A Western View of Ethics and Morality

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A Western View of Ethics and Morality

• Engineering 124
• Spring 2005

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Western Ethics and Morality

• Ethics
• The good
• What is the meaning of life?
• What constitutes the good life?
• What is human and/or ecological flourishing?

• Morality
• The right
• What is the right thing to do?
• What are our rights and our duties?
• What principles shall we follow?

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Western Ethics and Morality

• Ethics
• Culture Based
• Intuitive
• Appropriate to the situation
• Cant explain
• Occurs without deliberation
• Involves emotions
• Specific history brought to bear

• Morality
• Universal Truths
• Rational
• Universal principle
• Subject to justification
• Subject to deliberation
• Detached from body and emotions
• Devoid of self-interest

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Western Ethics and Morality

• Morality
• Universal truths
• Plato (427-347 BC)
• Descartes (1596-1650)
• Locke (1632-1704) Rights Ethics
• Kant (1724-1804) Duty Ethics
• Bentham (1748-1832) Mill (1806-1873)
  Utilitarianism
• Habermas Discourse Ethics
• Rawls Theory of Justice

• Ethics
• Culture
• Socrates (469-399 BC)
• Aristotle (384-322 BC)
• Hegel (1770-1831)
• Dewey/Rorty Pragmatism
• Alasdair MacIntyre Virtue Ethics
• Charles Taylor Communitarianism

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Ethics and Morality
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Western Ethics Morality

• Morality
• Plato (427-347 BC)
• Laws of Form
• Abstract forms exist independent of the mind and
  ideas emanate from these forms.
• The world emanates from these forms, (the world
  emanates from ideas vs. Aristotle where ideas
  emanate from the world).

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Western Ethics Morality

• Aristotle
• What is the good life?
• Happiness or eudaimonia
• Flourishing (Fulfilling ones purpose)
• Flourishing (excellence) has do with
  fulfilling all that we most have in us to become
  (Ex Cherry blossom tree in full bloom). It has
  to do with good health and functioning at optimum
  capacity.

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Western Ethics Morality

• Aristotle
• Happiness Involves a life of activity and is an
  end in itself, not a means to an end.
• Golden Mean Point of excellence lying between
  two extremes (of excess and deficiency).
• Virtue is a habit, acquired over time, in
  particular situations, of responding
  appropriately and exemplifying excellence.
• Presence of a virtue when a person has a
  disposition to act or feel in a certain way
  regularly, easily, and even with pleasure.
• Example is the virtue of couragehabit of
  choosing to respond appropriately in dangerous
  situations, thus avoiding the extremes of
  recklessness and paralysis.

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Western Ethics Morality

• Aristotle continued
• Man of Practical Wisdom
• He/she understands how to act with just the
  right intensity of feelings, in just the right
  way, at just the right time, with a proper
  balance of reason and desire.

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Western Ethics Morality

• Morality and Descartes (1596-1650)
• Universal truths and birth of Modernity
  
• Separation of mind and matter, and body and soul
• All thought is conscious--method of introspection
• Mind is disembodied
• Transcendent Autonomous Reason--imagination and
  emotions excluded from human reason
• Innate ideas--concepts, and formal rules
  implanted in mind by God and not acquired by
  experience
• Analytic thinking process-breaking things down to
  smallest component--based on mathematics

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Western Ethics MoralityMorality Continued

• Universal truth
• Kant (1724-1804)
• Categorical imperative
• Requires unconditional moral action

• Culture
• Hegel (1770-1831)
• Situational
• Ethical life (sittlichkeit) is embedded in
  culture/ social institutions and demonstrates
  intention, desire,or belief of collective spirit
  (Geist).

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Western Ethics Morality

• Morality Universal truths.
• Categorical Imperative
• Hypothetical imperative conceives of a means to
  accomplish desired end and contains subjective
  inclination. Example if you want to buy a car,
  then you can consider the following criteria.
• Catagorical imperative is not conditional, is
  objective and implies reciprocity. There are no
  arbitrary exceptions and no self-interest.
• I am not entitled to treat you based on one
  rule and claim to be treated based on another.

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Western Ethics Morality

• Morality Kant (continued).
• Categorical Imperative
• 1) Act only according to that maxim by which you
  can at the same time will that it be universal.
• 2) Act as though the maxim of action were by you
  willed to become universal.
• 3) Never treat another as a means to an end.
• EX Maxim Lie to a murderer at the door of the
  whereabouts of a person hiding in the house only
  if they are your friend.
• Impermissible because no arbitrary exception
  allowed and reciprocity of obligation.

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Western Ethics Morality

• Morality
• Universal Truths
• Duty Ethics (Deontological) Kant (1724-1804)
• Rights Ethics Locke (1632-1704)
• Acts are morally right when they are the best
  way to respect the rights of everyone affected.
• Utilitarianism Bentham (1748-1832) and Mill
  (1806-1873)
• Acts are morally right when they produce the
  most good (greatest happiness) for the most
  people.
• (Relies on quantity and isnt concerned with
  intrinsic/subjective value).

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Ethical Theories

• Ethics-Culture
• Dewey and Rorty- Pragmatism and theory of
  practice. We know by doing . Moral theories are
  to be regarded as hypothesis, tested by how well
  they resolve a problem.
• Distinguishes know how from know what
  is knowledge enough?
• Alasdair MacIntyre-Virtue Ethics
• Acts are morally right when they most
  fully manifest or support relevant virtues, where
  virtues are traits of character making possible
  the achievement of social goods.
• Charles Taylor-Communitarianism
• Everything fundamental in ethics derives
  from communal values, the common good, social
  goals, traditional practices and cooperative
  virtues.

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Moral Theories

• Morality Universal Truth
• Habermas-(1924-) Frankfurt School of Critical
  Theory
• and Discourse Ethics
• Rawls-Theory of Justice (Published in 1971)
• Social and economic inequalities are to be
  arranged so that they (a) provide the greatest
  benefit to the least advantaged, and (b)
  conditions of fair equality of opportunity.

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Western Ethics and Morality

• Morality
• Universal Truth
• Plato (427-347 BC)
• Descartes (1596-1650)
• Locke (1632-1704) Rights Ethics
• Kant (1724-1804) Duty Ethics
• Bentham (1748-1832) Mill (1806-1873)
• Utilitarianism

• Ethics
• Culture
• Socrates (469-399 BC)
• Aristotle (384-322 BC)
• Hegel (1770-1831)

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Western Ethics Morality

• Morality
• Universal Truth
• Habermas-(1924-) Frankfurt School of Critical
  Theory
• and Discourse Ethics
• Rawls-Theory of Justice (Published in 1971)

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Western Ethics Morality

• Ethics-Culture
• Dewey and Rorty- Pragmatism and theory of
  practice. We know by doing . Moral theories are
  to be regarded as hypothesis tested by how well
  they resolve a problem
• Distinguishes know how from know what
  is knowledge enough?
• Alasdair McIntye-Virtue Ethics
• Acts are morally right when they most
  fully manifest or support relevant virtues, where
  virtues are traits of character making possible
  the achievement of social goods.
• Charles Taylor-Communitarianism
• Everything fundamental in ethics derives
  from communal values, the common good, social
  goals, traditional practices and cooperative
  virtues.