Content Quiz 2 (Review)

Two Examples:

• 1. "Advising towards eligibility" •athletics departments, via their advisors in the athletics academic support program (ASP), encourage athletes to take courses that fit their practice and competitive schedules rather than their educational goals. •2. Athlete-only or athlete specific facilities •E.g. Texas A&M University recently spent $27 million dollars on an academic support building to serve approximately 600 athletes.

Do Real Goods Exist?

• Fort uses Catholic thinkers used to suggest catholic (small 'c') notions: i.e. universal notions •Solidarity, empathy, compassion: Virtues found around the globe in countless religions • These virtues may be necessary to develop community. •Community is key to ethical practice

Exemplars?

• Intrinsic: Plato and the "Ring of Gyges" •Extrinsic: Singer and "Tit for Tat" •Let us examine each in greater detail and see their philosophic implications

Socrates Answer

• Justice is an end in itself. •Socrates begins by positing that it is better for man to be in control of himself than to be subject to his desires •Just behavior is in alignment with our nature. •"How would a man profit if he received gold and silver on the condition that he was to enslave the noblest part of him to the worst? Who can imagine that a man who sold his son or daughter into slavery for money, especially if he sold them into the hands of fierce and evil men, would be a gainer, however large the sum which he received" (p. 249)?

Plato &"The Ring of Gyges"

• What is Justice? • Good? (intrinsically) • A virtue... • Good as a tool (extrinsically) • We put up with justice merely because we don't want to have to constantly look over our shoulder •Justice is a contractual arrangement where we trade our freedom for order and safety...

Mediating Institutions?

•"A small institution where individuals within the organization were confronted with the consequences of their actions." •E.g.:Team, neighborhood, church...company? •Mediating institutions are important because they allow for real human feedback and real relationships.

A Critique of Singer

•"However, the utilitarian calculus cannot demonstrate our commitment to ideals which demand serious sacrifice of us. A man's sincerity in professing his ideals is to be measured rather by the lack of prudence he shows in pursuing them. The utilitarian confirmation of unselfishness is not more than a pretense by which traditional ideals are made acceptable to a philosophically skeptical age. Camouflaged as long-term selfishness or 'intelligent self- interest,' the traditional ideals of man are protected from destruction by skepticism." Polanyi & Prosch, Meaning, p. 10

Bottom Line: Justice is an Extrinsic Good

•"Much of the system of justice can be explained in the same way. Justice is not, as often thought, a sacrosanct moral principle imposed on us by a divine being, nor is it somehow engraved in the bedrock of the universe. Justice is neither more nor less than a set of conceptual tools for making Tit for Tat work in the real world." (Singer, How are We to Live?, p. 149)

A Fundamental Difference

•"The intrinsic school argues that the good, if it really is good, is its own justification. Therefore their commitment to the rightness of any good action (insofar as it really is good) is unassailable. In contrast, because the extrinsic school bases its justification in the consequences of the action, its commitment to the goodness of any action is always contingent. The goodness of the action only depends upon the results that action procures."

Another Real Good: Subsidiarity

•"no higher level of organization should perform any function that can be handled efficiently and effectively at a lower level of organization by human persons who, individually or in groups, are closer to the problem, and closer to the ground." •An argument against bureaucracy •Relationships matter. They lead to real concern, real knowledge, real commitment.

Strengths of Mediating Institutions?

•1. Recognizes the importance of nurturing a sense of belonging and, in turn, ownership in the moral life. •The point is to place the individual in a set of personal relationships which root him in the larger society. •Dependency, community, personal concern. •A commitment to "equality" leads not to concern but indifference •2. Fort's account takes religious and spiritual values seriously. •Not so as to impose any set of beliefs upon others, but rather because a "recognition of a spiritual transcendent reality is a meaningful motivation for many to be ethical in business [and in sport]" (Fort, 2001, p. 183) •Faith is a unique and powerful spur to ethical action. •The privatization of religion, is a recent and uniquely modern phenomena.

Responses: Dichotomy?

•If virtue (being) is seen as having priority among the two (being and doing), then winning the fight over whether virtue ethics needs deontology, is certainly not a matter of great importance.

We Become what we Practice

•If you want to be a good soccer player...you read "a theory of soccer." No! You play soccer, you practice, and eventually you become a soccer player...that is you embody the skills of soccer. Although theory is good it is not sufficient •Similar with ethics. You want to be an honest person, work on telling the truth...you want be a courageous person practice being courageous... •Vice is the same way...the first lie is painful, the second less so, the thousandth, we no longer notice. •"So too we become just by doing things that are just, temperate by doing things that are temperate, and courageous by doing things that are courageous." (Nicomachean Ethics, 1103a 30) •From capacity... to habit (via training)...to possessing the virtue as an active condition (hexis) EFKS/Shutterstock.com

Responses: Saints?

•In what areas of life do you aim for mediocrity...Are you hoping your spouse and children are thoroughly average or are you hoping that they will be beautiful in every sense of the word? •What of your career?Are you hoping for a middling desk job where protecting your stapler is your most important task!?! •What of your possessions, free time and recreation?Are you hoping for a mediocre house or car? Do you aim to go on as many run-of-the-mill vacations as possible? Is your dream at the beginning of any sports season (whether as fan or participant) to aim for a .500 record? •No!In all of these areas, just like the ones above, you strive for excellence, even when you know you will often fail. Why then, do we so often shrug our shoulders and accept moral mediocrity!?! No doubt, most of us will fail to be saints. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try!

Responses (cont.)

•Inflexible? •Adaptation is possible •1. Ross is not categorical •2. Kant is more flexible than many think. •As Timmons argues, when two duties come into conflict the 2nd categorical imperative implies that "it is the duty that most respects humanity as an end in itself that one is morally obligated to perform"

Success?

•Is it better to be 'just and thought unjust' or 'unjust and thought just' •Does justice have inherent value, or is justice valuable only for what it procures. •Is justice a means or an end?

Transcendence

•Justice does not serve us, we serve justice...justice is the good, so we cannot ultimately be successful in opposition to it. •Principles trump consequences •"On this argument then, can it pay for a man to take money unjustly if that means his best part is a slave to his worst..." •Transcendent understanding of good/evil •Injustice is a corruption of how things should be and therefore cannot profit us (at least not long-term).

Virtue Ethics?

•Not focused on rules or duties Not focused on outcomes or consequences •Focused on the good, the excellent, the noble: •Character and maturity are the goals. •Sometimes called aretaic ethics from the Greek Arete meaning the "embodiment of excellence" or "virtue"

Strengths of Kantian Ethics

•Not wishy-washy. It is a theory of obligations rather than calculations. •Based on reason not emotion •Principles matter not situations or outcomes •Takes human beings seriously •Human beings are ends in themselves not servants of the greatest good for the greatest number

Strengths of Tit for Tat?

•Reciprocation rewards good behavior and punishes bad behavior. •We see reciprocation in sport all the time •If we respond to bad behavior with kindness we become 'suckers' and 'cheating' prospers. •Singer claims that it refutes 'turning the other cheek.'

The Limit of Rules

•Rules can become separated from real standards and real experience •Instead of being motivated by guilt, or conscience, we look blindly to the rules to judge right/wrong. •"Since the law requires a formal relationship I don't need a personal one." •"Since the law is quiet in regard to this action (a loophole) it must be ok, even if it hurts people." •E.g."Rick Reilly article about DIII runner disqualification"

Russell: "Hard Cases"

•Russell recount a baseball game from the late 19th Century where a runner - upon scoring - turned around and interfered with the catcher. In doing so, he allowed two subsequent runners to score by interfering with what would have been a close play at the plate. "The rules [at the time] said nothing explicitly to prohibit non-baserunners from interfering with fielders" (p. 28). Moreover, the player who interfered with the catcher was no longer a baserunner after scoring, which would seem to imply that his interference was legal. •What should the umpire do?

Weaknesses of Tit for Tat?

•Seems somewhat contrived •Scenario as a game not realistic? •Assumes that there "good" and "bad" people rather than good and bad actions •Punishment rather than redemption? •Inflexible...In principle there is no room for judgment or contextualization •I.e. greater emphasis on forgiveness seems vital •Seems to ignore 'truth as such' in favor of strategy (utilitarian) •Couldn't we say...if you're not guilty you don't confess...period.

Tit for Tat

•Singer's thesis: Not a new thesis but one he attacks in a new way. •"Living an ethical life is not self- sacrifice, but rather self-fulfillment." (p. vii) •Essentially turning morality into a tool. (Consequentialism) •Doing good is good because it is good for you. •Antithesis of Plato's position.

The Overriding Question(s)

•Singer: Why be ethical? •An ethical life is not self sacrifice but rather self- fulfillment. •Fort: How do we promote ethical behavior? •Fort argues within a business ethics paradigm, but the lessons can be easily applied to other arenas as well. •Fort believes that spiritual or religious motivation gives an imperative to act ethically within a mediating institution framework. •We're ultimately accountable to something •Transcendent understanding of good and evil. • There is a standard. •He is willing to concede a motivation to 'the force' or 'the good' for those who are atheistic or agnostic.

Implications for Sport?

•Solidarity: Our opponents are just that,"opponents"not "enemies". •We need each other. We test each other. We're part of the same community; the same "practice". •Fellow lovers of "football", "track", "swimming"... •Subsidiarity: Rules, though necessary, are of limited effectiveness. •Can't be at all places at all times. •Often create bureaucratic barriers to the good. •We need to cultivate virtue not just write more rules. • The cultivation of virtue requires that there are more goods in sport than just winning. •Mediating Institutions: The local matters. The personal matters. Sport, when done well, can be a mediating institution. •Well: meaning, community, human achievement; not bloodless drudgery, but joy. Winning matters but is part of a larger context. •Poorly: "You play to win the game". The outcome is all that matters; joy takes a back seat to results, sober duty, and mercenary resolve.

One Real Good: Solidarity

•Solidarity: We don't have to agree on everything, but we are all in this together. •Singer: Your good is bound up in the good of others. • Aristotle: Man is by nature a political animal. •How far did Gandhi take this concept of solidarity? •Even the British were not his enemies. •They were wrong, he actively supported Indian independence, but they were not sub-human.

Sport, Philosophy and the Good Life

•Some closing thoughts: •Philosophy matters! It is as the heart of not only our beliefs, but also our actions! It affects our entire lives, even the world of sport! It should not be ignored! •If you love sport, then ethics should be a chief concern. For if sport is important, it is important to engage in it well, to do things right, to serve and promote the good! •Find your convictions and stand by them, for as long as you are convinced they are grounded in the truth.

Singer's point

•Sometimes self-interest leaves us worse off than collective interest. •Self-interest would be to rat out the fellow prisoner...but if you both rat each other out...you get eight years and nobody goes free. •A real world example: rush hour traffic •It is in your self interest to drive, but if we collectively committed to busses there would be less traffic and the convenience would improve. (busses could afford better service.)

Doing even better with Tit for Tat?

•Step #1 - Begin with cooperation • Be optimistic and willing to risk. •Step #2 - Reciprocate - Good for Good, Harm for Harm. •Tough to say when to stop cooperating, but you should be willing to. •Step # 3 - Keep it Simple •Life not zero-sum; Your benefit does not have to come at the harm of others. •Probably don't need it for close relationships. •"Genuine concern for others is, then, the complete solution to the Prisoner's dilemma." (p. 147) •Step #4 - Be Forgiving •Be willing to return to a cooperative spiral, other wise there is no escape from negative spirals. •Doesn't this put 'turn the other cheek' back on the table? •Step #5 - Don't be Envious• Envy leads to negative spirals •They other guy is doing better, I'll show him! It makes sense to be envious in a zero-sum, but life isn't zero-sum. •Is this enough to save/defend Tit for Tat?

Strengths & Weaknesses of Plato?

•Strength-ability to raise important questions •Strength - justice is about "reality". •Nothing more important than the truth, not even utility. •Weakness-"dualistic";elevates the abstract over the tangible and the "spirit" above the "body". •Weakness-Platoisanidealist, out of touch with the "real world". •Weakness-Plato'stheoryis actually about extrinsic justification •"ordering the soul" is about what is "good for" human beings.

Strengths of Virtue Ethics

•Subordinates rules to human judgment without discounting the importance of rules •"the law was made for man ,not man for the law" •The rules are tools that help us see and understand the good. They are not themselves that good. People need to evaluate, understand, and embody the spirit of the rules not merely follow its letter. •Sportsmanship, for example, cannot be simply a matter of compulsion. Good sports must act as they do, not out of guilt or rote repetition or threats of sanction, but because they see the good and have learned to embody it. Virtue always trumps duty. •Recognizes the influence of culture on morality. Emphasizes the importance of action, practice, and habit. •To understand the good and to be good are two different things.

One Final Point

•The difference between a good and a "successful" life. •Modern Olympic founder Pierre de Coubertin •professional success, personal failure. •"Though the idea[of the Olympics]was not his alone and did not originate with him, though his labors were assisted at every step by many others, no modern institution of comparable significance owes so much to a single man. Yet, in the end, that man could not find in it enough to satisfy his life " •The point is simply this: a good life is far more than professional success. Absent virtue, trophies, paychecks, titles, records, and fame will not make you happy.

Criticisms of Virtue Ethics

•The distinction between being and doing is a false dichotomy? •How does one identify virtues? •Aren't all virtues derivative of duties •Honesty: Tell the Truth •Virtue ethics lends itself to a kind of relativistic indeterminacy in that virtue ethics doesn't prescribe specific action and leaves too much responsibility to personal judgment •Is it an impossible burden? •Virtue ethics requires saints? That's just not realistic.

Implications for Sport

•The point and purposes of sport must be more than $$$ and W's. •the point and purposes of sport must be larger than money (profit) and victories. Why? Because money is an extrinsic good and victories, contrary to popular cant, do not endure. We always want to play again tomorrow. Look at it this way. Money, though good, is merely a tool to serve other ends. But what are those ends? How soon, upon reflection, do we turn to Aristotle's basic questions! •W's a measure of success, not the measure of success

Mean (cont.)

•The virtue of courage is neither foolhardy nor cowardly, nor is it 50% foolhardiness and 50% cowardliness. •"Not eating all the Halloween candy" should not be a matter of restraint ( or guilt) but recognition. •Eating all the candy will give me a bellyache, though there is nothing wrong with having a piece or two. •So being, virtue is an extreme in the sense that you cannot have too much of such character and right recognition.

Deontology & Sport?

•There are three common views regarding the nature of sport. •Formalism: Sport is defined by its rules. •Conventionalism: sport is best understood by looking at the commonly accepted norms of the athletes, coaches and administrators that make up any given sport, not merely the rules. •Broad Internalism: Sport is about "the point and purposes that underlie the game" •This is because although the rules help define those purposes, the rules serve the larger purposes of sport. We engage in, for example, baseball to participate in the central excellences of the game (e.g. stolen bases, home runs, double plays, etc.). We do not play baseball simply to follow its rules.

Perhaps...

•There really is meaning in the world •The transcendent good as actually that...transcendent •Do all such things really amount to nothing?

More on Mediating Institutions

•They mediate between individuals and society. •"A mediating institution integrates an individual's good into the common good of others and their associations. It neither quarantines its members, nor does it organize itself on the basis of alienation, fear, or superiority. It socializes its members to see the connection between individual self- interest and the good of others through the means of ethical behavior." •Hence a gang, while a close-nit relational community is a Quarantining Institution rather than a Mediating Institution.• Built on alienation, fear, superiority, etc.

Responses?

•To insist on transcendence doesn't require "dualism" •See Aristotle or Aquinas •If a transcendent reality really exists then it is by no means "idealism" to focus on it. •Materialism is no less a controversial assertion. •Plato intends to say that "acting justly is a matter of being what we are intended to be" (p. 181) •It is about reality not consequences.

Why Be Good?

•Two approaches •The intrinsic argument: goodness is sufficient unto itself •The extrinsic argument: we ought pursue the good because, at least in the long run, it will be good for us.

Difference between Deontology & Virtue

•Two different types of questions •Deontology: What should I do? What are my duties? •Virtue: What sort of person should I be? What sort of character does the good person have? •"The point is that an ethics of Being must include this obvious fact, that Being involves Doing; whereas an ethics of Doing, such as I have been examining, may easily overlook it." (Mayo) •"The virtuous person is in such a way that, from the innermost tendency of his being, he realizes the good through his actions." (Pieper)

Responses (cont.)

•Utilitarian? •Frankena: "It is often alleged that Kant is being utilitarian in these arguments...This is a mistake. He is not arguing that one must keep one's promises because the results of everyone's breaking them when convenient ... This is how a rule-utilitarian would run the argument. Kant, however, is contending that one cannot even will such a maxim to be acted on, because in so doing, one would be involved in a contradiction of the will; one would be willing both that it be possible to make promises and have them credited (else why make them?) and that everyone be free to break promises to suit his own purposes"

Implications for Sport (cont.)

•Virtue makes a difference.• Example: Joe Paterno and the "Sandusky Scandal" •According to the best evidence, Joe Paterno bureaucratically washed his hands of the Sandusky Scandal by merely reporting the incident to his "superiors". •The problem with this course of action being that Joe Paterno was de facto if not de jure the most powerful man on Penn State's campus and had been for decades. •When the chips were down, courage was in short supply. Richard Paul Kane/Shutterstock.com

Russell's Answer

•What happened: The umpire ignored the rule. He declared the first runner to cross after interference out and disallowed the next runner's run. •Russell commends this discretion on the grounds that "Any other decision would have invited a nine-inning-long wrestling match. Umpire Curry's exercise of discretion...preserved the good conduct and integrity of the game". •Russell's key argument:Officials necessarily rely on discretion, not merely the rules.

Is Such Criticism Fair? What Lessons can be Learned?

•Yes.First, because it is merely a diagnosis: backbone is in short supply. Most perhaps all of us would have failed to do the right thing as well. •Yet, that admission does not raise doubts about the accuracy of the diagnosis. •Second ,the point is not sanctimoniousness but a note caution; "there but for the grace of God go I!" •In many ways Joe Paterno was a good man. But the fact that he did many good things only sharpens the warning. Even good men, if not vigilant, can fail. •As MacIntyre has insistited " Yet, notoriously the cultivation of truthfulness, justice and courage will often, the world being what it contingently is, bar us from being rich or famous or powerful". •If that is right, then we must clearly and consistently place virtue above not only rules, duties and outcomes, it must also be placed above riches, fame and power.

The Prisoner's Dilemma

•Your confession will be used against your fellow prisoner for a 10 year sentence and you'll be free. •If you both confess you both get 8 years. •If you both don't confess you get 6 months. •You don't confess and he does you get 10 years and he goes free. •What should you do?

Example

"Running the Red Light to Get to the Hospital" •Duty to stop is important, but duty to respect life more important. (In fact one might say that the purpose of stopping is in service is respecting life in the first place, i.e. running lights is dangerous) •Is this moving us away from deontological ethics towards virtue ethics?

Deontological Ethics

-Ethics is matter of rules or duties that flow from the rational recognition of intrinsic moral goods. •Tell the truth, don't steal, etc. -These truth can be either absolutely binding (categorical) or conditionally binding. (A more pressing principle may usurp a lower principle.)

Kant's Categorical Imperative

-Immanuel Kant: 18 the Century German philosopher -Categorical Imperative: •1st formulation: "Act only on that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it would become a universal law" -Translation: any individual action that could be defended if every one else followed suit - is defensible. • This is a product of reason not emotion. •If I cannot recommend that everyone lie then I cannot defend my own lying.

The Categorical Imperative & Sport?

-1st Formulation: PED use and sport? •If one willed that all competitors used PEDs there would be no advantage to any user. At which point one would have the same level playing field that existed before PED use, but with all the health risks and side effects that come along with usage. •It only makes sense to use if one is clandestine (if one makes an exception of one's self).

The Categorical Imperative & Sport?

-2nd Formulation: Does competitive sport encourage treating athletes as mere means to the ends of winning? •Former Patriot Ted Johnson being forced to participate in practice with a concussion. •"Four days after the injury, still groggy, he took the practice field wearing a non-contact red jersey. Before a set of running drills, however, and assistant trainer handed him a blue jersey - essentially an order to get out and hit. Johnson knew right away the switch had been made not by the team's medical staff but by the Patriots' head coach, Bill Belichick".

Categorical Imperative (cont.)

-2nd formulation: "So act as to treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end and never as a means only." •Translation: Human being have inherent worth and should therefore never be used as a means to further some other ends

What are the Prima Facie Duties?

-Ross identifies the following prima facie duties; fidelity (honesty), reparation (making up for past wrongs), gratitude (acknowledging our debt to others), justice (giving others what they deserve), beneficence (looking to help/do good to others), self-improvement (to be one's best), and non- maleficence (avoid harming others).

Prima Facie?

-The term prima facie can be confusing. This is because in everyday language it usually means something akin to "first impression" or even "superficial". However, as the Oxford English Dictionary points out, it also means "acceptable unless [or until] contradicted". -By which he means that although our duties are objectively valid, their application depends on the particulars of any given situation. -i.e. what are my relevant duties in this situation?

Not Relativism

-We must always do our duty. It just that what our actual duty is depends upon the situation. What duties are necessary now? •Philosopher Mark Timmons puts it this way: "To say that one prima facie duty is more stringent [more relevant to the given situation] than another, competing prima facie duty is not, however, to say that the latter prima facie duty is somehow canceled out or 'silenced'... For instance, in the case where I ought to break my promise to you in order to help an accident victim, the fact that my prima facie duty to keep my promise is overridden (but not cancelled) means that I now have a new prima facie duty of reparation - to do what is necessary to make it up to you". •How do we know? How do we adjudicate? Ross follows Aristotle: "The decision rests with perception", that is prudential judgment.

The Classical (The Four Cardinal) Virtues

1. Prudence: •The ability to see things as they are (reality), and then act accordingly. 2. Justice: •To live rightly, with other people. To give each his desert. To treat others as you ought. 3. Courage: •The "readiness to accept harm for the sake of realizing the good" (Pieper). A willingness to suffer for the truth. 4. Moderation: •The proper use of possessions and enjoyment (pleasure). "Nothing in excess."

Intuitionism- A Modification of Kant

W.D. Ross' (20th Century British philosopher) •We are intuitively aware of moral principles •Our duties are prima facie duties that can be over-ridden in certain circumstances by other prima facie duties.

Weaknesses of Mediating Institutions?

•1. The particularity engendered by a philosophy of mediating institutions will encourage myopic self- concern, tribalism and prejudice. •Singer: An equal concern for all is needed. •"For the principle takes, firstly, no account of proximity or distance. It makes no moral difference whether the person I help is a neighbor's child ten yards from me or a Bengali whose name I shall never know, ten thousand miles away" •2. Religion will only add fuel to this already raging fire. •MartinMarty:"Those called to be religious naturally form separate groups, movements, tribes or nations...This self-perception then leads groups to draw lines around themselves and to speak negatively of 'the others."

The Prisoner's Dilemma as a Game

•200 repetitions: Did one strategy rise to the top as the most successful? •Most Successful was Tit for Tat: Cooperate on the first move, then reciprocate. •A nice 'strategy' •Starts cooperative •But willing to counter punch

Family as a Mediating Institution

•A functioning family is one of the best models for promoting healthy business behavior. (though not the only) •There is a balance between the well being of the whole and the individual. •The bonds that hold a family together are larger than economics; so too with a healthy ethical business. •Moral, emotional, spiritual needs should be put back on the table. •Economic goals and efficiency a vital good, but not the only vital good.

Implications for Sport (cont.)

•Although ethics is not reducible to education, ethicsis inherent to education. • This is because education is embedded in the nexus of institutions that make up any culture, including both the institutions of formal schooling, as well as the myriad institutions which informally educate as well. •Moreover, the cultivation of virtue, depends upon apprenticeship, that is, learning from a living example. •Given this reality, athletics is an inherently moral enterprise, since the skills procured and cultivated via participation go far beyond the skills of the game. For example, the conduct, policies, example and ethos of both the institutions and practitioners of sport impact everyone around them in both formal and informal ways. We learn how to "score goals" in sport, but we also learn to be "good or bad sports", etc.

Responses?

•Although it is true on an abstract and rational level that my interests are no more important than any others, it does not follow that I should not prioritize some interests over others. •Nor does it follow that because each interest is conceptually of equal importance, that I have an equal responsibility to the interests of all. •Even Singer, the great champion of ethical egalitarianism, showed special care for his mother when she became sick with Alzheimer's disease. •Fort is making a normative claim. His point is not that group devotion is inevitably healthy. •Rather he argues that group devotion is necessary despite its dangers and that group devotion can be healthy in the context of mediating institutions, because such institutions will root individuals in the larger community.

Anthropological Support?

•Anthropology suggests that there is a limit to the number of people we can relate to in a group. Churches, aboriginal tribes, etc. seem to split when they get above 150 to 200 people. If they are bigger than that, they have subgroups. Both philosophy and biology support the importance of mediating institutions. •Fort then explains the impact of this insight on promoting ethical behavior. •"If ethics has to do with how we treat others, then this cognitive limitation makes a difference to doing ethics well. Put individuals in large groups, and one loses the sense of community that nurtures ethical behavior".

Virtue as a Mean

•Aristotle identifies virtues as the mean between two extremes each of which is a vice. • This mean should not be understood as a mathematical value or a blasé mediocrity but rather a "just right" recognition of proper action.

Intimacy Matters

•Aristotle responding to the claim that "equality" demands abolishing families: •"Each citizen acquires a thousand sons, but these are not one man's sons; any one of them is equally the son of any person, and as a result will be equally neglected by everyone"

Weaknesses of Kantian Ethics

•Based on reason not emotion •Should ethics be so cold? Shouldn't feeling play a role? Why is duty supreme? •Deontological ethics is actually utilitarian. •Our duties are justified on the grounds of consequences •Seems rigid and inflexible •If it is always wrong (categorically wrong) to lie, does that mean we have to tell our grandmother that her dress is ugly when asked or that there are Jews hiding in the basement when the Nazis knock on the door?

Transcendence & Sport?

•Can play be beautiful? Is it therefore, one of several "signals of transcendence"? •"But if this is right, then justice is something we must discover and to which we are beholden. Justice could never be understood as merely a tool. Profit, competition (winning), marketing and so forth all have their place in sport, but as means not ends. They, not justice, are the tools. To be good, profit, competition, marketing, as well as all other instrumental goods in sport, must serve justice" (p. 187).

Russell: Rules?

•Categorical Position: Officials should "never to step outside the rules that are officially laid down to govern the conduct of games" •Prima Facie position: "umpires can legitimately use their authority to clarify and resolve ambiguities in rules, to add rules, and even at times to overturn or ignore certain rules, and that the exercise of such discretion is governed by principles underlying the games themselves and by an ideal of the integrity of games"

An Important Question for Sport...

•Do Leagues, Teams, Athletics Departments tend to be mediating or quarantining institutions? •Do they root us in or shield us from the larger community?

A Transcendent Cause?

•Educator on Tom Landry's (former Cowboys coach) obsession with winning: •"If winning is the only thing then it is nothing, a life without ultimate meaning." •What else is there to sport? •How does this idea of transcendence fit with Singer's utilitarian commitments? •Something larger for the self is what's good for us...it is enlightened self- interest.

Implications

•If solidarity is bred in real relationships, and subsidiarity says that a 'town' can handle its problems better than the 'national government' can, then: All bureaucratic action is problematic. E.g. Reliance on massive NCAA action is problematic. •It will never have the proper pulse of the problem. •Divorcing yourself from the particular is unrealistic • The particular is what breeds compassion. •The particular is how we know what people really need.

Virtue & Habit

•Embodying those excellences that are naturally human. •"It is neither by nature nor in defiance of nature that virtue grows in us. Nature gives us the capacity to receive them, that capacity is perfected by habit." •We become virtuous not merely by understanding the good but by practicing the good...and then becoming good. •A process of maturation and growth •For example: Outgrowing the temptation Kurhan/Shutterstock.com to eat all your Halloween candy... •A recognition of the goodness of an action •Not merely passive. Virtue is the active ownership of the character trait through training. •Just as we can be "in shape" or "out of shape" physically, we can be "in shape" or "out of shape" morally.

Responses?

•Emotion? •It is a false dichotomy. To act from emotion can be good, but as Marcia Baron argues "in acting from duty, the man gives himself a higher worth than does the person who never acts from duty."

Culture & Habit Matter?

•Ethics is not bloodless moralism, nor is it a cost-benefit analysis. Instead, ethics is about the cultivation of moral skill. Such virtue - like the development of any excellence -- takes time, intimacy and experience. Therefore, the cultivation of moral skill is not the realm of "experts" or of "education" or "self-esteem", but of "mom and dad", "apprenticeship", and "discipline". It is not the realm of "government" or "social engineers" but of "teams, churches and neighborhoods". Ethics is part of a living tradition, part of the inheritance which is necessarily passed on hand to hand from generation to generation.

To Choose injustice is Short Sighted...

•For Plato the soul's "desiring and spirited parts" must be tamed by the "reasonable" part. •To serve injustice, even if 'profitable', is to be self destructive. •"And how can it pay to commit injustice without getting caught and being punished? Doesn't getting away with it make a man even worse..." •Gives us hints of how Aristotle ends up at virtue.

Shades of Aristotle

•Fort is painting a picture very similar to Aristotle. •Capitalism is good. It is the most efficient means to economic health, but economic health is not the whole story for the family or the business. •Capitalism is a tool for man, not man a tool for capitalism.

False Dichotomies & Saints?

•Frankena argues that we should regard "the morality of duty and principles and the morality of virtues or traits of character not as rival kinds of morality between which we must choose, but as two complementary aspects of the same morality." •Who has not been a coward by, for example, being more concerned about popular opinion than the truth? Who has not failed to treat others as they ought? Who has not succumbed to over indulgence or prudish self- neglect? But if this right, then virtue ethics demands of us what we cannot offer...

Empathy within Commitments

•Gandhi: a committed Hindu says "he was a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew." •Is he arguing in favor of the modern religious cliché "That all religions are the same" ? •No. But all people religious or otherwise deserve our respect as fellow human beings.

The Ring of Gyges

•Glaucon's doubts •Are there good reasons to do the right thing if we knew that we could get away with being unjust... •Is justice good independent of the consequences? •Glaucon's story •Gyges finds a ring that turns him invisible. •He is now capable of doing anything...why should he be just? •He seduces the queen and kills the king...why should he do otherwise?

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic

•Goods as means and goods as ends •Medicine is good because it leads to health: Medicine is an extrinsic good •Wealth is good because it makes other things possible. It is a tool for other goods. •Money for life, not life for money •Happiness is that good at which all other goods aim .•Happiness has three common definitions: The pleasurable life, the honorable life, the contemplative life •Happiness is to live in accord with our nature.

Aristotle

•Greek philosopher (4th Century B.C.) •Nicomachean Ethics: •Intrinsic vs. extrinsic goods •Ethics is social and tied to human nature: •Virtue •Habit •The Mean

A Better Way

•Have a legal framework (rules) but promote ethical behavior through relationships •Legal"framework:house"as "relationships:home" •Why is this an Improvement? •I feel a responsibility to you and you feel a responsibility to me, rather than a contractual obligation where our only responsibility is to the law. •Like a family •Ethics don't come from ethics courses but from "bonds developed in family, church, schools, neighborhoods..."

Rule Enforcement?

•How does this impact rule enforcement? •Let's consider John Russell's (1999) important paper Are Rules All an Umpire Has to Work With?

Social & Natural

•Human beings are social creatures •Ethics is not merely personal but a matter of how we order our lives together. •The function of the eye is to see...what is the function of man? •Life? No, many things besides man are alive. •Sensation? No, all animals share sensation. •Reason...happiness

Ramifications

•If Fort is right and moral, emotional and spiritual needs allow us to function with larger goals than material gain in mind, then Singer may be shooting himself in the foot when he insists on secular ethics. •Why? Every motivation but materialism is out of bounds in secular ethics. •Cold, nothing but the bottom line capitalism, is the result. • Perhaps Singer, as we have discussed, is actually promoting what he decries!?

Ramifications?

•If Fort is right and moral, emotional and spiritual needs allow us to function with larger goals than material gain in mind, then Singer may be shooting himself in the foot when he insists on secular ethics. •Why? Every motivation but materialism is out of bounds in secular ethics. •Cold, nothing but the bottom line capitalism, is the result. • Perhaps Singer, as we have discussed, is actually promoting what he decries!?

Implications?

•If Russell is right, this would seem to imply broad internalism as well as intuitionism. •Both Russell and Ross endorse the idea that our duty to follow the rules is subordinate to larger over-arching principles •This is why Russell says discretion is necessary and Ross insists that the "the decision rests with perception". •Yet "discretion" and "perception" suggest that character rather than rules are key. •If so, then virtue ethics requires our further attention.