Normative Ethics

Optional Theme 1: Ethics

• The theme focuses on normative ethics.

Normative Ethics

• It is the branch of ethics that studies what is morally right and wrong.
• It formulates moral rules that directly impact human actions, institutions, and ways of life.
• A main focus is how basic moral standards are justified.
• Answers can fall into Deontological or Teleological.

Deontological Ethics

• Focuses on inherent “rightness” or “wrongness” of actions or standards.
• Emphasizes obligation or duty
• Deals with relational criteria such as equality.

Teleological Ethics

• Focuses on the goodness or value of the consequences of an action.
• Deals with what is valuable or desirable.
• Relates to material or substantive criteria such as pleasure or happiness.

Meta-Ethics

• A sub-discipline of ethics is involved with the nature and origins of ethical theories.
• Key questions include how people develop moral values, if those principles are universal or relative, and if moral behavior is unique to humans.

Applied Ethics

• Applied ethics is the practical application of normative ethics.
• Biomedical ethics includes subjects like cloning, genetic engineering, euthanasia, and abortion.
• Business ethics involves fair trade and child labor.
• Distribution of wealth considers issues like poverty, inequality, taxation, and charity.

Virtue Ethics

• Moral philosophy places importance on character and personality instead of actions.
• Measures ethical behavior by trait-based characteristics like honesty, courage, and wisdom, not consequences, stresses good virtues

Virtue (aretê)

• Virtue is a genuine moral excellence of character.

Eudaimonia

• Humans should act in ways that seek purpose and meaning.

Practical Wisdom (phronêsis)

• Refers to the importance of using rational decision-making based on empirical evidence.

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics & Crash Course Philosophy #38

• Aristotle (384-322 BC) was Plato's student and Alexander the Great's teacher.
• Nicomachean Ethics contains Aristotle's lessons on achieving happiness.
• Pleasure is the feeling of happiness.
• Human flourishing or eudaimonia is the state of having fulfilled your potential and living well.
• Pleasure is fleeting, while flourishing is pursued for one's own sake and is the goal of one's lives.

Aristotle's Arguments

• Main arguments that are examined include: The Function Argument, The Habituation Argument, Virtue Requires Practicing Good Action, and Pleasure and the Virtues.

Instrumental Ends

• Goals people pursue in order to get closer to another goal.

Final Ends

• Goals people pursue for their own sake.
• Aristotle called final end happiness - eudaimonia - which differs from merely pleasure.

Habituation Argument - Book 2, Chapter 1

• Properties that are natural (like being alive) can't be changed.
• Properties acquired by habit (like learning to speak) are properties that can be changed.
• Virtues are habitual, not natural, and the same is true for vices.
• People can all learn to be virtuous or vicious.

Virtue Requires Practicing Good Action - Book 2, Chapter 2

• Virtues are learned and practiced through action, not mere philosophizing.

Moral Particularism

• Determining what is right and wrong always depends on the particulars of a case.
• There are no universal moral theories that always provide guidance.
• Learning to live well is similar to learning to diagnose diseases and unlike learning to solve equations.

Doctrine of the Golden Mean

• Virtues can be identified by comparing them to their related extremes (defects & excesses)
• Courage is the "golden mean” between cowardice & recklessness.
• Practical wisdom (phonesis) is like street smarts and it mediates between virtues and actions.

Becoming Virtuous

• Live well by doing virtuous things.
• People must act virtuously, not just philosophize about it.
• Aristotle said people should seek moral exemplars to learn what virtue looks like.

Thomas Aquinas' Natural Law Ethics & Crash Course Philo #34

• Aquinas Christianized Aristotle's concept of ''telos,'' the purpose built into the nature of everything.
• Aristotle deemed that the "final cause”/ultimate purpose for humans was happiness/fulfillment (“eudaimonia”).
• Aquinas believed the "final cause”/ultimate purpose for humans was godliness obtained by following God's moral law.

Four Tiers of Law

• The eternal law - God's plan, built into the nature of everything that exists, according to his omnibenevolent nature
• The divine law - God's revelation to humans in the Bible.
• The natural law - the moral law God created in human nature, discoverable by human reason.
• Human law - human-made laws meant to be based on natural and divine law.

Primary Precepts

• Synderesis is the habit or ability of reason to discover the foundational "first principles” of God's natural moral law.
• Goodness is what all things seek as their end or goal (telos).
• Human nature has an innate orientation to the good, which includes:
  • Worship God
  • Living in an orderly society
  • Reproducing
  • Protecting and preserving human life
  • Defending the innocent

Secondary Precepts

• Conscientia is the ability of reason to apply the primary precepts to situations or types of actions.
• The judgment acquired is a secondary precept.
• The primary precepts do not make specific commentary on any, however, by using or reason, it can be determined that any action which goes against protecting or preserving human life, such as euthanasia, is morally wrong.

Interior & Exterior Acts

• Interior acts occur inside our minds (intentions)
• Exterior acts occur outside our minds
• A good exterior act without a good interior act doesn't lead to fulfillment, because our intentions must align with fulfilling our God-given nature (telos).

Aquinas' Moral Virtues (Cardinal Virtues)

• Prudence
• Justice
• Fortitude (bravery/courage)
• Temperance
• These virtues can be acquired with habit and practice.

Aquinas' Theological Virtues

• Faith
• Hope
• Charity (the will embodying perfect love)
• Can only be attained with God's help.
• Offer a person the opportunity to live a supernatural/eternal life.

Deontology

• Is an ethical approach where an individual acts depending on what they believe is morally acceptable, despite the consequences.

Deontological Ethical Theories

• Ethical theories where an individual acts based on what they believe to be morally right, despite the consequences.
• Morally right actions are performed, even if the consequences are negative.
• Duty + science = deontology
• Morality comes from a sense of duty or obligation.

Examples of Deontology

• Honesty
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Fairness
• Integrity
• Non-violence
• Gratitude
• Forgiveness
• Humility
• Moderation

Immanuel Kant: Kantian Ethics & the Categorical Imperative

• A moral command must apply to all humans unconditionally.
• Way of evaluating motives for action.
• Central concept of Kantian Deontological Moral Philosophy.
• Introduced in Kant's 1785 work, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals.

The Categorical Imperative

• Kant's imperative is a central concept of Kantian deontological moral philosophy for evaluating motives for action

First Formulation of the Imperative

• Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law - (Kant, 1785, p. 30).
• Only do it if you would want everyone else to do it!
• Form a maxim, formulate it as a universal law, is it conceivable in such a world, and could you rationally will to act on this maxim in this world?

Second Formulation (The Humanity Formulation)

• Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of another, always at the same time as an end, and never simply as a means.
• Don't use other people merely as instruments.

Third Formulation (The Autonomy Formulation)

• The idea of the will of every rational being as a will that legislates universal law.
• Similar to the first formulation, but it conceives of lawgivers rather than followers.
• You test your will/maxim as something that creates or enacts universal laws.
• Has an imperative and more of a procedure to test your actions.

Fourth Formulation (Kingdom of Ends Formulation)

• Kant writes about a "kingdom of ends" or a "systematic union of rational beings through common laws.”
• Act in accordance with the maxims of a member legislating universal laws for a merely possible kingdom of ends.
• Moral obligation is to act only on principles that could earn acceptance by a community of rational agents, each having an equal share in legislating principles for their community.

Deontology Examples

• Deception
• Theft
• Suicide
• Breaking promises
• Idleness
• Selfishness

Final Thoughts on Deontology

• Kant's Categorical Imperative is widely seen as the foundation of deontology.
• Deontology urges people to consider their behavior's morality before deciding to enact it, rather than reflecting on it afterward.
• Deontological ethics focuses on a person's duty, rather than the end goal of actions.

Teleological Ethical Theories

• Etymology: goal + science = teleology
• Argues that the "rightness” or “wrongness” of an action is exclusively a function of the goodness or badness of the consequences of that action.
• The end goal of human flourishing is central to teleological ethics.
• Aristotle's ethics fall under this category, but not neatly.
• Aquinas' ethics are teleological as the goal is godliness.

Consequentialism

• Consequentialism is a type of teleological theory.
• An act's moral value, rightness/wrongness, is entirely determined by the consequences or results of that act.

Hedonism

• Type of consequentialism states pursuit of pleasure should be highest priority.
• Differs from utilitarianism through individual pleasure than collective.
• An individual's pursuit of pleasure through eating certain food is moral, even if it harms others.

Utilitarianism

• Consequentialism states that an action is judged by maximizing happiness for the most people.
• Often used as a moral tool for decision-making, emphasizing consequences.
• Killing one person to save five is considered moral because it increases overall happiness.

Act Utilitarianism (Bentham)

• Focuses on individual action consequences
• Greatest Happiness Principle: assesses actions based on Bentham's Hedonic or Felicific Calculus
• Individual rights or common notions of justice could be violated.

Rule Utilitarianism (Mill)

• States that rules should be written regarding likely outcomes, not inherently good or bad nature.
• Consequentialism suggests that established rules, even those that may lead to negative outcomes, will produce more desirable results than no rules at all
• Obeying highway speed limits, for example, might cause some individuals to miss their destination on time, but it may reduce car accidents and potentially save many lives.

State Consequentialism (Bentham)

• Looks at how government laws and policies can affect citizens' lives positively or negatively, depending on their outcome.
• Introducing a minimum wage law could potentially increase economic growth while reducing poverty levels if it is successful, thus making it an effective policy analyzed via a state-consequentialist philosophy.

Ethical Egoism

• Consequentialist theory states that one should act out of self-interest and pursue what is best for well-being rather than focusing on others or society.
• Investing in stocks w/ higher potential returns despite unintended consequences is a good example.

Contractarianism

• Originated with Thomas Hobbes (17th C.).
• Also known as Hobbesian Contractualism.
• It's a form of social contract theory.
• Based on self-interested people making reasonable bargains/contracts for individual gain (ethical egoism).

Ethical Altruism

• Consequentialist theory opposite of ethical egoism.
• Examines scenarios where actions are motivated by a desire to benefit others rather than themselves, valuing those acts regardless of their outcome or consequence
• Giving to charity without expecting reciprocation or personal gain constitutes an act of altruistic behavior.

Negative Consequentialism

• Negative consequentialists focus exclusively on avoiding unfavorable outcomes when evaluating decisions and behaviors
• They reject positive results justifying negative action, seeing every action has costs and benefits
• Taking away the freedom of someone is an action justified if they prove to be a threat to society, regardless of intention and benefit.

Final Thoughts on Consequentialism

• It emphasizes the importance of outcomes in determining the morality of an action rather than relying on predetermined moral principles or personal beliefs
• Has many forms, including utilitarianism, hedonism, rule consequentialism, and many more, each emphasizing how to maximize net benefits or minimize harm
• Lack of consideration of individual rights, reliance on prediction and calculation, and failure to consider values such as justice or fairness has been critiqued.