Ethical Theories Flashcards
Compare and contrast the various connotations of the word “ought.”
- Prudential ought – the prudent course of action
- Legal ought – according to the law
- Moral ought – related to duty/ obligation
Describe the use of “ought” in a moral decision making context.
• “What ought I to do”?
• One of the ‘big’ questions in ethics
The answer may be influenced by your ethical or moral agency
Describe consequentialist ethical theories.
• Aimed to maximize the good consequences and minimize the bad
• Each act is evaluated based on its outcome
• The rightness or wrongness of an act is simply and solely a function of the goodness or badness of the consequences
• The agent’s intentions, motives, and the nature of the act are completely irrelevant to the rightness or wrongness of actions
Consequentialists can be divided into altruists (only to aim at good consequences for others) and egoists (the interest, happiness, or welfare of others should only be considered if the agent will benefit in some manner)
Describe deontological ethical theories.
- A duty-based system of morality
- Deontology refers to a general category of ethical or moral theories that define right action in terms of duties and moral rules, derived from the Greek word for duty
- Deontologists focus on the rightness of an act and not on what results from the act.
- Right action may end up being pleasant or unpleasant for the agent, may meet with approval or condemnation from others, and may produce pleasure, riches, pain, or even go unnoticed.
- Individuals motives serve as a basis for judging their actions morally right or wrong
- What is crucial on this view is that right action is required, and that the goal of moral behavior is simply that it is performed
- The slogan of much of deontology is that the right is independent of the good
Conceptions of Duty
- The Adolph Eichmann model
- Duty is external
- Duty is imposed by others
- Duty as freely imposing obligation on one’s own self
- The Kantian model
- Duty is internal
- We impose duty on ourselves
- The second conception of duty is much more morally advanced than the first
Criticisms of the Ethics of Duty
• Moral Minimalism
Requirements are not heartfelt
• Moral Alienation
Alienated from feelings
• Duty and “Just Following Orders”
This is not Kant’s genuine position
Universality
Always act according to that maxim whose universality as a law you can at the same time will
Categorical Imperatives: Respect
- Act with reference to every rational being (whether yourself or another) so that it is an end in itself in your maxim…
• One of Kant’s most lasting contributions to moral philosophy was his emphasis on the notion of respect (Achtung)
• Respect has become a fundamental moral concept in contemporary Canada
• 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
Categorical Imperative: Publicity
- So act as if your maxims should serve at the same time as the universal law (of all rational beings)
Identify the main ideas 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.
What is 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
people’s actions in such a way as to
produce a better world.
• Consequently, the emphasis in utilitarianism is on consequences, not intentions.
Describe Fundamental Imperative
- 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.
Describe Utilitarianism
• Utilitarianism offers us a powerful vision of the moral life, one that promises to reduce or eliminate moral disagreement.
- If we can agree that the purpose of morality is to make the world a better place; and
- If we can scientifically assess various possible courses of action to determine which will have the greatest positive effect on the world; then
- We can provide a scientific answer to the question of what we ought to do.
What is Intrinsic Value?
• Many things have instrumental value, that is, they have value as means to an end.
• However, there must be some things which are not merely instrumental, but have value in themselves. This is what we call intrinsic value.
• What has intrinsic value? Four principal candidates:
- Pleasure (Jeremy Bentham)
- Happiness (John Stuart Mill)
- Ideals (G. E. Moore)
- Preferences (Kenneth Arrow)
What is Act Utilitarianism?
- Looks at the consequences of each individual act and calculate utility each time the act is performed.
