Lecture 1 Science, Politics, Ethics (Ch1)

Question 1

what is philosophical ethics?

Answer 1

• putting aside what you hear from political pundits and commentators on Fox News or the Daily show
• suspend your assumptions and what you think you already know
• think carefully in as unbiased and balanced as you can
• critically evaluating, looking at decision making itself, how we justify or defend our decisions
• examining evidence, perspectives, and logical arguments from a variety of sources

Question 2

science and ethics: asks questions of responsibility

Answer 2

ex: should burden lie with those making a change or those arguing against it?

refer to page 9:

Question 3

science and ethics: how is science biased, according to Dejardin?

Answer 3

1. no approach is perfect, arguing against blind trust in anything
   ex: technology cannot fix all
2. environmental issues span many disciplines, so over reliance on any single discipline is problematic
3. problems occur when multi-faceted decisions evaluate only the quantifiable elements
   ex: Lovins “answers you get depend on the questions you ask”
4. the questions are driven by funding
5. philosophy/ethics will not provide answers on their own

Question 4

science and ethics: what is the scientific approach, what does science try to do?

Answer 4

highlight the problem of reductionism, which exists even when science does accomplish its aims

ex: applications to ecosystems, which are complex and irreducible

Question 5

Thrasymachus and ethical (moral) relativism

Answer 5

Differences in moral judgments across different people and cultures

Descriptive: some people disagree about what is moral

Meta-ethical: nobody is objectively right or wrong

Normative: because nobody is right or wrong, we tolerate the behavior of others even when we disagree

Question 6

What is the anthropocentric theoretical approach?

Answer 6

only humans have moral standing

but to which humans does this extend? fetuses, future generations?

Question 7

What is the non-anthropocentric theoretical approach?

Answer 7

includes non-human animals, plants, non-living things (natural objects), larger systems and ecosystems