ETHICS – The idea of right/wrong, moral/immoral, good/bad.

Big questions in Ethics:

            -Are ethics based on Altruism or Self Preservation?

            -What is the role of Pleasure in Ethics?

            -What is the role of Duty in Ethics?

            -Are Ethics SET or do they CHANGE – or some of both?

Moral Responsibility:                 

-Dante’ PP 274.

            -There is No Escape from Moral Responsibility.

            -We all have moral standards by virtue of being human.

-Having no morals is a “moral-standard”, therefore no morals = morals.

Moral Suffering:  Unsure what the “right thing” is – leading to “moral dilemma”.

Common ways to deal with Moral Dilemmas:

            -find a moral authority.

            -change your moral standard and make whatever it is you are doing

             acceptable.

            -conclude that all values are about personal preference.

Problem with Moral Relativism: 

            -Principal of Non-contradiction

            -Some things appear self-evidently wrong while others appear relatively

             wrong. 

Current Reality 2017:  Physical health has been correlated with the ability to determine what is morally right.  In other words moral dilemmas make people sick, and that’s a medically proven fact. In fact the empirical and scientific evidence for this is becoming huge.

Freud:  (Psychological Determinist- probably the founder of psychology, but mostly now his theories are disputed): 

                        -Social Setting Determines “acceptable behavior”

                        -competition between desired behavior and acceptable

                        -violation leads to “guilt”.  People go to great means to avoid guilt.

                                    :make something non-acceptable – acceptable.

                                    Cultures do this over time

                                    :Deny it exists

The Six Schools of Ethics Introduced in Chapter five by Fallikowski:

1)    Character Ethics: Care (altruism), Pleasure, friendship, God, Physical/Mental/Spiritual - all matter all in moderation - Balance.

2)    Utilitarian – Maximize the good/minimize the bad – Relative.

3)    Deontologist (Kantian) – Right and wrong is Absolute – Duty Rules

4)    Feminine – Intuition – Relationship trumps Rationality.

5)    Existential Atheistic – Ethics is Art. Create your Ethics grand then!

6)    Objectivist Epistemologist)–Selfishness Rules!

Plato: 

          Physical/Mental/Spiritual Picture of Ethics

          Teleology:  Everything has a “purpose” and a “place”

          -People have an internal argument between “appetites” and

            “Spirit”. Everyone has physical, mental and spiritual needs and that’s okay, the  key is balance.  A tyrant is someone who is out of balance.

-“Reason” controls these. 

          -Finding Reason is finding “Moral Balance”

          -Argues that Moral Balance is hard to obtain.

Plato’s “Two Horses Analogy”:  Spirit and Appetite are held together by Rationality. Everyone has physical and mental needs and that’s okay. The key is Balance. A Tyrant is one who is out of balance.

Plato’s Teleology: “don’t judge a paper cutter by how it shovels snow”.

Teleology = Purpose (Metaphysical)

Timarachic:                   Spirit – athletic, achiever

Democratic                   Versatile – but can be without principal,

                                      Jack of all trades

Oligarchic                     Material Rules

Philosopher King          Balance

Tyrant                           Possessed by a “master passion”

Everyone has physical needs and status needs and THAT’S”s OKAY, and they are necessary.  These needs to be controlled by REASON.  Everything has a purpose, “Teleology”:  We find our purpose from finding the “Balance”.   “Purpose and Essence lies in the Balance”

Utilitarian Ethics:  Bentham and Mill

Key Words:  Relative and Utility (what make the most sense most of the time).

Key Things: No action is necessarily right or wrong.  Actions are moral if they maximize the net value of utility.

Utilitarianism was a Social Reform in England that later became a philosophy.  It was a social reform because of the Industrial Revolution in England.  Prior to Utility, Kings made the law. Kings were free to base law that could benefit them anyway they wanted with disregard to everyone else, and not in accord to the “masses” (arbitrary and capricious). Not all royal laws were that way but they “could be”.  There were no checks and balances. 

The need for objective government created the divisison of PARLEMENT AND THE OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER. In America the parallel divisions were the legislature and the president.

The American Revolution thinkers had ideas from the French Revolution.  It was an idea that was about to “pop”.  It was the idea that utility leads to the construction of a “collective morality”. Utility leads to Democratic Laws.

To the Utilitarian - It’s vain to talk of the interests of the individual without talking about the interests of the community ( what does this mean?).

This blends with the industrial revolution in Europe where people were being exploited (used).  Child Labor, low wages and long hours, dangerous working conditions, no insurance – led to social reform.  The French Revolution basically was the rise of the middle class and that they wanted Rights.  Finally the American Revolution became Democracy.

Problems with Situational Ethics and Utilitarianism

1)    You may be conditioned to utilitarianism because you are American.

2)    Utilitarianism is mostly a system of government, not personal ethics.

3)    The thinkers behind utilitarianism (Bentham and Mill), were about government and social reform, not morality and philosophy; although it later became that way.

4)   Because of the effect of Utility on America, it’s hard to develop a pure Kantian or Platonic system without viewing the “RELATIVE” effect of action. 

  

Things that led to Utilitarianism were:

Child Labor and the Rise of the Middle Class.  At the time Kings made the law and they could be “arbitrary and capricious”.  There was a need for objective rules.  This also blends with the French Revolution and the American Revolution and Creation of the Constitution. 

Utilitarianism is a “Paradigm Shift” which was an idea ready to “Pop”.  This was the idea that utility or “What’s Practical” leads to “collective morality” and “democratic laws”.

Utility leads to collective morality and democratic laws

-The rise of unions is a utilitarian movement.

-Public Education is a utilitarian movement.

Problems with Utilitarianism:

          -You may be conditioned to it because you are American

          -It puts pleasure at the core (May not be a problem).

          -Is an argument for situational ethics over Kantian Ethics.

          -No action is necessarily wrong or right.  Actions are moral

            if they maximize the value of utility.

          -Utilitarianism can quickly become Machiavellian.  When

           the ends justify the means.

Existential Ethics (Atheistic) – Nietzsche

Reality and Ethics are an art form.   Morality is a man-made aesthetic creation, and we create our own morality as we are ultimately free.  All attempts to explain it any other way an easy way out.  Since we create our own morality it is necessary to create it well.  We must continuously transfer passion into creativity through strength, courage and pride.

Objectivist:  Rand

Key Words:   Rational Selfishness

                       Escape from Altruism

-Altruism is a form of selfishness

-Altruism is, in the end, destructive.

-Man must live for his/her own sake as if life is an ends in itself.

-Rational Selfishness is, in the end, productive and benefits everyone.

Kantian:  Absolute truth

          Categorical imperative

          Duty

Key things: Absolute truth is logically consistent, universally acceptable and unconditional.

          -The ends do not justify the means – EVER (which constitutes the debate between moral relativism and moral absolutism.

Actions are done from DUTY.

Goodness is duty and it is an ends in itself.

Happiness is NOT a Goal.  Balance is not a goal.

Feminist Ethics:

Intuitive morality

There are exceptions to all rules:  “anomalies” 

Morality is not structured by reason.

Reason is a male obsession and it does not consider intuition

“Relation” is more important than “reason”

“Care” is more important than “duty”