Introduction to Ethics

Introduction to Ethics

• Ethics involves appealing to moral principles in difficult situations, these dilemmas form the basis of the field of Ethics
• The aim of Ethics, or moral philosophy, is to explain morality and moral terms, while also explaining which moral standards to adopt

Learning Objectives

• Defining and understanding ethics
• Differentiating between moral and non-moral standards
• Identifying the six characteristics of moral standards
• Understanding and providing examples of moral dilemmas
• Understanding the importance of freedom in making moral decisions

What is Ethics?

• Morality, in an everyday sense, is having a system of values to decide what is right/wrong
• Ethics is a systematic and critical approach
• Ethics focuses on notions of right and wrong
• Ethics explains why people make certain moral decisions and create moral systems to guide action
• Some ethical theories aim to define which moral standards to choose to achieve a good life
• Philosophers want to know how rules can be justified and understand the logic behind moral judgement

Moral Standards vs. Non-Moral Standards

• Morality refers to standards about what is right/wrong or good/evil
• Moral standards concern human behavior, especially the distinction between good and bad
• Moral standards involve rules about actions people believe are morally right/wrong
• Moral obligations involve the values people place on objects they believe are morally good or morally bad
• Some ethicists equate moral standards with moral values and moral principles
• Non-moral standards refer to rules unrelated to moral/ethical considerations or lack ethical sense
• Non-moral standards include rules of etiquette, fashion standards, and rules in games or house rules
• Religious rules, some traditions, and legal statutes can be non-moral principles depending on factors and contexts

Six characteristics of moral standards

• Moral standards involve serious wrongs or significant benefits
• Moral standards deal with matters that impact human beings, unlike many non-moral standards
• For instance, following basketball rules matters in basketball games but does not affect one's life
• Moral standards should be preferred to other values
• Moral standards have overriding character or hegemonic authority
• If a moral standard states someone has a moral obligation to do something, they should, even if it conflicts with non-moral standards or self-interest
• Moral standards take precedence over aesthetic, prudential, and legal considerations
• Moral standards are not established by authority figures
• Moral standards are values considered in the process of making laws
• Moral standards cannot be changed or nullified by authoritative bodies
• Moral standards' validity lies in the soundness/adequacy of reasons supporting/justifying them
• Moral standards have the trait of universalizability
• Everyone should live up to moral standards
• Moral principles must apply to all in relevantly similar situations
• The Golden Rule exemplifies this: "Do unto others what you would have them do unto you"
• Moral standards are based on impartial considerations
• Moral standards do not evaluate standards based on the interests of a certain person/group
• Interests are impartially counted as equal from a universal standpoint
• Impartiality requires equal/adequate consideration for the interests of all concerned parties
• Moral standards are associated with special emotions and vocabulary
• Prescriptivity indicates the practical/action-guiding nature of moral standards
• These standards are put forth as injunctions or imperatives such as, “Do not kill”
• They advise, influence action, evaluate behavior, assign praise/blame, and produce feelings of satisfaction/guilt

What are Dilemmas?

• Moral dilemmas involve conflicts between moral requirements
• Moral dilemmas challenge agreeable solutions

Plato's Republic Dilemma

• In Plato's Republic, Cephalus defines "justice" as speaking the truth and paying debts
• Socrates refutes this, suggesting it would be wrong to return a weapon to a friend not in their right mind
• Socrates' point is not that repaying debts is without moral import
• Socrates' point is that it is not always right to repay debts, especially if the one owed demands repayment
• This is a conflict between repaying debts and protecting others from harm
• In this case, protecting others from harm takes priority

Jean-Paul Sartre described Dilemma

• Jean-Paul Sartre described a moral conflict about a student whose brother was killed in the German offensive of 1940
• The student wanted to avenge his brother and fight against the forces he regarded as evil
• The student’s mother was living with him and he was her one consolation in life
• The student believed he had conflicting obligations: devotion to his mother vs contributing to the defeat of an unjust aggressor

The Concept of Moral Dilemmas

• The common element in both cases is conflict
• In each case, an agent regards herself as having moral reasons to do each of two actions, but doing both is not possible
• Ethicists call these situations moral dilemmas
• Crucial features of a moral dilemma: the agent is required to do each of two+ actions, the agent can do each of the actions; but the agent cannot do both
• The agent seems condemned to moral failure as no matter what she does, she will do something wrong

The Platonic case

• The Platonic case is too easy to be characterized as a genuine moral dilemma
• The solution is clear, it is more important to protect people from harm than to return a borrowed weapon
• The borrowed item can be returned later when the owner poses no threat others
• The requirement to protect others from serious harm overrides the requirement to repay one's debts by returning a borrowed item when its owner so demands

Common Types of Dilemmas

• Classic Dilemma
• A classic dilemma is a choice between two or more alternatives
• The outcomes are equally undesirable or favourable
• The dilemma does not typically involve a moral or ethical crises
• The person or character’s life may change as a result of their decision
• Examples include deciding where to go for dinner on a first date, uncertainty about which job offer to take and wondering whether or not to move to a new city
• Ethical Dilemmas
• Arise when a person is forced to decide between two morally sound options
• They may conflict with established boundaries of business, a governmental agency or the law
• Some examples include following the truth vs being loyal to a friend, following laws vs having compassion for an individual’s plight or concerns about an individual vs the larger impact on a community
• Differs from a moral dilemma because it involves following rules rather than ones conscience
• Important in medical and criminal justice fields
• Public servants have to undergo ethics training
• Examples include: A secretary discovering her bosses been laundering money, and she must decide whether or not to turn him in

Moral Dilemmas

• A moral dilemma is a situation in which a person is torn between right and wrong
• A moral dilemma involves a conflict with the very core of a persons principles and values
• The choice may leave them feeling burdened, guilty, relieved or questioning their values
• A moral dilemma often forces the individual to decide which option he or she can live with
• Outcomes are extremely unpleasant no matter what
• They are often used to help people think through the reasoning for their beliefs and actions Some examples include classic “lifeboat dilemma”, where there are 10 bases in the lifeboat, but 11 passengers on the sinking ship
• A train with broken brakes is speeding towards a fork in the tracks
• A husband learns he has a terminal illness and decides to ask his wife for assistance in ending the pain before it gets too bad
• A friend discovers her best friend's boyfriend is cheating and has to decide whether to tell her friend or keep it a secret

Three Levels of Moral Dilemmas

• There are no absolute ethical standards It depends on a case-to-case basis and sometimes follows no logic There are rules, guidelines, and rights granted by an organization, the government, or by society/religious leader It remains undecided and complex for each situation
• Individual level moral dilemma at a personal level, between the lesser of two evils, referred to as a moral dilemma

Freedom-Responsibility

• Mahatma Gandhi said, “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes."
• Freedom is power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance
• Freedom is not about doing whatever one wants, it's about what one ought/must
• Immanuel Kant said that in order to make a moral decision we must have freedom
• Kant believed the ability to make moral decisions lay within the existence of freedom
• He stated that if we are not free to make our own decisions those decisions could not be moral as we would never free to make that decision in the first place
• John Locke, also a soft determinist believed that morality and the ability to make moral decisions developed throughout your lives
• Locke believed the mind was a tabula rasa shaped by the person's life experience to create morality
• David Hume believed in a limited form of free will, he ultimately believed nature was in control of human destiny
• That freedom was subject-based, meaning you are free to make a moral decision and free to follow through with that action
• A libertarian would state that human's decisions and actions are strictly uncaused
• No choice is determined and we are completely free to make our own choices that can either be moral or immoral
• Libertarianism is incompatible with determinism as determinism is incorrect as everyone is free to all act differently in the exact same event