Ethics and Universal Values

Module 3: Ethics and Universal Values

• The objectives are to evaluate the relation of values to behavior, and to create a poster that shows universal values.

Value

• A value is something that an individual or community believes has worth, meriting pursuit, promotion, or privilege.
• Values can be things like money, food, art, states of mind like peace, security, certainty, or behaviors like protecting innocents, telling the truth, and being creative.
• Values originate in desires but arise after reflecting on whether the desired thing is good.
• Philosophers focus on how desires relate to values by focusing on the word "good".
• G.E. Moore argued that the word "good" cannot be defined because there is no standard to discover its meaning
• Moore termed this inability to define evaluative terms "the naturalistic fallacy," as it assumes that something in nature or reality can match evaluative terms.
• He argued that "good" is a non-naturalistic quality, therefore, it cannot be verified by science.

Universal Values and Values Investigation

• Values are the subject of ethical investigation
• Claiming universal values means seeking something that applies across all persons and communities due to their humanity.
• Universal values can be derived from scientific investigation, social science testing, or philosophical reflection
• Universal values may also stem from nefarious methods, such as imperial practices, ideological and religious proselytizing, or economic exploitation.
• Exploring universal values requires attention not only to the values themselves but also how they have appeared in the global order.

Approaches to Discovering Human Values

• Aristotle
• Mencius
• Jürgen Habermas

Aristotle

• Ethics and values should be understood through the idea of virtues, or the standard of excellence, as a guide for how to act
• Being a good captain means ensuring the ship does not crash, its goods and people arrive safely, and the ship remains seaworthy.
• Universal values are what it means to be not just a good pilot but a good human being.
• Aristotle grounded Plato's idea of virtues in empirical observations, taking a scientific approach to finding out what is good and what is a universal value.
• He compared people to non-human animals and different political communities.
• Understanding humanity's virtue involves looking for activities that the best people do and that make them happy.
• Two activities differentiate humans from other animals: thinking and living in political communities
• The best person engages in critical reflection and political activity, or intellectual and practical virtues
• People need to be educated into the virtues
• Individuals may desire things like wealth, food, drink, sex, or power, reflecting for moderation is needed to value them truly.
• Universal values flourish only by using rationality for thinking and creating a community valuing thought and education.

Mencius

• Advocated for a moral theory based on virtues, with the most important being "ren" or benevolence to others.
• Being a good person means understanding one's place in society and the traditions and rules from that place.
• Mencius proposed four virtues: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom
• Mencius believed that family and society provide the basis for these virtues.
• One needs to understand their place in society and respect tradition to find them.
• Mencius argued benevolence was most important, but cultivating wisdom to know how to orient that benevolence was also essential.

Jurgen Habermas

• Habermas proposed the "ideal speech situation" as a way to capture how ethical and political dialogue takes place
• This situation involves an imagined approach to discussing complex issues where all persons can equally debate their positions.
• The goal is to find a consensus by which the community advances its ideas and values.
• Habermas has written about how democracies capture this approach by combining the roles of legislators and judges.
• Legislatures provide space to debate making laws, while judiciaries provide space for debate about legal disagreement.
• This method differs from scientific and historical approaches.
• Instead of abstract scientific observation or respect for historical traditions, the dialectic approach creates spaces where disagreements and political views can be aired to reach some consensus.

UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

• One example of the consensus model is the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• Rights express a particular normative ideal arising out of liberalism, differing from values.
• The Declaration focuses on rights while emphasizing the importance of dignity and the value of the individual person.

Assessment

• Make a poster that shows and promotes the Universal Values: Peace, Freedom, Social progress, Equal rights, and Human dignity