Ethics. How do we decide what is morally right and what is wrong?

Transcription

1 Ethics How do we decide what is morally right and what is wrong?

2 Many people s first reaction when asked about ethics is to point to the Ten Commandments. In this clip, Stephen Colbert interviews American Congressman Lynn Westmoreland. Westmoreland wants to display the Ten Commandments in public places. videos/70809/june /exclusive---georgia-s- 8th

3 The Ten Commandments

4 The Ten Commandments According to the account believed by Jews, Christians and Muslims, the Ten Commandments were dictated by God to Moses at the top of Mount Sinai shortly after the Israelites escape from Egypt. They are:

5 10 Commandments 1) I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

6 10 Commandments 1) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them

7 10 Commandments 1) Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

8 10 Commandments 1) Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy male or female slave, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.

9 10 Commandments 1) Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

10 1) Thou shalt not kill. 10 Commandments

11 10 Commandments 1) Thou shalt not commit adultery.

12 10 Commandments 1) Thou shalt not steal.

13 10 Commandments 1) Thou shalt not bear false witness.

14 10 Commandments 1) Thou shalt not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, nor anything else that belongs to him.

15 Done? Can we post the Ten Commandments in all public places and consider ourselves done with Ethics?

16 Done? Using the Ten Commandments as a basis for ethics presents several problems. First, those who do not believe in God will question the authority of the commandments. Second, the commandments make no mention of what most of us consider to be serious moral infractions such as rape and assault. Third, the fourth and tenth commandments condone slavery, which is no longer considered morally acceptable. Fourth, they condemn activities which we consider to be routine and morally neutral, such as taking the Lord s name in vain and working on the Sabbath. Fifth, some are quite ambiguous. For instance, the commandment thou shalt not kill does not seem to apply to warfare or executions. It also sheds little light on today s abortion debate because it doesn t explain when life begins. Sixth, biblical scholars will point out that there are actually 613 commandments in the Bible, most of which we routinely ignore. Seventh, Christians believe Jesus teaching as supersedes many of the commandments.

17 Religious Ethics Religious Ethics are ethics based on the teachings of one s religion. They vary from religion to religion, and they go well beyond the Ten Commandments, even in religions that ascribe importance to the Ten Commandments. In a nutshell, a follower of Religious Ethics tries to act in a manner consistent with the teachings of his/her religion and the example of its founders. There is, therefore, some overlap with Virtue Ethics (described in slides 25633).

18 Advantages of Religious Ethics In theory, if the teachings of a religion on a given topic are sufficiently clear, Religious Ethics provide a clarity and uniformity that other schools of ethics sometimes lack. It is easy for adherents of Religious Ethics to determine right from wrong on some subjects without a great deal of soul searching and tiresome debate.

19 Can we use reason to decide what it right and what is wrong? Kant Kant believed actions are only ethical if they are motivated by duty rather than by hope of reward or fear of punishment. Kant believed that we can figure out if an action is ethical by imagining what would happen if everybody did it. If everyone could do it without causing chaos or major problems, it is ethical.

20 Kant (Advantages and Disadvantages) Advantages Fair Rational Motivated by duty, not selfishness Not influenced by emotion or habit Disadvantages Rule worship doesn t allow for particular circumstances How does one resolve the situation when two duties conflict? How do you define chaos or major problems? Cold

21 Can we use reason to determine what is right and what is wrong? Utilitarianism According to the ethical school of Utilitarianism, the correct course of action is always the one that brings the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

22 Utilitarianism (advantages and disadvantages) Advantages: Democratic and fair Rational Disadvantages: How do you measure happiness? What makes people happy? Can allow the majority to ignore the rights of the minority.

23 Utilitarianism: The Trolley Problem This is a conundrum first introduced by Phillipa Foot in 1967: Imagine a trolley is racing down a track that is about to fork. A villain has tied five people to one fork in the track and one person to the other. You are standing by the switch that determines which track the trolley will travel down. At the moment, the switch is set to send the trolley down the track to which five people have been tied. They will certainly be killed unless you pull the lever to send the trolley down the other track. If you do that, the person tied to that track will definitely die. Should you pull the switch? Trolley Problem. Wikipedia. Wikimedia, March 2, April 25, 2013 <

24 Utilitarianism: The Trolley Problem Image from: Falkenstien, Eric. The Trolley Problem. Falkenblog.com. Eric Falkenstein, Dec 16, April 25, 2013 <

25 Utilitarianism: The Trolley Problem According to Utilitarianism, the answer is obvious you kill one person to save five others. However, as you read it, it probably doesn t feel quite so obvious. One problem is that, until you pull the switch, you are uninvolved. Once you pull the switch, you have made a decision to kill a person. Various variations make the problem even less clear. What if the one person is your child and the five people are strangers? What if, instead of pulling a switch, you have to push an obese person onto the track to stop the tram? All of this suggests that, rightly or wrongly, our sense of right and wrong doesn t just come from Reason.

26 Virtue Ethics A set of philosophies that hold that moral life should be concerned with cultivating a virtuous character, as opposed to following rules of action. Moral judgments are emotional responses to the world around us. We should train ourselves to feel the proper emotions so we automatically make moral decisions.

27 Virtue ethics have been around for thousands of years. Four examples are the Buddhist Eightfold Path, the Greek Cardinal Virtues, Confucius Five Virtues and the Christian Seven Heavenly Virtues As you read the following sets of virtues, you will notice that there are some similarities between the lists.

28 The Buddhist Eightfold Path 1) Right Understanding: Being aware of the world the way it really is. 2) Right Purpose: Determination to live life with compassion and right understanding and avoid desire, anger, hate, and aggression. 3) Right Speech: Not lying, using words to hurt others, or chattering unnecessarily about trivial things. 4) Right Action: Avoiding killing or harming people or animals, not stealing, not lying 5) Right Occupation: Earning your living in a legal way that doesn t hurt people or animals. 6) Right Effort: Trying to think and act rightly all the time. 7) Right Attention: Always concentrating on the present and on what is important and good. 8) Right Meditation: Training the mind to stop wanting things through deep thought.

29 The Greek Cardinal Virtues Prudence (Good judgment) Temperance (restraint/moderation) Courage Justice (Fairness)

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31 The Christian Seven Heavenly Virtues 1) Chastity (moral wholesomeness and purity of thought) 2) Temperance (moderation/ restraint) 3) Charity (generosity in thought and action) 4) Diligence 5) Patience 6) Kindness 7) Humility

32 Advantages and Disadvantages of Virtue Ethics Advantages: Adaptable to different situations. Disadvantages: Unless we control our thinking carefully, the reliance on emotion as a Way of Knowing in Virtue Ethics is likely to cause us to make more of en effort for those close to us and for those who tug on our heartstrings than for strangers who might have more need of our help.

33 Advantages and Disadvantages of Virtue Ethics If you have an extra 20, what use of it would give you the biggest emotional payoff? a)giving it to the Red Cross to be used to pay for vaccinations for children in Somalia. b)buying your son/daughter/niece/nephew the latest book in the series he/she has been reading. the one that won t be available in the library for three months.

34 Moral Relativism A common criticism of Virtue Ethics, (and, to some extent, of Utilitarianism) is that they can lead to moral relativism the idea that right and wrong vary from culture to culture or from person to person, and therefore, that any action can be morally justifiable. It is undeniable that there are differences of opinion on ethics between cultures and individuals, but there are also important similarities. Our aim in TOK is not to throw up our hands and say anything goes but to think about how we ourselves will decide what is right and what is wrong. Such decisions may not be as black and white as mathematical proofs, but giving up and saying it s all relative is intellectually lazy.