Possible Ethics Exam Questions Flashcards
To what extent does Natural Law provide a helpful method of moral decision making?
1: absolutist
- provides clarity, clear solutions
- primary precepts
- Romans 2:14-16 St Paul wrote that no matter your religion ‘the requirements of the law are written on [your] hearts’
- It offers clarity and consistency in a world which some think has become relativistic and has lost a sense of moral direction.
However: overly legalistic, lacks compassion
- focus on fixed rules
- result in negative consequences.
- but, secondary precepts
2: universal, widely used over time
- It is a rationale for universal human rights, providing some basis for the hope that a global system of justice would protect every human being from injustice, the powerful and the wicked. Seeks to ensure that all people may be protected by a system of law that is true and good.
However: outdated
- now varying beliefs
- the primary precepts are inspired by a religious belief in God, which makes them potentially unhelpful for those who do not believe in God.
3: importance of reason
- human are made in God’s image and possess rational capacity to work out right and wrong through observation
“The universe is designed with purpose”. Assess this view through reference to Aristotle and Aquinas.
Intro: Aquinas and Aristotle both believe in needing to reach our telos, called eudemonia
1: natural law assumes fixed, unchanging end for all things that has been created, part of a universe that is intended and designed.
- Aquinas argues every agent (every being capable of choosing how to act) acts for an end of some kind, and the human being acts to acquire happiness or eudaimonia.
However: However, some do not see the universe and world as something that has an intention or design behind it. Some believe in account of science that has no place for a creator God. Some see world as randomness, chaos and change. Perhaps nature is much less ordered and more random than we think. Natural law seems impossible if no creator God, or no order to things.
2: Aquinas concluded that the ultimate end cannot be found in this world but only in the supreme and infinite God- the ultimate end of all things which rational creatures alone can perceive.
However: some who believe in God find use of telos in natural law difficult. Hans Kung thinks this idea of the natural is ‘naïve, is static and completely unhistorical’.
“Situation ethics does not provide a helpful method in moral decision making”. Assess this view.
Intro: situation ethics is a lot of help in cases of euthanasia due to it’s subjective and flexible nature, unlike other Christianity-based ethical theories like Aquinas’ Natural Law. Plus, the outcome is always the mot loving which is beneficial to the person, however, the concept of ‘love’ and morality differs form person to person.
1: flexible and easy to understand
- can make tough decisions easier to make as well as it being easier to understand to humans who have no real religious interest or knowledge.
- it can be applied to many situations as they are made hypothetically on each individual situation and not pre determined with fixed rules to follow
However: falls into trap of subjectivism
- get away with anything
- no strict definition of love
2: focuses on love, agape
- gives responsibility and autonomy
- The virtue of love is defined by the personal goals of the individual.
- Christian values (In the Bible, Jesus makes love central; first commandment is ‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart’)
However: overly optimistic
- cognitive dissonance
- also theologians e.g. Augustine + Barth view us as fallen, affects individual reasoning
- Agape is subjective and individualistic
3: 4 working principles vs legalism and antinomianism
- balance between legalism and antinomianism
- six fundamental principles
- easily applied
- takes all circumstances into account, not universally enforced laws. absolutes like ‘do not steal’ become relative to love - if love demands you to steal for hunger, you steal
“Agape should replace religious laws”. Evaluate this statement.
1: as religious rules and principles are an integral part of many religious traditions, including Christianity.
- Barclay = His argument is that religious rules reflect the wisdom that has build up over centuries and a trust in actions that have been successfully tried and tested
2: as it puts too much emphasis on the benefits of relativism rather than God’s will
- The view that agape should replace religious rules can lead to relativism, where there are no objective moral standards. This can result in an overestimation of the power of agape to guide individual behavior, as it may not provide clear guidelines for ethical decision-making.
However: the idea of putting people first (personalism) is keeping in line with the actions of many world religious leaders, especially in the life and work of Jesus
To what extent is Natural Law helpful when deciding if Euthanasia should be acceptable?
Intro: natural law is of no help and instead situation ethics should be adopted to the issue of euthanasia.
1: Euthanasia is being widely adopted in modern western cultures as secularism is becoming more popular.
- Aquinas lived when the church dominated society and culture and now the church and state are separate, showing now natural law should be adapted.
- Natural Law theory places special emphasis on the sanctity of life arguing that only God should have the power to take away a life.
- primary precepts = defend the innocent, worship god,
- The secondary precepts would argue that euthanasia is wrong as it goes against the precepts of defending the innocent.
- In a period where quality of life is emphasised, natural law is incompatible with modern culture.
However: Joseph Fletcher was the founder of situation ethics and was at one point president of the euthanasia society in the USA.
- Situation ethics allows the practice of euthanasia as it focuses on the quality of life more.
- Firstly, Fletcher’s view of agape is much stronger as it accounts for the most loving thing to do.
- follow 4 working principles which each apply to euthanasia
- These propositions provide more clarification on euthanasia and allow the issue of euthanasia to be clarified.
2: unlawful as only God can choose when we die
- “For it belongs to God alone to pronounce sentence of death and life”
- God-given purpose so violates this
- the case of Diane Pretty ( motor neurone disease, not allowed right to die) = agree as only God can choose when we die
However: six principles which seek to fulfil agape
- each one aims to uphold the value of love
- Dan James = paralysed and loathed his life every day, took life in Switzerland clinic in 2008, more loving
“Kantian ethics is not helpful when making moral decisions”. Evaluate this statement.
1: reliable in some circumstances
- It relies on a system of rules which is very clear cut, meaning that everyone is aware of the obligations.
- focuses heavily on duty and good will
- ‘Duty for duty’s sake’.
- Kant is ensuring that we cannot be two faced in the way we handle ethical dilemmas
However: not helpful because lacks compassion for individual circumstances, too absolutist
- he focused on the moral act of a situation and ignored the consequences that could be a result of that act.
- based on Maxims = moral rules that are determined by reason.
- ‘lying is wrong and we should focus on always telling the absolute truth.’
- yet when put into different contexts the maxims that Kant put in place aren’t specific enough to each situation because every situation is unique.
- Kant does not take our feelings for others into account which seems to fly in the face of our natural attachments to friends and relatives.
2: due to the second formulation of the Categorical Imperative ‘treat all people as ends in themselves’.
- protects minorities
- lead to the disappearance of racism, sexism, homophobia etc. as all human life is respected. In making us treat others fairly,
However: ant is not much help when it comes to deciding between conflicting duties.
- On the one hand we could be following a maxim ‘one should not lie’. But the second formulation of the categorical imperative requires that we treat people as ends not means.
- . In other words, Ross is arguing that we should follow a particular duty unless a conflicting duty appears to make a greater claim on us.
3: Kant makes us reflect rationally on the motives for our actions instead of simply using reason to get where we want to go and do what we want to do via the problem solving process involved with the following of hypothetical imperatives.
- making us entirely responsible for thinking through the entire process of making moral decisions from start to finish
To what extent is Kantian ethics too abstract to apply to practical moral decision making?
1: universal
- because it appeals to everyone, regardless of culture or individual situations. It is also practical because it is a simple system that even children could follow, as the concept of would you like it if someone did that to you is easy to grasp. It is an absolutist theory so it offers clear and fixed guidelines on how to apply KE to moral decisions
2: not swayed by emotion, the theory does not allow us to show favouritism to friends and it is a purely rational theory, because then we get well reasoned moral decisions, not just decisions decided in the ‘heat of the moment’. It is reliable, it is a system of rules that works and everyone knows what their obligations are because of these imperatives
However: It is unrealistic as Kant asks us to follow maxims as if they were universal rules, but just because we act this way, it doesn’t mean others will.
To what extent does Utilitarianism provide a helpful method of moral decision making?
Intro: Define Hedonist, Bentham, greatest happiness principle QUOTE = ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’ while minimising pain.
1: Hedonic calculus, act utilitarianism strengths and weaknesses
- It avoids setting up rules and people have no duty to adopt a particular approach, which allows different decisions to be made in different personal circumstances e.g. abortion, euthanasia
However: Either way most people do not have sufficient time or information to make the necessary calculation.
2: Mill Rule utilitarianism QUOTE, strengths, weaknesses
- Mill takes into account the quality of pleasure which is an improvement to the theory, because it removes bad pleasures such as the sadistic torturers.
- Mill says that the quality of the pleasure should be included intellectually, aesthetic, social and spiritual pleasures. We should not be content with just seeking sensual pleasure, like other animals do.
However: In the case of Mill’s theory of liberty, he is reluctant to prevent individual harm, simply because the rule of maximising liberty should be adhered to for the greatest general happiness.
3: overall
- The ethical theory as a whole can be seen as useful because it knows and recognises that happiness is something which everyone wants and harm is something everyone wants to avoid.
- secular
- In a modern, multicultural society with a range of religious beliefs and a growing number of atheists, a secular theory can be seen as the most useful for moral decision-making.
However: instead, preference
- Singer believed that we should think through issues in a rational way, with no appeal to emotion or sentimentality
- arguing that the aim is no longer to maximise pleasure over pain, but rather the general satisfaction of preferences.
- Hare = must “stand in another’s shoes”
“It is impossible to measure pleasure”. Assess this view with reference to Rule and Act Utilitarianism.
intro: Utilitarianism fails partly because it is impossible to measure pleasure, however fails on an earlier proposition that pleasure is something we should be aiming to achieve in the first place
1: Seemingly, this process is realistic as Bentham provides the hedonic Calculus - Measures happiness using a series of conditions to judge a situation by
BUT
- However, the vaguness of these terms leads to it being totally useless - Bentham requires that a person measure the extent of the happiness created
2: Furthermore, Utilitarinism fails in its attempt to measure pain and pleasure as Bentham assumes that all people find the same things pleasurable and the same things painful
- Theory relies on this as attempts to be objective in the way it measures pain and pleasure - requires people to rationally decide what is pleasurable - issue arises when considering the subjectivity of pleasure
3: However, Statement is not toally accurate as Utilitarianism actually fails before it attempts to measure pleasure - assumes that pleasure is what should be prioritised in a situation
- instead, focus on happiness
- yet may fall into similar traps
“Businesses should adopt a Kantian approach”. To what extent do you agree?
- Corporate social responsibility
- carries duties to businesses to be morally responsible towards employees,consumers,local authority, society
- CSR our duty to reach the goodwill as things are done innately
- Kant’s maxim 3 of his categorical imperative which informs us to “act as a member of a kingdom of ends”.
- duty to benefit society
However: Friedman interpret “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits” vs innate ethical duty.
- brands such as Nestle, who demonstrated bad CSR. ex)1977,aggressively marketing women breastmilk substitutes in developing countries, thus taking advantage to gain mass profit.
2: BE can adapt Kantian approach in regards to whistleblowing successfully
- our ethical duty to expose any kind of information or activity that can be deemed as illegal or incorrect.
- centered around the principle of openness in aim to increase awareness on actions, leading to an intervention duty of not only people but higher forces to deal with injustice.
- relate to Kant’s maxim of universality, in actions all being fair to extend around the world, leading to an overall ethically right conduction of business
- Enron VP Sherron Watkins = discovered massive irregularities in Enron’s finances so alerts chairman = duty to report
3: however, business ethics not adapt Kantian approach
- key function of business to “maximise profits” in a “competitive world” - Godin, capitalist, laissez faire approach more profitable.
- seen in globalisation (lack of regulation companies have-organisations operate in an international state- aim -saving money by avoiding employment laws or investing in lower income countries.)
- Shell-expanded to Nigeria for cheaper oil extractions
“Corporate social responsibility only hides the greed of a business”. Evaluate this statement.
1: Yes - all about profit
- The success of a business is solely defined by how much profit it makes - only activities that encourage a rise in profits will be encouraged
Economist Milton Friedman - ‘the business of a business is business’
Ethics doesn’t determine the success of a business
Only claim to be ethical to increase profits - not their main purpose
However:
However, recently there has been much media attention given to poor labour standards and the responsibility of companies
Increasing demands from statutory bodies for detailed info about corporate standards
If the employees aren’t treated well, the company may develop a bad name and may lose profits through this
For example, the treatment of workers in Primark factories is awful and the company has developed a bad name for themselves - customers have huge impacts
The concept is more than window dressing as they can be found out etc.
2: Kant
- Kant, in his ‘Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals’, highlights the importance of respect for persons - we have a duty to recognise autonomy and freedom, ensuring that we do not exploit employees for a profit
- Corporate social responsibility should not be hypocritical window dressing - should be the thorough duty of recognition of autonomy.
- Kant says we should judge businesses on their intentions and motivations - businesses should not be egotistical and act out of self-interest, they should intend to look after employees as the first duty!
Profits should come as a wider result of ethical behaviour
- enron
3: Utilitarianism would say hypocritical window dressing can be permitted, as if the greatest good is achieved then it doesn’t matter what happens in-between
- But this may overlook the individual needs of persons, such as employees - if a company were to close a polluting factory for the greater good of the environment and society, the local community would suffer as they need jobs
- Yes, it may be hypocritical window dressing, but in the end does it really matter? For example, environmental responsibility helps the environment - each year there is a prestigious award - ‘The Business Commitment to the Environment’, which the co-operative won and reduced 86% of its CO2 emissions and used 98% green electricity
May just be for profits, but the outcome is good!
To what extent is Utilitarianism helpful in deciding whether whistle-blowing is a correct action to take?
“The only concern of business is to make a profit”. Discuss.
Assess the view that God is present within the workings of the conscience.
1: early Christian ideas show how God has given us our conscience
- St Paul believes it was given by God to have an awareness of the good and the bad
- Augustine believes it is the voice of God and it is the god given ability to determine gods law and prevent us from straying into evil and sin
2: Aquinas
- god-given not voice of god
- inbuilt sense to reason
- right reason recta ratio
- aquinas references synderesis, an inner principle implanted by god which directs a person towards good and away from evil.
Butler
- agrees that it is the final decision maker
- our “natural guide”
- who says that conscience is a god-given principle of reflection
Newman
- it is god giving direction to direct us to truth
However: Freud entirely dismisses this
- conscience is a construct of the mind
- formed by early upbringing
- id ego superego
- formed by guilt
Piaget
- agrees that it is environmentally formed (schemta)
Kohlberg
- social interaction develops the conscience
“The conscience is linked to reason”. Assess this view in reference to Freud and Aquinas.
