GEORGIA MILITARY COLLEGE

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GEORGIA MILITARY COLLEGE

• CHARACTER ABOVE ALL

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VIRTUES
VALUES
CHARACTER TRAITS
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CHARACTER

• What is it?

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ETHICS

• What Is It?

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ETHICS

• INWARD
• Morals/Values
• Attitude

• OUTWARD
• Ethics
• Behavior

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ETHICAL DISCUSSION

• Absolutism
• One Truth
•  
• Objective
• It is what it is

• Relativism
• Situational
• Subjective
• It is what I say it is

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MAJOR ISSUES IN A MORAL PROBLEM

•      Factual Issues Do the relevant facts
  provide enough information that moral judgments
  can be made with CERTAINTY?
• Conceptual Issues Do the concepts involved
  provide a clear definition in order to make a
  judgment?
•  a.    What is the Meaning of the Concept?
• b.    Does the concept fit in this situation?
•  

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MAJOR ISSUES IN A MORAL PROBLEM

• Moral Issues Do the issues involved
  actually and clearly delineate right from wrong?
• a.   What is right about the issue under
  discussion? What is wrong?
• b.   The Judeo-Christian tradition holds that
  life is sacred and genuine suicide is immoral.
• S Some Existentialist Philosophers hold that
  the ability to take ones life is the highest
  evidence of personal freedom

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ETHICAL STATEMENTS

• 1. Prescriptive (normative, what "ought" to be)
•  
• 2. Impartial (not based or dependent upon
  individual desires, biases, etc.)
•  
• 3. Important (non-trivial, non-"etiquette")
•  
• 4. Non-authoritarian (based on reason, or at
  least not based on fear, force)

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MORAL RELATIVISM

• Moral appraisals are essentially dependent upon
  the standards that define a particular moral
  code, the practices and norms accepted by a
  social group at a specific place and time.

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Diversity thesis

• Empirical or factual claim that moral beliefs
  vary from culture to culture and even in the same
  culture over time. Cultures exhibit vast
  differences in attitudes toward adultery,
  premarital sex, property ownership, violence, the
  expression of hostility, and many other issues.
  Divorce Interest.
•  

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Relativity thesis

• Moral beliefs are true or valid only relative to
  some group. Metaethical moral relativism-the
  justification of ethical statements.

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Toleration thesis

• We should not pass judgment on or attempt to
  forcibly change the moral beliefs of other
  cultures. A version of normative moral
  relativism - a view about what we should do or
  not do rather than what we should believe about
  the nature of moral beliefs.

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MORAL OBJECTIVISM

• Divine Command Theory
• 
  
  
  (1) How do we know God's commands, and (2) where
  does God get his ethical knowledge?

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DIVINE COMMAND THEORY

• A second version of the divine command theory
  addresses the issue of the ultimate ground of
  moral truth by holding that God's commands make
  certain actions right and others wrong.

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CHARACTER
A man of character in peace is a man of
courage in war. Character is a habit, the daily
choice of right and wrong. It is a moral quality
which grows to maturity in peace and is not
suddenly developed in war.
General Sir James Glover
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CHARACTER TRAITS
TRUSTWORTHINESS RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY FAIRNESS CA
RING CITIZENSHIP
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Trustworthiness

• Be honest Dont deceive, cheat or steal Be
  reliable do what you say youll do Have the
  courage to do the right thing Build a good
  reputation Be loyal stand by your family,
  friends and country

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Respect

• Treat others with respect follow the Golden Rule
  Be tolerant of differences Use good manners,
  not bad language Be considerate of the feelings
  of others Dont threaten, hit or hurt anyone
  Deal peacefully with anger, insults and
  disagreements

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Responsibility

• Do what you are supposed to do Persevere keep
  on trying! Always do your best Use
  self-control Be self-disciplined Think before
  you act consider the consequences Be
  accountable for your choices

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Fairness

• Play by the rules Take turns and share Be
  open-minded listen to others Dont take
  advantage of others Dont blame others
  carelessly

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Caring

• Be kind Be compassionate and show you care
  Express gratitude Forgive others Help people
  in need

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Citizenship

• Do your share to make your school and community
  better Cooperate Get involved in community
  affairs Stay informed vote Be a good
  neighbor Obey laws and rules Respect
  authority Protect the environment

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VALUES
ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORTH OR IMPORTANCE
OF PEOPLE, CONCEPTS, OR THINGS
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SPECIFIC VALUES
Army Values Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless
Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal
Courage National Values Liberty, Justice,
Freedom, Equality, Happiness Individual
Country, Family, Security, Health,
Education, Divine Protection, Community Spiritual
Belief in God, Truth, Prayer, Worship,
Compassion, Peace, Hope, Love
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VIRTUES

• Virtue is the moral excellence of a person.
  Likewise it is a character trait valued as being
  good. It is the excellence of perfection of a
  thing. As used by moral philosophers and
  theologians, virtue is an operative habit
  essentially good.

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VIRTUES

• The four cardinal virtues are Justice, Courage,
  Wisdom and Moderation. Sometimes rendered as
  Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude and Justice.

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BELIEFS
Assumptions Or Convictions That You Hold As
True About Some Person, Place, Or Concept
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MORAL THEORIES

• MORAL JUDGMENTS
• MORAL PRINCIPLES
• MORAL STANDARD

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MORAL JUDGMENTS

•  Morally Obligatory - Right to do the actions
  and wrong not to do them. Protecting family and
  property
•  Forbidden or Morally Impermissible - Wrong to
  do and right not to Do them. Murder Artificial
  contraception
• Morally Permissible - Morally neutral
• Non-trivial Permissible have important
  consequences. Risky surgery that MAY prolong
  life.
•   Trivial Permissible - relatively unimportant
  consequences. Giving to the CFC or not.

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MORAL JUDGMENTS

• Supererogatory - above and beyond the call of
  duty
• Supererogatory acts of Omission - actions that
  are good not to do but are morally permissible to
  do.Not demanding payment of a debt from a friend
  in financial trouble
• Supererogatory acts of Commission - actions that
  are good to do but are morally permissible not to
  do. Corporations starting to help economically
  blighted areas to provide jobs.

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MORAL JUDGMENTS

• Nontrivial Supererogatory goes beyond what is
  morally required and involves elements of risk
  and self-sacrifice Saints, heroes, and
  whistleblowers
• Trivial Supererogatory goes beyond what is
  morally required but does not involve elements of
  risk or self-sacrifice. Calling in about street
  lights being out.

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MORAL PRINCIPLES

•    Personal Ethics - relationships among
  individuals
•        Duties to self What character traits and
  personal goals contribute most to the realization
  of the ideal set forth in the Moral Standard?
  Health, Education, etc.
• Duties to others Negative duties, ie. NOT to
  do something to others that may harm
  them.

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MORAL PRINCIPLES

• Social Ethics - relationships between
  individuals and groups and between groups What
  kind of social order is best suited to realize
  the goals set out in moral philosophy?
•   Minimal role for the State Butt out except
  for protection of citizens.
•   Active role in implementing policies that
  watch out for public welfare.

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MORAL STANDARD

• A Standard is the overriding and most
  fundamentally important measure.
• It provides the criterion for determining right
  and wrong. Does not simply refer to an action or
  class of action, instead designates a
  characteristic that all actions must have

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Problems in Applying Ethics

•  Relevance Problems We dont know if the
  principle if relevant to the problem.
•  Clear cases in which the principle applies are
  paradigm cases
• ie. no relevance problem.
• Problematic cases are where the application of
  the principle is controversial or
• ambiguous ie. Relevance problems.

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Problems in Applying Ethics

• A moral principle that one should return items
  that are borrowed may move from paradigm to
  problematic depending on the item or its value.
• Car, lawn mower, computer, pen, a piece of paper
  or 50 cents.

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Problems in Applying Ethics

•   Conflict Problems
•  Different moral principles apply
•  Application of the different principles
  leads to different moral judgments and would
  result in different actions and consequences

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Problems in Applying Ethics

• Moral Dilemma
•   Choose one or the other based on perceived
  overriding importance.
•   Find a creative middle way.
•   Appeal to values that are ordinarily not
  relevant.

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Categories of Ethical Theories

• Consequentialist- Self-Interest
• Utilitarianism
• Principled Natural Law
• Respect for Persons
• Virtue -

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CONSEQUENTIALIST

• SELF INTEREST OR
• EGOISM

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SELF-INTEREST

• TYPES OF EGOISM.
• A. PSYCHOLOGICAL BEING
• THOMAS HOBBES
• B. ETHICAL DOING
• AYN RAND

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PSYCHOLOGICAL

• The psychological egoist claims that people
  always act selfishly or in their own
  self-interest.
• One of the earlier advocates of this view was
  Thomas Hobbes, who saw life as nasty, brutish,
  and short.
• Hobbes account of the human condition contained
  six elements. He said, People are concerned
  with
• 1. Their own well-being and act accordingly.
• 2. What others think of them and act
• accordingly.

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PSYCHOLOGICAL

• 3. Avoiding death and act accordingly.
• 4. Their future and present well-being, and act
  accordingly.
• 5. Satisfying their own desires which often
  conflicts with anothers desires.
• 6. Being roughly equal in intellectual and
  physical abilities.

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PSYCHOLOGICAL

• TWO MAIN VERSIONS
• A. WE ACT SELFISHLY
• B. WE ACT IN OUR OWN SELF INTEREST

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ETHICAL EGOISM

• Personal Ethical Egoism I am going to act only
  in my own interest, and everyone else can do
  whatever they want.
• Universal Ethical Egoism Each individual should
  act in his or her own self interest.
• Individual Ethical EgoismEveryone should act in
  my own interest.

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Ethical Egoism

• A philosophy for a world of strangers
• Some philosophers have argued that ethical
  egoism is, at best, appropriate to living in a
  world of strangers that you do not care about.
•  

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ETHICS What are we really
talking about?
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ETHICAL DILEMMA AN ETHICAL DILEMMA
EXISTS WHEN TWO OR MORE DEEPLY HELD
VALUES COLLIDE.
RESOLVING AN ETHICAL DILEMMA RESULTS IN THE
GREATEST MORAL GOOD.
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CONSEQUENTIALIST

• UTILITARIANISM

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UTILITARIANISM

• Basic Insights of Utilitarianism
• The purpose of morality is to make the world a
  better place.
• Morality is about producing good consequences,
  not having good intentions.
• We should do whatever will bring the most benefit
  (i.e., intrinsic value) to all of humanity.

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UTILITARIANISM

• The Purpose of Morality
• The utilitarian has a very simple answer to the
  question of why morality exists at all
• The purpose of morality is to guide peoples
  actions in such a way as to produce a better
  world.
• Consequently, the emphasis in utilitarianism is
  on consequences, not intentions.

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UTILITARIANISM

• Fundamental Imperative
• The fundamental imperative of utilitarianism is
• Always act in the way that will produce the
  greatest overall amount of good in the world.
• The emphasis is clearly on consequences, not
  intentions.

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UTILITARIANISM

• Jeremy Bentham 1748-1832
• Bentham believed that we should try to increase
  the overall amount of pleasure in the world.
• John Stuart Mill 1806-1873
• Benthams godson.
• Believed that happiness, not pleasure, should be
  the standard of utility.

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UTILITARIANISM

• Act and Rule Utilitarianism
• Act utilitarianism
• Looks at the consequences of each individual act
  and calculate utility each time the act is
  performed.
• Rule utilitarianism
• Looks at the consequences of having everyone
  follow a particular rule and calculates the
  overall utility of accepting or rejecting the
  rule.

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UTILITARIANISM

• Criticisms of Utilitarianism
• 1.Responsibility.
• 2.Integrity
• 3.Intentions
• 4.Moral Luck
• 5.Who does the calculating?
• 6.Who is included?

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UTILITARIANISM

• Concluding Assessment
• Utilitarianism is most appropriate for policy
  decisions, as long as a strong notion of
  fundamental human rights guarantees that it will
  not violate rights of small minorities.

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PRINCIPLED

• NATURAL LAW

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NATURAL LAW

• The term Natural Law implies that ethical laws
  are like laws of nature. Scientific laws are
  descriptive which state how phenomena in nature
  always behave. Ethical laws are prescriptive, and
  state how people should behave.

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NATURAL LAW

• The greatest exponent of Natural Law was Thomas
  Aquinas 1224-1274 and he believed that the
  basic outlines of proper human behavior are
  relatively clear.

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NATURAL LAW

• Human Nature and Natural Inclinations.
• Biological Values
• Life
• Procreation
• Human Values
• Knowledge
• Sociability

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Biological Values

• a.  Life. From the natural inclinations that we
  and all other animals have to preserve our own
  existence, we can infer that life is good, that
  we have an obligation to promote our own health,
  and that we have the right of self- defense.
  Negatively, this inclination implies that murder
  and suicide are wrong.
•  
• b.     Procreation. From the natural inclination
  that we and all animals have to engage in sexual
  intercourse and to rear offspring, we can infer
  that procreation is a value and that

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Biological Values

• b.     Procreation. From the natural inclination
  that we and all animals have to engage in sexual
  intercourse and to rear offspring, we can infer
  that procreation is a value and that we have an
  obligation to produce and rear children.
  Negatively, this inclination implies that such
  practices as sterilization, homosexuality, and
  artificial contraception are wrong.

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Human Values

• a.     Knowledge. From the natural tendency we
  have to know, including the tendency to seek
  knowledge of God, we can infer that knowledge is
  a value and that we have an obligation to pursue
  knowledge of the world and of God. Negatively,
  this inclination implies that the stifling of
  intellectual curiosity and the pursuit of
  knowledge is wrong. It also implies that a lack
  of religion is wrong.

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Human Values

• .    Sociability. From the natural tendency we
  have to form bonds of affection and love with
  other human beings and to associate with others
  in societies, we can infer that friendship and
  love are good and that the state is a natural
  institution and therefore good. We thus have an
  obligation to pursue close relationships with
  other human beings and to submit to the
  legitimate authority of the state. We can also
  infer that war can be justified under certain
  conditions if it is necessary to defend the
  state.

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Human Values

• Negatively, this inclination implies that
  activities that interfere with proper human
  relationships, such as spreading slander and
  lies, are wrong. Actions that destroy the power
  of the state are also wrong, so natural law finds
  a basis for argument against revolution and
  treason, except when the state is radically
  unjust.

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Principle of Forfeiture

• According to the principle of forfeiture, a
  person who threatens the life of an innocent
  person forfeits his or her own right to life. (An
  innocent person is one who has not threatened
  anyone's life.)
• Killing is taking the life of a non-innocent
  person, whereas murder is taking the life of an
  innocent person.

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Principle of Double Effect

• According to the principle of double effect, it
  is morally permissible to perform an action that
  has two effects, one good and the other bad, if
  (1) the bad effect is unavoidable if the good
  effect is to be achieved, (2) the bad effect is
  unintendedthat is, not a direct means to the
  good effect, and (3) a proportionally serious
  reason exists for performing the action.

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PRINCIPLED

• ETHICS OF RESPECT
• AND DUTY

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Ethics of Respect

• One of Immanuel Kants most lasting contributions
  to moral philosophy was his emphasis on the
  notion of respect (Achtung)

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Ethics of Respect

• Introduction
• Respect has become a fundamental moral concept
  in contemporary America
• Rodney Dangerfield Dont dis me.
• There are rituals of respect in almost
  all cultures.
•   Two central questions
• What is respect?
• Who or what is the proper object of
  respect?

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Ethics of Respect

• Kant on Respecting Persons
• Kant brought the notion of respect (Achtung)
  to the center of moral philosophy for the first
  time.
• To respect people is to treat them as ends in
  themselves. He sees people as autonomous, i.e.,
  as giving the moral law to themselves.
• The opposite of respecting people is treating
  them as mere means to an end.

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Ethics of Respect

• Treating People as Ends in Themselves
•  What are the characteristics of treating people
  as ends in themselves?
• -Not denying them relevant information.
• -Allowing them freedom of choice.

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Ethics of Respect

• Conclusion
• Respect for other people (including not using
  other people as a means) remains a key concept in
  contemporary moral philosophy.

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Ethics of Duty

• More than any other philosopher, Kant emphasized
  the way in which the moral life was centered on
  duty.

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Ethics of Duty

• Two Conceptions of Duty
• Duty as following orders
• The Adolph Eichmann model
• Duty is external
• Duty is imposed by others
• Duty as freely imposing obligation on ones
  own self
• The Douglas MacArthur model
• Duty is internal
• We impose duty on ourselves

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Ethics of Duty

• Types of Imperatives
• Hypothetical Imperative
• If you want to drive to UCLA from San
  Diego, take the 405 freeway.
• Structure ifthen
• Categorical Imperative
• Always tell the truth
• Unconditional, applicable at all times

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Duty!  

• Georgia Military College students are expected
  to demonstrate a high degree of personal
  responsibility. Said another way, students are
  expected to fulfill their obligations. The extent
  to which they are successful is measured by how
  well they fulfill their financial, disciplinary,
  academic, extracurricular, and personal
  obligations to the college and to faculty, campus
  organizations, and fellow students.

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Honor!  

• Georgia Military College students are expected to
  display a strong sense of personal integrity.
  They are expected to do the right thing, for the
  right reasons, in the right way, at the right
  time. As men and women of honor, students are
  expected to keep their word and fulfill their
  promises. Every student is bound by a Code of
  Honor that calls on each student to be truthful,
  respect the property of others, and do their own
  work

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Honor!  

• A GMC student does not lie, steal, cheat, or
  tolerate those who do. Our hope is that students
  will convert high standards for honesty practiced
  in the classroom to high standards for integrity
  practiced over a lifetime.

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Country!

• Georgia Military College is devoted to
  strengthening the love our students have for
  their country as well as their resolve to become
  contributing citizens. To this end, GMC students
  are offered frequent opportunities to practice
  selfless service in the communities where they
  study by taking part in service projects
  conducted college-wide.

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Country!

• As well, they are afforded opportunities to
  affirm their loyalty to our nation and to reflect
  on the fundamental importance of our nations
  founding principles by observing and taking part
  in the frequent parades and ceremonies conducted
  by the college to celebrate important national
  events and holidays.

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VIRTUE

• VIRTUE ETHICS

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VIRTUE THEORY

• Virtue theory is the view that the foundation of
  morality is the development of good character
  traits, or virtues. A person is good, then, if he
  has virtues and lacks vices. Typical virtues
  include courage, temperance, justice, prudence,
  fortitude, liberality, and truthfulness. Some
  virtue theorists mention as many as 100 virtuous
  character traits which contribute to making
  someone a good person. Virtue theory places
  special emphasis on moral education since
  virtuous character traits are developed in one's
  youth adults, therefore, are responsible for
  instilling virtues in the young. The failure to
  properly develop virtuous character traits will
  result in the agent acquiring vices, or bad
  character traits instead. Vices include
  cowardice, insensibility, injustice, and vanity.

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VIRTUE ETHICS

• Focus on BEING rather than DOING.
• Emphasizes what one IS rather than what one DOES.
• The ideas of EXCELLENCE AND CHARACTER loom large
  here.
• Ones aim in life is to be a truly excellent
  person, living rightly, as a virtuous human
  being. Proverbs, ch. 31

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FORCES THAT INFLUENCE DECISION MAKING
1. LAWS, ORDERS, REGULATIONS 2. BASIC
NATIONAL VALUES 3. TRADITIONAL ARMY VALUES 4.
UNIT OPERATING VALUES 5. YOUR PERSONAL
(RELIGIOUS) VALUES 6. INSTITUTIONAL VALUES
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ETHICAL REASONING PROCESS
1. DEFINE THE PROBLEM 2. KNOW THE RULES 3.
DEVELOP AND EVALUATE COURSES OF ACTION
(COA) 4. CHOOSE THE COA THAT BEST
REPRESENTS ARMY VALUES
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ETHICAL QUESTIONS

• CAN THIS DECISION BE UNIVERSALIZED?
• DOES IT VIOLATE THE TRUST OF NATION OR UNIT?
• DOES THIS ACTION VIOLATE MY PERSONAL
• BELIEFS ABOUT RIGHT AND WRONG?
• WHAT ABOUT MY MOTIVATIONS FOR CHOOSING
• ONE ACTION OVER ANOTHER?
• WHAT ARE THE LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES OF
• THIS ACTION?

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SUMMARY
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ETH
ICS
QUESTIONS ??