Philosophy: Ethics

Why do we become just by acting justly? Aren't we already just if we act so?

• Reply: In actions, the agent must be in a certain condition: • must have knowledge (this is but a small part of virtuous action) • must choose the act for its own sake • and the act must proceed from his character. • Thus, it is not only the action that matters, but how it is done. • Philosophy is no substitute for practice The virtuous man is the happy (eudaimonic) man • The happiest man is the man who pursues the intellectual virtues (i.e. philosophy)

Kantianism is concerned with...

motive and action

Ends and means

- A good is things are done for the sake of - Actions are done for the sake of ends (goals) - The good(s) achievable in action will be the end(s) of action. - Sometimes the ends are the products of actions, sometimes they are the actions themselves

Aristotelian defenses to doris

1. Personality psychology is not meant to map onto the virtues • II. In particular virtues are rare; the empirical results only show that to be the case. The Aristotelian ideal is an ideal, something to aim at in cultivation of one's character. Doris replies that this may be so, but it robs the virtue ethics story of appeal, since we thought we could achieve virtue with proper education and effort. Part of the appeal of virtue ethics was its apparently realistic moral psychology.

virtue

A habitual and firm disposition to do good a habit of doing good We gain the virtues by exercising them: • We become just by acting justly. • We can become habituated to acting well or badly. The man with well-developed virtues will act virtuously. Virtures are those moral habits which when practiced or honed with bringing a human into accordance with the natural law and allow him to achieve flourishing.

Meta-ethics (Greene)

A subcategory of ethics that defines what ethics is and the contributing factors that define ethical principles • Moral realism: Some things really are right/wrong, regardless of what we think. • Mind-dependent v. mind-independent properties • Debunking of moral realism: • Moral judgment has a perceptual phenomenology: we "see" things as right or wrong • We have evolved mechanisms for making quick social judgments • This explains our phenomenology and cuts against realism

ACT vs RULE UTILITARIANISM

ACT UTILITARIANISM states that we ought to consider the consequences of each act SEPARATELY. [Consider the consequences of some particular act such as keeping or breaking one's promise] RULE UTILITARIANISM states that we ought to consider the consequences of the act performed as a GENERAL PRACTICE. [Consider the consequences of some practice or rule of behavior--for example, the practice of promise keeping or promise breaking.]

John Stuart Mill

Advocated utilitarianism Mill aims to rehabilitate this "greatest happiness principle" in morality Mill asserts that proof of Utilitarianism cannot be a normal proof. However, its acceptance (of what is the good) is not arbitrary or blind or even a matter solely of intuition; it is something that can be approached rationally

Virtue ethics

Aristotle Approach to ethics that emphasizes the character of the moral agent, rather than rules or consequences, as the key element of ethical thinking An action is right if it is what a virtuous agent would do in the circumstances. A virtuous agent is one who acts virtuously, that is, one who has and exercises the virtues. A virtue is a character trait a human being needs to flourish or live well. What habits should I develop? Uses people (agents) as primary object of evaluation

situationist ethics

Determinants of moral success or failure have more to do with choosing what situations to expose oneself to, than to acting rightly in "morally dangerous" situations. We may have a "cognitive responsibility" to pay attention to features of situations. However, we may not be able to predict the features of situations which make a behavioral difference.

PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY is...

Maximizing happiness [pleasure] for greatest amount of people, also minimizing pain. "The end justifies the mean".

eudaimonia

Lasting happiness and inner fulfillment (opposite of hedonic) Aristotle's concept of human flourishing (happiness) that can only be attained when we achieve fulfillment as human beings. Even the virtues, which we seek for themselves, we also seek for happiness. • The self-sufficient is that which makes life desirable and lacking in nothing; • Happiness makes a life choiceworthy and lacking nothing; it is self-sufficient

NORMATIVE [Prescriptive] vs. DESCRIPTIVE [Empirical] ETHICAL JUDGMENTS

NORMATIVE [Prescriptive] judgments tell me how I SHOULD or OUGHT to behave. [something you should do] DESCRIPTIVE [Empirical] judgments merely tell me how people do behave - simply observational. [based on observation]

objection to mill

Objection: happiness cannot be the rational purpose of human life, because it is unattainable and unnecessary. Reply: • If unattainable, it would be an objection, Mill says, since ouThey confuse the rule of action with its motives. Good actions need not be motivated by the theory. One need not even think of society as a whole. The psychology of ethical action is not tied to the story of in virtue of what it is ethical. • In most cases the happiness of a few is all one needs to pay attention to. Some object to utilitarianism as too demanding. They confuse the rule of action with its motives. Good actions need not be motivated by the theory. One need not even think of society as a whole. The psychology of ethical action is not tied to the story of in virtue of what it is ethical. • In most cases the happiness of a few is all one needs to pay attention to.

Deontology

Obligations, duties. The theory or study of moral obligation. Deon means duty.

John Doris

Social psychology: Behavior is very situation-dependent. Helping behavior depends on situation: helping after finding/not finding a dime. • Doris argues that virtue ethics is not empirically viable. To show that an ethical theory is descriptively inadequate is not to show it is normatively inadequate We believe persons have characters, and these characters lead to regular behavioral tendencies. These characters allow us to predict behavior in novel situations. Empirical evidence suggests otherwise: trait attribution fails to predict behavior in novel situations; situations more than anything else determine actions.

Objections

Suicide: Maxim: From self-love I end my life when it gets unpleasant. Could this be a universal law of nature? No, because it is self-contradictory. It could not possibly be a law of nature. • False promise: Maxim: I will borrow money when I need it and promise to repay it, though I know I won't repay it. If it were a universal law it would be self-undermining. Promises would not work.

Little more on reason and virtues

The thing that makes humans unique is a life of action depending on reason (obeying reason, having reason, thinking). The soul has 2 parts, the rational, and the nonrational. The nonrational has a part that listens to reason. The virtues are likewise divided: virtues of thought (wisdom, comprehension, prudence) and virtues of character (generosity and temperance) intellectual virtues belong to the rational gained by education moral virtues (virtues of character) to the nonrational part of the soul; results from habit (ethos), thus, not by nature

2nd form of categorical imperative

Treat others and yourself AS ENDS, not as mere means [a tool]. Persons have innate dignity and autonomy; they should not be treated simply as tools for achieving some goal.

consequentialism

Utilitarianism that is concerned primarily with the consequences [results] of an action, not the motive or act itself.

Regarding Virtue...

We are not born with it but we are borned to develop it.

imperative

a practical rule or command; it is the form of representation of a law that commands the will

1st form of categorical imperative

act only on that maxim (rule) that you would will to be universal law. This must not lead to rational contradiction. One cannot will to lie and also will that lying be impossible.

hypothetical imperatives

are things one should do to achieve some personal end or goal-situation specific. Not something that should be required of all. Kant; conditional and goal based, based on what you want (ex- cook book, driving directions) If you want to ace the midterm, you must study all day.

RULE UTILITARIANISM...

attempts to formulate some rules that when adhered to will most often result in maximizing pleasure for greatest amount of people.

Utilitarianism is concerned with....

consequence

Joshua Greene

evolutionarily we have an instinct to help those in need close by more so than those far away hence why we'll help a bleeding hiker over starving kids in Africa even if the price is the same researcher who believes our emotional moral brains are the cause of a lot of our world problems because we no longer live in tribal communities We have an automatic and a manual moral setting You can't get normative from descriptive: • Hume: You cannot derive an "ought" from an "is" • Moore: the Naturalistic fallacy: identifying what is natural with moral properties • On the other side: • Naturalized ethics: moral facts are natural facts • Personal dilemmas activate emotional brain regions more than impersonal ones. • needy people who are up close and personal push our emotional buttons. (just an hypothesis)

utilitarianism

idea that the goal of society should be to bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people The idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its usefulness in maximizing utility and minimizing negative utility the doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority Different kins of pleasure. Degree varies. Humans prefer higher pleasures, even if they are not as content

ACT UTILITARIANISM...

looks at each situation individually in trying to determine an action which will provide best results

Kantianism (deontological ethical theory)

moral laws command us categorically rather than hypothetically and they command us to be absolute Directly opposed to utilitarianism; it is not the consequences that make an action right or wrong, *rather it is the principle or motivation on which the action is based* that is the morally decisive factor. x is morally right if x is performed from a good will, x can be consistently universalized, and involves treating other human beings as ends and never as means only opposite of utilitarianism. not the consequences or end results that make an action right or wrong; rather it is the principle or motivation on which the action is based that is morally the decisive factor. Our actions are bound by the sense of duty. "I make this choice because it is morally right and my duty to do so" (not because of consideration for a possible outcome). A theory that stresses the importance of the motive of doing one's duty as a determining factor in assessing the moral value An action is right if it is in accordance with a moral rule or principle. A moral rule is one that is required by rationality.

categorical imperative

moral obligation, should be required universally [you should only do those things that you can get everyone else to do]. A concept developed by the philosopher Immanuel Kant as an ethical guideline for behavior. In deciding whether an action is right or wrong, or desirable or undesirable, a person should evaluate the action in terms of what would happen if everybody else in the same situation, or category, acted the same way.

Was Immanuel Kant a Consequentialist or Rationalist?

rationalist

MAXIM means...

rules. Based on the principle of utilizatarianism [as in usefulness].

NATURAL LAW THEORY states...

that because of an inherent order or design to all things, each thing has a purpose [telos--purpose or goal]. Humans as rational animals are ordered/designed so to flourish or achieve eudaimonia [good spirit, flourishing]. Some behaviors are in accord with natural law, that is they contribute to human excellence and harmony, other behavior are contrary to it and impede human flourishing.

dispositional property

the capacity of an object to affect or to be affected by other things Dispositionalist account of virtue: virtue is a dispositional property such that in virtue-relevant conditions, virtue-appropriate behavior is likely to be elicited. Doris says this is in conflict with the evidence. property we can possess even at times when we are not acting virtuously or overtly displaying them in some other way

What is natural law?

the concept that there is laws that are just naturally given to all humans contains the laws which regulate moral behavior that is available to us through the application of human reason. example: murder Do what is good for human nature

situationism

the theory that behavior is determined more by situations than by personality traits Three Theses: • a. Behavioral variation in a population has more to do with situational differences than dispositional ones. • b. No robust traits. Consistent behaviors due more to consistent situations. • c. Personality is not typically evaluatively consistent. • Clarifications: Situationists can allow for local, highly specific, situation-dependent traits. Don't map onto "the virtues"; they suggest fragmented personality structures. • Situationists can still predict behavior, though behavior would not be consistent with broad trait categories. Because our lives often have lots of situational consistency, so may our behavior. environment and upbringing ay affect a person in situation: raised in greedy family vs kind family --> find wallet with money on floor --> greedy one takes money, kind one returns wallet with money.

Natural Rights

those rights human perhaps possess by virture of being human or because they were created by GOD--things like life, liberty, et al. Rights that are necessary for humans to function well.

The VIRTUES aim...

toward human flourishing--teleology [telos means goal, end]. Therefore, virtue ethical theory is a teleological ethical theory

Kant

was concerned with Motive and Action, not consequences. Kant says that there are things one must never do even if they would result in some good [Lying, for example]. Kant also stated that One must act out of Duty [because something is right] and according[ly] the duty [do the right thing]. argued that if serious thinkers were granted freedom to exercise their reason in print, enlightenment would surely follow. To act morally is to act from no other motive than the motive of doing what is right

Regarding Natural Law, ARISTOTLE...

wrote heavily on natural law after observing order and purpose in the natural world.