Ethical Thought Flashcards
Divine command theory
Moral is determined by what God (the divine) commands. Therefore, Divine Command Theory believes that morality is ultimately completely dependent upon the commands of God.
Right and wrong are objective truths based on God’s will
Moral goodness is achieved by complying with God’s command
Divine command follows from God’s omnipotence
Robert Adams - modified divine command theory
It seems possible that God could command people to do terrible things, e.g. murder (Abraham) and torture. If God commanded us to do these things, then according to Divine Command Theory that would make them good actions. Yet Adams says this would not be accepted by most adherents to DCT.
‘If God were really to command us to make cruelty our goal, then He would not have that character of loving us, and I would not say it would be wrong to disobey Him.’
The euthyphro dilemma
Socrates asks Euthyphro “is something good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good?”
The first option says that things are only good because God commands them, but this means that literally anything God commands would be right.
The second option says that God only commands something because it is right. But if that is the case then God is restricted in what he can and cannot command, which limits his power. An omnipotent God should not be restricted in making decisions about ethics.
The arbitrariness problem
Divine command theory appears to render the content of morality arbitrary (arbitrary means based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system). If divine command theory is true, it seems, then what is good and what bad depends on nothing more than God’s whims.
The philosopher Leibniz argued this “destroys all the love of God and all his glory” because he would be equally praiseworthy whatever he commanded.
The pluralism problem
It is impossible to know which God’s or religion’s commands should be followed, especially because some religions contradict each other, making it impossible to accept all of them. For example, in Islam it is seen that God commands that divorce is morally acceptable but in Catholic Christianity it is not.
Ethical egoism
When faced with a moral dilemma, a moral agent should act in their own self-interest
Psychological egoism
Humans live to maximise pleasure
Whenever a human acts they will be naturally motivated by self-interest even if their action appears to
be altruistic.
For example, a person may give money to charity, which appears altruistic, but they may feel good about giving or may have given to impress somebody else so self-interest is the true motivation.
Therefore Ethical Egoism is the ideal normative ethic to follow because it supports our natural psychological state (psychological egoism).
Max Stirner’s ethical egoism
All our actions are done for self interest - ‘I am everything to myself and I do everything on my account.’
All interactions with others are purely a means of self enjoyment - ‘For me you are nothing but my food.’
All individuals are unique and should reject any attempts to restrict or deny their uniqueness. Individuals must concentrate all their actions on themselves in order to maximise their uniqueness. We must treat ourselves as the ‘highest being’
Union of egoists
A society made up of free individuals who have rejected restrictions on the self. People would unite in ‘unions’ based on free agreement (members cannot be forced to join), equality of all members (they do not involve the subordination of the individual) and the mutual self-interest of those involved (the union exists purely to help each individual in the union to achieve their own goals). Therefore, unions would exist to ensure they maximise an individual’s self-enjoyment, pleasure, freedom, and individuality, as well as ensuring that those involved sacrifice nothing while belonging to them
Ayn Rand - rational egoism
Altruism is ultimately immoral as it involves sacrificing one’s own interests for the good of others. This is as bad as ‘selfishness’ in the sense of ruthlessly sacrificing the interests of others for the good of oneself. Both are wrong in her view and neither consider the middle ground of seeking happiness for each individual.
Instead, she argues for a new concept of ‘rational egoism’ which looks at what self-interest really means when it comes to living in communities. She argues that self-interest should not be seen as a ‘bad’ motivation but that we should consider how far the needs of the individual should be balanced with the needs of others in order to set up the best kind of society.
The 12 moral virtues
Courage
Temperance
Liberality
Munificence
High-mindedness
Right ambition
Good temper
Friendliness
Sincerity
Wittiness
Modesty
Just resentment
Primary intellectual virtues
Art or technical skill (techne)
Scientific knowledge (episteme)
Prudence or practical wisdom (phronesis)
Intelligence or intuition (nous)
Wisdom (sophia)
Secondary intellectual virtues
Resourcefulness (eboulia)
Understanding (sunesis)
Judgement (gnome)
Cleverness (deinotes)
Doctrine of the mean
Controlling our emotional responses so that we behave with dignity, knowing how much of a particular disposition is right in a particular circumstance.
To put this doctrine into practice, it must be combined with prudence, the ability to work out how to act according to the moral virtues. It is one thing to want to be courageous, and another to know how to do it in a given situation. Through practice, the mean response will become our natural one – by practising the virtues we will become virtuous.
Macintyre - virtue theory
Modern moral philosophy puts too much emphasis on theoretical reasoning and not enough on people – we are too obsessed with ‘quandry ethics’ – looking at impossible situations and trying, unsuccessfully, to find a rational response to them
It makes more sense to look at morality in historical terms, beginning with the Ancient Greeks and their emphasis on the virtues. He studies how the virtues change as the needs of society change, but morality is still clearly linked to being a good person.
