Ethics Flashcards
Subjective
Something in accordance to an individual’s opinion
Objective
A fact that is not in accordance to a person’s opinions
Relative Morality
An act or decision that someone makes and is relative to a particular circumstance
Absolute Morality
Rules that our behaviour should always abide by
Teleological Theories
Telos refers to purpose or end. A teleological theory justifies actions by their outcomes. If a good thing happens from a controversial action it is justified
Deontological Theories
Are usually concerned with the doing and the action itself. The outcome does not justify the action
What are the 5 Primary Precepts
Preservation of innocent life
To reproduce
Education
To live in an ordered society
To worship God
What are secondary precepts
Specific rules that aid in the achieving of the primary precepts
The Four Tiers Of Law
The Eternal Law
The Divine Law
Natural Law
Human Law
The Eternal Law
Also known as the mind of God and is the knowledge of what is right and wrong
The Divine Law
Refers to the law revealed by God through the commandments and teachings through revelation
Natural Law
Is the moral thinking that we are all able to do. Distinguish between good and evil
Human Law
Are customs and practices of a society which are devised by governments and societies
Synderisis
Do good and avoid evil
Interior
Good act must have a good motive
Exterior
A good action as viewed on the outside
Double Effect
Is committing an action that has a good and bad effect
Applying Double Effect
Abortion
Euthanasia
Thalidomide Babies Case Study
Was a medicine given to pregnant mothers to ease their morning pain. Good action was the doctor giving the medicine with intent to ease the pain however the bad effect was causing mutations to the babies such as short and twisted limbs and unarranged organs
How to follow the preservation of life
Making murder illegal
Ban abortions
How to follow reproduction
Sex
Finding a lifetime partner
Sex only with women
How to follow educating the young
Offer schooling
Teach the under privileged
How to follow living in society
Abide by laws
Don’t kill
Obey authority
How to follow worshipping God
Go to church
Read the Bible
Implement the word in your life
Reason
Aquinas assumes that we are all reasonable human being. This has been given to us by God
Permissive
Allowing or characterised by great or excessive freedom of behaviour
The 5 permissive society case studies
The Lady Chaterley Trial
The contraceptive pill
The abortion act
The sexual offences act
The divorce reform act
The Lady Chatterley Trial
In 1960 penguin books decided to publish an uncensored version of P.H Loverence Lady Chatterley Love. It was a criminal offence to write literature that is considered obscene hence why the book was tried in October to November 1960 at the Old Bailey’s. This trial involved many literary geniuses. The Jury asked if it would “be a book you would like your wife reading”. The trial was quashed after the jury came to the verdict that allowed the book to be published
The contraceptive pill
On 4 December 1951 the contraceptive pill was made available for the first time to women through the NHS. The pill costed 2 shillings a month as proceeded by Enoch Powell the health minister. The pill was available to married women only however through the family planning act allowed unmarried women to do so
The Abortion Act
In 1967 an act passed which allowed pregnant women to get rid of a baby until the point of 28 weeks gestation. In the first year of legislation over 37k abortions were performed in England and Wales. This allowed millions of women to terminate unwanted pregnancies. Before the law passed 50 and 60 women died each year due to illegal abortions. Historian Stephen Brooke said: “the abortion act has also accrued profound sound symbolic meaning as a cipher of permissive Britain”.
The Sexual Offences Act
Passed in the House of Commons on 27th July 1967. The act legalised the homosexual practices between 2 men aged 21 and older. The bill was put forward partly due to the rising in number of arrests and prosecutions for homosexual acts. It was also campaigned for by the Homosexual Law Reform Society
The Divorce Reform Act
Prior to this 1969 women could only petition for divorce in the grounds of adultery. The act changed the way people viewed divorce.
Scholar of situation ethics
Joseph Fletcher
Agape
Selfless Christian Love
What kind of theory is Situation Ethics
Teleological Theory
Legalism
Is an over reliance on applying endless rigid rules
Antinomianism
The rejection of all moral laws
Nomos
Law in Greek
The 4 working principles
Pragmatism
Relativism
Positivism
Personalism
Pragmatism
In order to count something as true something must work in practice
Relativism
The right thing to do dependent on context
Positivism
We have to be active in bringing out love through the decisions we make
Personalism
The key to good ethics is to place the good people at the centre rather than be obedient to rules
The 6 propositions
Only one thing is intrinsically good namely love nothing else
The ruling Christian decision is love nothing else
Love and justice are the same for justice is love distributed
Love wills the neighbour good whether we like them or not
Only the end justifies the means nothing else
Loves decisions are made situationally not perspectively
Fletcher’s Four Principles
Sacrificial Suicide
Justifiable Mass Killing
Patriotic Prostitution
Sacrificial Adultery
Sacrificial Suicide
A man has a terminal illness and has the choice to either pay £100k for £40 a month for 3 years life expectancy or live for 6 months and once he has passed leaves £100£ for his family to benefit from
Justifiable Mass Killing
An atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing 152k. One of the soldier uttered “My God what have we done”. This later allowed forced Japan to sue for peace
Patriotic Prostitution
A woman has to fornicate with a spy in order to blackmail him for information that will save the world from war and save countless lives
Sacrificial Adultery
Mrs Bergneir was looking for her family. According to the rules she could only be released to Germany if she is pregnant. She then chose to be impregnated by a Volga Camp Guard.
Duty
Acting morally according to good regardless of the consequences
Good Will
doing a good action with a good intention
Hypothetical Imperative
A command that is followed to achieve a desired result
Universal Law
If an action was universalised or committed on a mass scale would it be acceptable
Person as Ends
That we should treat each person as their own free beings with their own life
Kingdom Of Ends
Imagining we are a part of a law-making group of an imaginary country. Would the laws we pass be seen as acceptable or unacceptable
The 3 Postulates
Freedom and the Summum Bonum
Immortality
God
Freedom and the Summum Bonum
It means that human beings human will are free self-directing and autonomous
Summum Bonum
The highest most supreme good
God
God ensured that in the end the world was arranged in a manner to ensure that the highest good can be achieved
Pros of Kantian Ethics
Kant’s morality is very straightforward and based on reason, making it accessible to everyone.
Duty is part of human experience.
Categorical imperative gives us rules that apply to everyone and command us to respect human life.
Cons of Kantian Ethics
Kant’s theory is abstract and not always easily appliable- it tells you what type of actions are good but not the right thing to do in particular situations
People are different and don’t necessarily have the same sense of ‘good will’
Utilitarianism Scholars
Jeremy Bentham
John Stuart Mill
Peter Singer
Jeremy Bentham
Created a quantitative utilitarianism theory meaning he seeks to maximise pleasure for the most amount of people
What is Bentham’s principle of utility
the idea that we should do whatever is useful in terms of increasing overall good and decreasing evil
What are Bentham’s 2 masters
Pleasure and Pain
Hedonistic
the idea that pleasure is the good that should be pursued
Hedonic Calculus
is a quasi-scientific algorithm used to rate pleasure and pain. Consisting of 7 aspects
Aspects of the Hedonic Calculus
Intensity: strength
Duration: length
Propinquity: proximity
Certainty: surety
Fecundity: likelihood
Purity: pain that will occur as a consequence of the original pleasure
Extent: how many people
Bentham’s quote on utility
“by the way of utility is meant that a way which proves the rightness and wrongness of every action whatsoever, according to the nature it appears to give or take away happiness of the stakeholder in question: or what is the same thing in other words to promote or to oppose that happiness”
Terror in Moscow case study
Chechen rebels take over a theatre to try and force Russian troops out of Chechnya
Who was the leader of the rebels in terror in moscow
Movsar Baharev
“if we die at least it’ll be for a cause”
John Stuart Mill
Created a qualitative utilitarianism theory meaning he seeks to maximise the quality of pleasure for the most amount of people
What are JSM’s 2 types of pleasures
Higher and Lower
Higher Pleasures
these are intellectual and social pleasures that only human beings can enjoy such as intellectual debate or the enjoyment of art
Lower Pleasures
these are pleasures of the body that both humans and other creatures enjoy such as food, sleep and sex
JSM’s quote regarding qualitative utilitarianism
“better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool and pig are one of a different opinion it is because they only know one side of the question”
Swine ethic
an ethic that treats us as if we are pigs. It assumes all creatures value each pleasure identically
Non-Harm Principle
Mill believes that each individual should be free to live as they choose so long as they do not cause harm to others
Act Utilitarianism
aims to produce the best balance of good and evil through decisions made on a case by case basis. Also called extreme or direct utilitarianism
Act Ut example
lying in some situations: lying about Jewish family to a Nazi officer
Bentham’s Hedonic Calculus
Rule Utilitarianism
aims at the greatest balance of good and evil but it has the common good of society rather than individuals as its starting point
Rule utilitarians may always tell the truth as it is a common good as lying is considered only an individual pleasure
Rule Ut example
The Highway Code
Taxation
Strengths of Act Ut
.Gives a single answer to each moral problem without generating a moral dilemma
.Shows moral questions have objectively right answers
Strengths of Rule Ut
.More intelligent and thoughtful approach than Bentham’s theory
.It avoids the pitfalls of Bentham’s Hedonic Calculus such as allowing immoral acts
Difference between weak rule ut different from rule ut
a weak rule utilitarianism would make allowances for exception. Such as breaking a rule to lead to the greatest good
Peter Singer
Created preference utilitarianism theory. Argues preference of all persons should be taken into account
Preference Utilitarianism
recognises that different people have different views on what happiness is. We have different aims in life and different things we consider important
Impartial Observers
free from our personal biases and considering what each individual would want
Advantage of preference utilitarianism
easy to measure and allows individuals to pursue their own interests and not restricted by the tyranny of the majority
Singer’s later work
has recently moved to a more hedonistic view of utilitarianism. Can be shown in his work “the life you can save”
Preference Utilitarianism case study
Behind the Swoosh. Is a documentary about the mistreatment on nike workers in indonesia. Shows us the working and living conditions as well as the criminally low wages paid
Strengths of Utilitarianism
impartiality
secular
democratic
Weaknesses of Utilitarianism
not clear how to measure pleasure and pain
pleasure and pain are not the only goods
Sartre’s View
An existentialist view and states that human do not have a fixed nature
Natural Law Topic Summary
Aristotle: Eudomonia and achieving happiness and your telos/purpose
Aquinas: believed humans have the ability to be rational. This is gifted by God
. Synderesis-Do good and avoid evil
.5 Primary Precepts:
-Preservation of Innocent Life
-To Reproduce
-Educating The Young
-To Worship God
-To Live in and ordered society
.Four Tiers Of Law
-The Eternal Law
-The Divine Law
-Natural Law
-Human Law- Thomas Moore
.Doctrine of Double Effect: Abortion and Euthanasia
-Thalidomide Babies Case Study
.Stoics believe God was behind natural law alongside Aquinas
.Sartre has existential schools of thought stating that humans do not have a fixed nature
Scholars opposing Kantian Ethics
Daniel Goleman: “human emotion and reason should be balanced rather than repressed”
Bernard Williams: “it is inhumane to be free from emotion”
S.S Officer By Constant
Kantian case study that although the officer fulfilled his duty by finding the jews, his actions were not of a good nature therefore contradicts the whole of Kant’s deontic theory
Situation Ethics Topic Summary
Joseph Fletcher: believed in duty + good will like Kant
Permissive: an excessive freedom of nature
Pragmatism,Positivism,Relativism,Personalism
Permissive Society Case Studies:
.Lady Chatterley Trial
.The Contraceptive Pill- Stephen Brook said it was a gateway to permissive Britain
.Abortion Act
.Sexual Offences Act
.Divorce Reform Act
4 Situational Case Studies:
.Sacrificial Suicide
.Sacrificial Adultery
.Justified Mass Killing
.Patriotic Prostitution
-Preference Utilitarianist Peter Singer would agree
Agape: selfless Christian love
Agape as a universal solution to all circumstances:
Pro- can help come to an understanding and happily ever after conclusion to a scenario
Con- people may have a different sense of ‘love’. Some may love to punish others
Situation Ethics as a religious theory: love is the centre of all of Jesus’ teachings; The Greatest Commandments, The Parable of the Sheep and the Prodigal Son
6 propositions by Fletcher:
.Only love is intrinsically good nothing else
.The ruling of Christian thought is love nothing else
.Love and justice are the same for justice is love distributed
.Love your neighbour whether you like them or not
Legalism: endless rigid rules
Antinomianism: the total rejection of all moral laws
Kantian Ethics Topic Summary
Immanuel Kant
Duty and Goodwill
Hypothetical and Categorical Imperatives: an action what must be followed to achieve a desired result
3 Maxims: Universal Law, Person as Ends and Kingdom of Ends
3 Postulates: Freedom and the Summum Bonum, Immortality, God
Cons- tells us what’s right and wrong but does not tell us how to act in a certain situation
Not easily applicable as not everyone has the same sense of ‘good will’
Bernard Williams: “it is inhumane to be free from emotion”
Sigmund Freud: “humans are driven by lust, sexual desire and are at the power of primitive instincts
Stoic Marcus Aurelius: “all things die so what’s the point of being mean to people because you will forget the world and the world will forget you”
S.S Officer by Constant
Corporate Social Responsibility
a sense that businesses have wider responsibilities than simply to their shareholders. Including the communities they live and work in including the environment
How different companies put corporate social responsibility into practice
M&S- Provide nutritional meals for their employees out of concern for their health
Merck Pharmaceuticals- Gave the recipe of penicillin to competition because “medicine was for the people”
Dark Factories
Factories which engage in unethical practices against human labour through exploitation especially in underprivileged poorer countries
Whistleblowing
When an employee discloses wrongdoing to the employer or the public
Why do businesses take on social responsibility?
Some businesses have a genuine concern for their employees, community and environment however other firms take on social responsibility to boost their sales and to give themselves a front of an ethical company.
Is whistle blowing unethical?
Norman Bowie: states whistle-blowing violates a “prima facie” duty of loyalty to one’s employer
Who was Erin Brokovich?
A divorced single mother who became an activist for clean water after she spoke out against PG&E and their contaminated water supply
Good Ethics is Good Business
If a business makes a good decision then the outcome will likely be ethical however business decisions are inherently unethical as even when ethical decisions are made, the final destination is the good of the business and its profits. Self-Interest leads businesses away from making the right decision
Good Ethics is Good Business examples
Pantagonia: an American clothing company has used organically grown cotton for its products
Dr.Pepper: has a social responsibility section which uses third-party metrics like the UN HDI and international labour association to evaluate the ethics and the quality of companies that it sources from
Globalisation
The integration of economies, industries, markets, cultures and policymaking around the world
Transnational Corporations
mega-businesses that have taken advantage of communication revolutions that allow investments and products to move seamlessly between countries
Jeffrey Sachs on Globalisation
Globalisation more than anything else has reduced the number of extreme poverty in India by 200 million and in China by 300 million since 1990
Rana Plaza Case Study
On 24 April 2013 a poorly made Bangladeshi factory collapsed. Over 1100 people dies and more than 2500 were injured. This factory supplied to Primark, Benetton and Walmart
Allegations made against TNCs regarding Rana Plaza
- Workers were ordered to go back to fulfil their contracts to the clothing firms
- Rana Plaza was an unauthorised factory with extra floors
Pros of Globalisation
Brought income to poorer countries
Reeled People out of poverty- Jeffrey Sachs
Workers have a job even if it isn’t good pay
Cons of Globalisation
Thrived exploitation of developing countries citizens
Neglect to poor countries people eg: Amazon + Sport Direct
Carbon Footprint increase
Business Ethics Scholars
Adam Smith: Saw the employer as having a responsibility to employ people fairly and justify and avoid selfishness
Karl Marx: believed the employee could hire anyone to do the work but unless the worker agreed to work on the employer’s terms then he would go without
Ted Snyder: Profit is more important than general matters of principles. However believed businesses do have a secondary duty of social responsibility
Milton Friedman: argued that businesses have no other responsibility but to increase their profits
Corporate Social Responsibility in Kantian Ethics
Duty to stakeholders- The Kantian ideology of “duty and free will”
Categorical Imperative/Universal Law- is it acceptable if firms use their customers for profit?
People as ends not means: use of customers for profit
Duty to consumers- giving back to the community (loyalty cards,sponsoring charitable events)
Whistle Blowing in Kantian Ethics
Duty to whistleblow- makes sure business is functioning ethically
Erin Brokovich example of whistleblowing PG&E contaminated water
Good Ethics is Good Business in Kantian Ethics
Duty to treat people well
John Lewis and Partners- Employees are stockholders
Some firms use ethics as a unique selling point
Globalisation in Kantian Ethics
Duty to think about our carbon footprint- impact on environment
Categorical Imperative- Kingdom of Ends- are rights of workers more important than people being able to buy clothes and feed their families? People close to us always take priority
Corporate Social Responsibility in Utilitarianism
Rana Plaza Disaster- Dangerous working conditions were ignored in order to provide products for Primark, Benetton and Walmart
Higher/Lower Pleasures: is profit a lower pleasure than the safety of workers
Rule Utilitarianism- ensuring safe work outweighs the act of providing cheap goods for the pleasure of the consumer
Whistle Blowing in Utilitarianism
Ensures that there is safety for the majority- Jeremy Bentham approach
All people should be safe
Good Ethics is Good Business in Utilitarianism
Rule Utilitarianism works well- ensuring a minimum wage, holiday, benefits+ other perks
Higher/Lower pleasures: is finding a bargain a lower pleasure than knowing we paid more because the factories treated their workers more fairly
Globalisation in Utilitarianism
Who are we trying to produce pleasure for? The workers in less economically developed countries? The customer?
Economic growth will benefit the majority in LEDCs
Environmental Impact- Carbon Footprint
Are good cheaper at the expense of the planet?
4 types of euthanasia
Active
Passive
Non-voluntary
Voluntary
Active euthanasia
A treatment is given that directly causes the death of the individual
Passive euthanasia
A treatment is withheld and this indirectly causes death of an individual
Non-voluntary euthanasia
Where a severely or terminally I’ll person’s life is ended without their consent perhaps maybe because they are unable to give consent
Voluntary euthanasia
Where an indictable chooses to terminate their life as they feel life is not worth living
UK and other countries on Euthanasia
It is illegal in the UK alongside assisted suicide however is legal in countries such as Holland and Switzerland
Euthanasia Case Studies
Tony Bland
Daniel James
Matt Hampton
Tony Bland Case Study
Was an individual injured in the Hillsborough disaster. After 4 years of machines keeping him alive, Lord Justice Hoffman stated: ‘his body is alive but he has no life in the sense that even the most handicapped but conscious being has’. This gave doctors authority to pull the plug giving authorisation to non-voluntary euthanasia in particular circumstances
Sanctity of life arguments
Is the idea that each individual is ‘imago dei’ and that each life should be preserved as it is a gift of God regardless of the quality of life:
- “So God created humankind in His own image”. Refers to the divine spark or ability to make moral decisions in humans
-“You shall not murder”. 10 commandments speak against the intentional killing of another thing
-“The Lord gave and the Lord shall take away”. It is up to God to decide the moment of death, not ours
The slippery slope argument
Opposers of euthanasia worry that if euthanasia is accepted it may be the beginning of a snowball effect where respect for life is reduced and pressure may be exerted on those who are vulnerable such as the elderly or disabled
Peter Singer debunked this by stating that out of 48,000 cases if euthanasia in the Netherlands only 2 were involuntary. However 2 cases can be explained by poor documentation
The quality of life arguments
Is a principle that takes the view that whether life is valuable depends on whether it is worth living
Peter Singer on quality of life arguments
Takes up the quality of life view and writes 5 quality of life commandments that replace sanctity of life:
-recognise the worth of human life varies
-take responsibility for the consequences of your decision
-respect a person’s wishes to live or die
-bring children into the world only if they are wanted
-do not discriminate on the basis of specie
Autonomy
Meaning self-ruling and is the belief that we are free and can make own decisions
Can be related with John Stuart Mill’s non-harm principle. Same with Singer; autonomy consists of the ability to make our own decisions
Jonathan Glover on autonomy
Glover ad supporters of euthanasia reject the idea of autonomy and suggested checks should be made before tending to the voluntary request to die eg if the patient has made the decision in a diminished mental state then they are not autonomous. The idea of autonomy is also difficult in a PVS (persistent vegetative state) such as Tony Bland
Hippocratic Oath
The path taken by a doctor to consent to preserving a life as much as possible and not harming a life
How we Hippocrates in other writings state is is futile to treat people with terminal disease and should rather drop efforts and let them die
James Rachels on acts and omissions
Presents us with a thought experiment between actively killing someone and doing it passively:
-Smith killed his nephew to inherit a fortune. An ‘act’ of Smith
-James watched his nephew slip in the bath and drown.
Rachels argues that both are as bad as each other however the omission of passive euthanasia may be crueller as death take longer to come
Ordinary mean
Need for things such as food and water
Extraordinary means
Things such as experience medical technology
Jonathan Glover on ordinary and extraordinary means
5 options before resorting to euthanasia:
-take all possible steps to preserve life
-take all ordinary steps to preserve life without extraordinary means
-not killing but taking steps to preserve a life
-and act not intending to kill has death as a possible foreseen consequence
-the deliberate act of killing
.Peter Singer agrees in the questioning of distinction between acts and omissions
Euthanasia in relation to natural law
.Key precepts of natural law argues for preservation of life
.Natural law is dependent on the divine law revealed by God eg The 10 Commandments
.To end a life by euthanasia instead of preserving life would be an apparent good opposed to a real good
-However principle of double effect may state that pain relief is the intended good whereas the shortening of life is an unintentional secondary effect
Natural law as a good answer to euthanasia
.Upholds the intrinsic value of life
.Principle of double effect gives a sensible flexibility to relieve pain
Natural law as a bad answer to euthanasia
.Religious foundations seem outdated
.Legalistic and has no compassion to pain and suffering
Euthanasia in relation to situation ethics
.Personalism is a key principle states welfare of people is above any law
.Considers quality of life more significant than the sanctity of life
.Rejects legalism and believes that laws can be broken when love demands it’s
.A relativist approach. Fletcher takes up the recognition that there are cases where euthanasia is the right option
“Loves decisions are made situationally not perspectively.
Palliative Care
Is a medical approach seeking to optimising quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex and often terminal illnesses
Claire Foster
Natural Law
Sanctity of life approach
Was a Christian and believed that loving your neighbour does not mean killing them and that euthanasia is not a treatment for suffering
Euthanasia cannot become the norm
Paul Badham
Situation Ethics
Quality of life approach
“Treat other as you would like to be treated”
Was a Christian and believed people may want their suffering to be ended. Advocates the legalisation is euthanasia
