PHI 231101 Social Ethics W

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PHI 231-101Social Ethics W

• Michael Horton

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Description

• Readings and analysis of ethical issues in
  society.
• Animal Rights, Environmental Ethics,
  Vegetarianism
• Pornography and Sexual Morality
• Economic Justice
• The fourth is up to you

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Moral Standards

• Moral standards concern behavior that is of
  serious consequence to human welfare, that can
  profoundly injure or benefit people
• Moral standards take priority over other
  standards, such as self-interest
• The soundness of moral standards depends on the
  adequacy of the reasons that support them

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Does morality rest on religion?

• Three reasons why it might
• We must act morally because we want to avoid hell
  and to go to heaven
• Is this the only reason we act morally?
• Can an atheist not act morally?
• The written works of religions provide all the
  prohibitions we need.
• Arent they often general and imprecise?
• Is this a reason not to engage in moral
  reasoning?
• Something is wrong only because God says it is
  wrong (Divine Command Theory)
• Isnt it the case that God prohibits an action x
  because it is wrong and not the other way around?
• If DCT was correct then it would make no sense to
  say that God has reasons for his instructions.

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What then?

• While admitting that religion does influence the
  moral standards and values we hold, we will not
  remain content to justify a moral standard by
  merely appealing to religious pronouncement.

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Law and Morality

• Legality is different from morality
• What is an action that is legal but morally
  questionable?
• What is an action that is morally
  required/permissible but is not or was not legal?

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Ethical Relativism

• What is right is determined by what a society or
  culture says is right
• Why be an ethical relativist?
• The main reason there is apparent diversity of
  human values and a multiformity of moral codes
• But there is actually less diversity that it
  seems.
• Why dont some Hindus eat meat?
• Reincarnation Just as a man discards worn out
  clothes and puts on new clothes, the soul
  discards worn out bodies and wears new ones.
  (Bhagavad gita 2.22)
• This is a difference in nonmoral belief, not a
  difference in moral beliefs.

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A stronger criticism

• Whether different societies have diverging moral
  codes doesnt matterit is irrelevant.
  Disagreement does not imply that all view points
  are equally correct.
• The view has unhappy implications
• (a) we cannot criticize others
• (b) there is no such thing as ethical progress
• (c) we cannot criticize ourselves

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Is feeling bad good?

• The oversimplification our conscience evolved
  as we internalized the moral instructions of the
  parents or other authority figures who raised us
  as children (10).
• Ought we follow it?
• This can be unhelpful.
• It may be wrong.

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The moral about conscience

• is that it is something to be critically
  examined, no different from any other moral
  principle.

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Self-Interest

• Is being good in your self-interest?
• Yes, one could get caught being bad.
• Yes, being good feels good.
• Yes, cant avoid karma.
• But what if you could avoid the bads associated
  with being bad? Would you do the bad act?
• NO sometimes self-interest and being good
  conflict, such is the price of living in a
  society. If our interests didnt
  conflicteverwe probably wouldnt need morality.

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Moral Motivation

• Is motivation important or is following the rules
  important?
• Our authors confusion
• Selfishness is not self-interestedness.
• So, when they write, people have self-interested
  reasons not to be so self-interested (12), this
  is wrong. It should read, people have
  self-interested reasons not to be so selfish.

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Morality Narrow and Broad

• Narrow the moral code of an individual or a
  society it concerns the principles that regulate
  peoples conduct and relations with others (12)
• Broad the values, ideals and aspirations that
  shape our lives
• The good life is the life with both, with
• Eudaimonia, or Human Flourishing (Aristotle)

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Theories in Ethics

• Two kinds
• Consequentialist the moral rightness of an
  action is determined solely by its results
• Egoism the consequences for me
• Utilitarianism the consequences for everyone
• Nonconsequentialist (deontological) the moral
  rightness of an action is determined (typically)
  by the inherent character of the act itself