Social Science 1100: ETHICS Objectives of ethics?

Ethics  to help us decide what is good or bad, better or

 is a branch of philosophy worse, either in some general way or with regard
 It is also called moral philosophy to particular ethical issues. This is generally
 Ethics, or moral philosophy, asks basic called normative ethics.
questions about the good life, about what is  to establish principles and moral standards of
better and worse, about whether there is any behaviour.
objective right and wrong, and how we know it if  equip human with intellectual capacities for
there is. responsible moral judgment
 is a vital aspect of human life and plays a critical Ethics-related concepts
role in shaping our behavior, relationships, and Metaethics
society. By reflecting on our moral values and  Metaethical inquiry asks questions about the
principles and applying them in our daily lives, nature of ethics, including the meaning of ethical
we can cultivate a more compassionate and just terms and judgments. Questions about the
world for all relation between philosophical ethics and
WHY STUDY ETHICS? religion.
 Studying ethics will improve one’s ability to ethical dilemmas and moral quandaries
engage in difficult moral dialogue with people  problem in the decision-making process
who have different perspectives from his/her own. between two possible options, neither of which is
It will help a person live consistently with his/her absolutely acceptable from an ethical
values and think reflectively about those values perspective
as one learn more about the world and his/ her
place in it.
 Practical reasons to study ethics: Studies show
that people who study ethics have a significant
advantage in the workplace — one of many
career-oriented reasons to consider making the
study of ethics a part of your collegiate life.

3 FOUNDATION of ETHICS
1. virtue ethics
2. consequentialist ethics
3. deontological or duty-based ethics.
MORAL FOUNDATIONS THEORY
 Moral Foundations Theory was created by a
Ethical Perspectives group of social and cultural psychologists to
Utilitarian ethics understand why morality varies so much across
 focuses on the greatest good for the greatest cultures yet still shows so many similarities and
number of people, recurrent themes.
Deontological ethics  In brief, the theory proposes that several innate
 emphasizes that certain actions, regardless of and universally available psychological systems
their outcomes, are inherently right or wrong. are the foundations of “intuitive ethics.” Each
Virtue ethics culture then constructs virtues, narratives, and
 highlights the importance of developing virtuous institutions on top of these foundations, thereby
character traits and acting in accordance with creating the unique moralities we see around the
those traits world, and conflicting within nations too.
 MORAL FOUNDATION THEORY Understanding Ethics-related Key Terms (Moral
 argues that there are five basic moral Theories)
foundations: Ethical intuitionism
(1) harm/care,  is the meta-ethical view that normal ethical
(2) fairness/reciprocity, agents have at least some non-inferentially
(3) ingroup/loyalty, justified ethical beliefs and knowledge
(4) authority/respect, and  Ethical intuitionism is the idea that true, objective
(5) purity/sanctity. information about morality is accessible to
1) Care/harm: people just through intuition
 This foundation is related to our long evolution as  Ethical intuitionism also holds that there can exist
mammals with attachment systems and an ability no complete scientific or empirical
to feel (and dislike) the pain of others. It underlies deconstruction of moral goodness, as it is
virtues of kindness, gentleness, and nurturance. fundamental and non-natural.
2) Fairness/cheating An example of ethical intuition:
 This foundation is related to the evolutionary  if someone intuitively believes that lying is wrong
process of reciprocal altruism. It generates ideas in principle, despite not having a specific
of justice, rights, and autonomy. [Note: In our argument for this belief. The person may decide
original conception, Fairness included concerns not to lie simply because lying seems to be a bad
about equality, which are more strongly thing. This would be a case of acting based on
endorsed by political liberals. However, as we ethical intuitions.
reformulated the theory in 2011 based on new Emotivism
data, we emphasize proportionality, which is  the view that moral judgments do not function as
endorsed by everyone, but is more strongly statements of fact but rather as expressions of the
endorsed by conservatives speaker’s or writer’s feelings.
3) Loyalty/betrayal  Emotivism is a theory that claims that moral
 This foundation is related to our long history as language or judgement are neither true nor false;
tribal creatures able to form shifting coalitions. It express our emotions; try to influence others to
underlies virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice agree with us.
for the group. It is active anytime people feel that  When an Emotivist says lying is bad, they're
it’s “one for all, and all for one.” giving the instruction "don't tell lies", while an
4) Authority/subversion Emotivist who says lying is good is giving the
 This foundation was shaped by our long primate instruction "do tell lies" - and we can see that
history of hierarchical social interactions. It there is a clear disagreement between them
underlies virtues of leadership and followership, Bad points of Emotivism
including deference to legitimate authority and  Emotivism says that moral statements just
respect for traditions. express our feelings
5) Sanctity/degradation  It become unpopular with philosophers because
 This foundation was shaped by the psychology the theory that led the Emotivists to think that
of disgust and contamination. It underlies moral statements were meaningless has fallen
religious notions of striving to live in an elevated, from favour.
less carnal, more noble way. It underlies the  in practical terms, Emotivism falls down because
widespread idea that the body is a temple which it isn't very satisfying. Even (most) philosophers
can be desecrated by immoral activities and think moral statements are more than just
contaminants (an idea not unique to religious expressions of feeling
traditions). the difference between  it's perfectly possible to imagine an ethical
normative and descriptive claims. debate in which neither party has an emotion to
 Normative claims make value judgments express.
 Descriptive claims do not make value  Non-philosophers also think there is more to
Judge ethics than just the expression of an attitude of
 an attempt to influence behaviour. They want a METAETHICS vs NORMATIVE ETHICS
better explanation and foundation for shared (2 major branches of ethics)
standards of morality than Emotivism can Metaethics
provide.  focuses on determining the meaning and
Objectivism objectivity of moral concepts of good and bad, or
 Objectivism holds that reality is an right and wrong
absolute—that facts are facts, regardless of Normative ethics
anyone’s hopes, fears, or desires.  attempts to determine which character traits are
 There is a world independent of our minds to good and bad, which actions are right and wrong
which our thinking must correspond if our ideas
are to be true and therefore of practical use in
living our lives, pursuing our values, and
protecting our rights.
 we ought to desire things that are good—with an
emphasis on the goodness of the thing-in-itself
apart from our subjective responses
 There must be objective reasons that ground our
subjective and emotional responses to things
 Objectivists hold that values have an objective
reality— that they are objects available for
knowledg
Subjectivism
 Subjectivism is the theory that perception (or
consciousness) is reality, and that there is no
underlying, true reality that exists independent of
perception.
 It does not claim that "all is illusion" or that "there
is no such thing as reality", merely that the nature
of reality is dependent on the consciousness of
the individual. In an extreme form, it may hold
that the nature and existence of every object
depends solely on someone's subjective
awareness of it.
Types of subjectivism
Metaphysical Subjectivism
 is the idea (as described above) there is no
underlying, true reality that exists independent of
perception or consciousness.
Ethical Subjectivism (or Moral Subjectivism)
 is the meta-ethical belief that ethical sentences
reduce to factual statements about the attitudes
and/or conventions of individual people, or that
any ethical sentence implies an attitude held by
someone. It is therefore a form of Moral
Relativism in which the truth of moral claims is
relative to the attitudes of individuals.