- •Metaethics: where our ethical principles come from (for example, Social construction? Will of God?) and what they mean
- •Applied Ethics: examining specific areas (for example, business ethics) and specific controversial issues (for example, abortion, capital punishment)
- •1) Difficulty of proving Supernatural Existence
- •2) Religious people can be immoral.
- •4) Different religions promote different ethical systems.
- •In Aristotle’s ethics (arete) is “excellences of various types.”
- •Virtue ethics is about character (agent-centered)
- •1) Psychological egoism:
- •2) Ethical egoism
- •Values of Traditional Society:
- •Impartiality and equality
- •Intensity
- •In other words with his/her choice man is setting an example of what he/she thinks is the right thing to do
- •Niccolò Machiavelli
- •Is the corporation a moral agent?
- •Favored by just cause advocates: legally.
- •Favored by at-will advocates: through the promotion of a vibrant labor market in which jobs are frequently created and readily available.
- •It can create a climate of support for attitudes that harm women
- •Issues in Euthanasia:
- •Voluntariness and Non-consequentialism
- •Bioethics: stem cell research
- •1953: Watson and Crick determine the molecular structure of dna
- •2000: Human Genome Project
- •Individuals with rare genetic disorders
- •In 1992 in Orlando, Florida, 5% of the drivers were black or Hispanic, but they accounted for 70% of those who were stopped and searched.
- •Information, computer and roboethics
- •Intellectual property
- •Isaac Asimov’s Laws of Robotics (1942, I Robot):
- •56 Nations are developing robotic weapons
Values of Traditional Society:
Modernity vs. traditions
Order
Filial piety
Hierarchy
Support of the community
Collectivist values
Patriarchal society
Perfect society:
Three kinds:
Great = the whole world
medium - the nation
and small – the city
The goal of a good society = to reach felicity
Excellent city = health body
Consequentialism: Utilitarianism
Classical formulation by
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
“Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation”
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
“Utilitarianism”, “On Liberty”, "The Subjection of Women“, “Considerations on Representative Government”
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
Bentham was a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law,
His ideas influenced the development of welfarism.
He advocated individual and economic freedom, the separation of church and state, freedom of expression,
He defended equal rights for women, the right to divorce, and the decriminalizing of homosexual acts.
He called for the abolition of slavery, the abolition of the death penalty, and the abolition of physical punishment, including that of children.
He has also become known in recent years as an early advocate of animal rights.
The idea of Panopticon (later developed by Michael Foucault - a 20th century French philosopher)
The principle of the Panopticon was that prisoners could be observed night and day, without realizing that they were being observed.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
He received great education: geometry, logic, philosophy, Greek and Latin.
At the age of three he was taught Greek. By the age of eight he had read Aesop’s Fables and the whole of Herodotus. and was acquainted with Diogenes Laertius, and six dialogues of Plato. He had also read a great deal of history in English and had been taught arithmetic, physics and astronomy.
At the age of eight he began studying Latin, the works of Euclid, and algebra, and was appointed schoolmaster to the younger children of the family.
By the age of ten could read Plato with ease.
Utilitarianism:
work for the good of all persons (not just for the good of the upper class) and promote the interests of the greatest number
change the political status quo in order to promote the good
what is good is determined by the empirical observation of whether a policy is promoting what is good
Consequences for whom? For everyone affected by my action
What kind of good? Pleasure or Happiness and Satisfying Preferences
What kind of consequences? Best consequences for the greatest number of people (more pleasure; pleasure minus pain; intensity; duration; likelihood).
The Utilitarian Calculus
A universalistic theory: the pleasure and/or happiness of all who are affected by an action or practice should be considered
In other words we are asked to look not only at our good (egoism) but neither only to other people’s good (altruism): We need to look at the general good. For example, sacrifice is not good in itself, but if and only if it promotes the greatest good for the greatest number.