increase happiness and wrong if they decrease happiness. O You may ask ‘what is happiness?’ O Bentham would reply ‘the sum of pleasures and a happy life one that maximises feelings of pleasure and minimises feelings of pain. O According to this theory apply the principle of utility to the following examples…

42. Arguments for Utilitarianism O It is a simple and coherent theory. O It is based on human nature which would seems to suggest we all seek pleasure and avoid pain. O It is based on reason and seems to suit the egoistic, hedonistic, individualism of the 21 st Century O It’s based on the premise that desirable consequences are more important than motives or duties. O It avoids criticisms like that held against Kant.

43. Objections O How do we measure happiness? O How do we accurately predict the outcomes or consequences of our actions? O Also consider the following horrific example which would be considered morally justifiable by Utilitarians…

45. Virtue Ethics O Thinking, feeling and acting should be harmoniously merged does not calculate utility but does want he wants because there is no distinction between I want to and ought O For example, one is faced with the ethical dilemma of learning a secret about their best friend. They can keep it the secret or tell friend. The deontological theory would state one should tell friend. Kant would use the categorical imperative theory to say don’t tell the secret because then everyone would like it is okay to do so. Yet, the virtue theorist would say since you want to tell your friend you ought to tell your friend.

46. Conclusion O Ethics is inescapable and a part of all our lives. O In the case of a girl on holiday about to cheat on her unknowing boyfriend back home – What would a Utilitarian think? What would a Kantian think? O How much use are theories in practice? O Perhaps they offer a sense of support when we make decisions and justify them on the basis of others. O The fact that we can never be sure that we have done the right thing, or that we are painfully aware that we could have done better, is perhaps part of the tragedy of the human condition.