deontological ethics

Question 1

deontological ethics (16)

Answer 1

(1) john finnis

(2) finnis’ basic goods (+key points, application)

(3) finnis’ theoretical vs practical reason

(4) finnis’ 9 requirements

(5) using 7Gs+9Rs for actions

(6) finnis’ common good + authority

(7) laws/legal system + finnis’ DE

(8) strengths/weaknesses

(9) proportionalism

(10) bernard hoose’s PP

(11) PP pre-moral vs ontic evil

(12) PP good vs right act

(13) PP + natural law/agape love

(14) PP’s strengths/weaknesses

(15) capital punishment (PP for/against)

(16) immigration (pp for/against)

Question 2

(1) john finnis

Answer 2

• 1940, dev NL to negate flaws/’flourishment’; modern positivism/reinterpret; ‘rational basis for moral action’; guided by moral principles, but derives from ‘objective reasonableness’
• goods ‘self-evident truths’, underived/indemonstrable
• aristotle/phronesis/wisdom; reason over human nature
• !!! law legally valid even if unjust; no moral justification for enforcing an unjust law

Question 3

(2) finnis’ basic goods (+key points, application)

Answer 3

• multiple/all valued/none can harm another; substantiative (1-3) +reflective (4-7)
• self-evident, universal, ‘flourish’; existence evident from practical reasoning
• (7): life, knowledge, play, aestheticism, sociability, practical reasonableness, cosmic order

Question 4

(3) finnis’ theoretical vs practical reason

Answer 4

• theoretical: relies on self-evident principles, describes truth, can’t produce contradictions
• practical: ‘how’ to act; self-evidence BGs, est how to practise in reality; can be contradictory

Question 5

(4) finnis’ 9 requirements

Answer 5

• creates optimum 7BG pursuing-conditions; practical reasoning
• (9): (1) life as a whole, (2) no value preference, (3) BG apply to all equally, (4) no obsession, (5) attempt to flourish, (6) aim for the most good, (7) never harm a BG, (8) common good for community, (9) act in own conscience

Question 6

(5) using 7Gs+9Rs for actions

Answer 6

• primary/secondary precept structure> begin 9Rs, move to 7BG pursuit; discretion
• FW determines choice, PRs enables structure, theoretical reasonableness enables free-thought

Question 7

(6) finnis’ common good + authority

Answer 7

• CG never achieved; participated in (all)
• authority to coordinate actions for CG
• law necessary; made with BGs in mind; if one accept legal system, obligated to obey all laws

Question 8

(7) laws/legal system + finnis’ DE

Answer 8

• ‘lex injusta non est lex’ (morally wrong laws not laws at all); morally unjust law imposes legal (not moral) obligation
• intrinsically evil law (opposes BGs) vs extrinsically unjust laws (don’t promote CG)
• legal system serves BG+accordance with PR; authors of law dictate
• F> agreed with Fuller’s 8 requirements of ‘the inner morality of law’
• F> NLs are normative statements (Kelsen)

Question 9

(8) strengths/weaknesses

Answer 9

• S: works in secular society; present day/not post-mortem incentive (aristotle summum bonum)
• S: universal, subjective/relative/postmodernist; works with law and politics; works with NL; Green, Aquinas, Vardy
• W: little structure/guidance; can’t be empirically proven; elitist; ignore primal impulse/nature
• facilitates totalitarianism; homophobic (finnis OG); Cole, Porter, Buckle

Question 10

(9) proportionalism

Answer 10

• catholic, 1960s, NL revisionists; Knauer, ‘objective’ ethical reasoning
• rules broken only for a proportionate reason; intention, context, results factored; condemned by catholic church (PP> no act inherently evil)
• mccormick, hoose, jans, porter

Question 11

(10) bernard hoose’s PP

Answer 11

• 1987, ‘the american debate’; H> goodness vs rightness/tel vs deo distinctions in NL
• only go against principle for proportionate reason

Question 12

(11) PP pre-moral vs ontic evil

Answer 12

• both underlie action, not act itself
• pre-moral evil (intrins/obj evil; PP> exceptions); ontic evil (moral ambiguity; ‘fallenness’ genesis 3); evil moral act (immoral/PP’s intrinsic evil; greater disvalue than value)
• hoose, jard, mac

Question 13

(12) PP good vs right act

Answer 13

• good: doesn’t deviate from rule it follows (deon/theo; must have right intention)
• right: may deviate from moral principle, but for proportionate reason (context)

Question 14

(13) PP + natural law/agape love

Answer 14

• hybrid: more tel than deo: ethics dictated by outcome; elements of deon (action, duty)
• agape: >another form of SE; love >element of ethical criteria; agape highest virtue (corinthians 13); love can’t dictate ethics of actions solely

Question 15

(14) PP’s strengths/weaknesses

Answer 15

• W: rejected by CC, subjective/relative/human error, no objective/empirical criteria, individualistic; much predicting/guesswork; port, gray, hoose, jard, cole
• S: supports autonomy; subj/obj/abso used together; universal/postmodern; both structured but individualist; sira, long, reed, cole

Question 16

(15) capital punishment (PP for/against)

Answer 16

• gov-sanctioned practice, murder/espionage/genocide (pakistan, US, japan, cuba); Amnesty International: 25 countries = 1,600 2015
• for: deters, closure, finance, vengeance
• against: human value, no second chance (e.g. timothy evans/vs dr john christie), fear-based, societal brutalisation, against religion; Aq, Pope Francis, deon ethics
• finnis: conflicting views: works for/against bgs; if you accept legal system, you accept legal obligation to obey every law

Question 17

(16) immigration (pp for/against)

Answer 17

• 60mil displaced globally (2016)
• for: empathy, help, cultural diversity; do good/avoid evil, preserve common good (world community)
• against: sacrifice own community+cultural identity, disrupt societal stability
• for: Catholicism, Aq, deon support; PP> for a PP reason, is justified