Moral Disposition Frameworks and Principles

Frameworks and Principles of Moral Disposition

• Frameworks are basic structures underlying systems or concepts in ethics.
• They include assumptions, concepts, values, and practices.
• Frameworks constitute a worldview or held theory.

General Subject Areas in Studying Morality

• Meta-ethics: Studies the nature of morality (meaning, truth values of moral judgments).
• Explains goodness, wickedness, and knowledge of them.
• Cognitivism: Moral judgments convey propositions (truth bearers - true or false).
  • Moral Realism: Moral facts' existence and truth are independent of perceptions.
  • Ethical Subjectivism: Moral truth depends on individual/group attitudes.
• Non-Cognitivism: Moral judgments aren't true or false; they're not propositions.
  • Emotivism: Moral judgments express emotions/feelings (like exclamatory sentences).

Universalism vs. Relativism

• Moral Universalism (Objectivism): Moral facts/principles apply to everyone, everywhere.
• Moral Relativism: Different moral characters/principles apply differently to persons/groups.

Empiricism vs. Rationalism vs. Intuitionism

• Moral Empiricism: Moral facts derived from experience, not innate.
• Moral Rationalism: Moral facts knowable through reason alone.
• Moral Intuitionism: Moral truths known instinctively, immediately.

Normative Ethics

• Studies how people should act morally.
• Examines ethical norms (guidelines about what's right, worthwhile, virtuous, or just).
• Evaluates actions' rightness/wrongness.
• Addresses specific moral questions.
  • Deontology: Morality based on independent moral rules/duties, regardless of consequences.
  • Teleology (Consequentialism): Moral value determined by outcomes; considers consequences.
  • Virtue Ethics: Emphasizes developing good character traits and avoiding bad ones.

Applied Ethics

• Examines specific, controversial moral issues.
• Determines ethically correct actions in specific situations.
  • Bioethics: Ethical issues in life, biomedical research, healthcare.
  • Environmental Ethics: Ethical issues about nature, ecosystem, nonhuman entities.
  • Business Ethics: Moral principles for business practices, corporate conduct.
  • Sexual Ethics: Issues related to sexuality and human behavior.
  • Social Ethics: Social behavior norms and how a society should act.

Human Acts vs. Acts of Man

• Human Acts: Voluntary, free actions with deliberation. (e.g. studying, helping someone, apologizing).
• Acts of Man: Involuntary actions from instinct. (e.g. sneezing, breathing, reflexes).

Human Actions and the Act of Man

• Humans have moral sense due to anticipation of consequences, value judgments, and choices.
• Human Act: Conscious decision to act; is voluntary and involves knowledge/consent.
• Act of Man: Natural acts of the body/mind (e.g. digestion, heartbeats, sensory perceptions).

Elicited vs. Commanded Actions

• Elicited Acts: Internal actions of the will (e.g., wishing, intending, consenting).
• Commanded Acts: Actions done by body/mind following the will's command (internal, external, or mixed).