Relativism and Subjectivism

Week 1: Relativism and Subjectivism

• Metaethics explores the foundations, status, and scope of moral values, properties, and language
• Ethical relativism posits moral rightness/wrongness varies across societies, rejecting universal moral standards
• Ethical subjectivism sees morality as a personal decision
• Ethical conventionalism argues that the truth of moral principles depends on cultures or groups
• Ethical objectivism asserts universal validity for at least one moral principle or moral absolutism
• Ruth Benedict stated morality differs in every society, a term for socially approved habits
• Benedict equated the normal with the good
• Benedict argued Normality is defined within the limits of accepted behavior for a society
• Benedict believed normality is culturally and socio-economically defined
• Benedict declared mankind take any shape presented to them
• St. Thomas Aquinas described law as a dictate of reason from a ruler for their community
• Aquinas defined natural law as a universal system determined by nature
• Aquinas argued natural law participates in eternal law
• Aquinas saw eternal law as God's law for human well-being aligned with nature
• Natural law theory considers an action right if it avoids direct violation of basic laws
• Aquinas believed humans have free will but are inclined to proper ends, pursuing good and avoiding evil
• Aquinas states good includes human life, procreation, knowledge, and sociability
• Aquinas' teleological argument states all things have order working towards an end
• The order of the universe is explained by design/purpose, not chance
• Design and purpose come from intelligence, directing nature via divine intelligence
• Practical reason addresses contingent matters, the realm of human actions
• Speculative reason concerns necessary, unchanging matters leading to universal truths
• Doctrine of double effect states an action with good/evil effects is moral under conditions:
• The action is morally permissible besides its effects
• Achieving the good effect requires the unavoidable evil effect
• The evil effect is not the intention
• The evil effect's harm is proportional to the intended good
• The diversity thesis states moral rules differ across societies
• The dependency thesis states people's actions rely on society
• Diversity/dependency theses debates are about facts versus moral principles
• The slippery slope argument cautions against initial steps leading to undesirable outcomes
• Slippery Slope states a state A to B move likely continues to undesirable state C
• An example False dilemma is the choice between moral absolutism or moral relativism
• "Is ought gap" is the principle that cultural relativism does not automatically lead to ethical relativism.

Week 2: Ethics and Egoism

• Egoism denies a need of altruistic or other-regarding principles consistently
• Psychological egoism claims all actions are self-serving
• Ethical egoism promotes self-interest as the moral guideline (long term)
• Ethical altruism prioritizes the welfare of others
• Instrumental goods are means to other goods like money, exercise and medicine
• Intrinsic goods are valuable in themselves like knowledge, sight, and health
• Combination goods have both instrumental and intrinsic value
• Plato described Justice as valuable for its own sake and for its consequences
• Hobbes described state of nature as humans before civilization
• Hobbes says there was never a condition of war, there are many places where they live so now
• Hobbes' first natural law states that each has the liberty to use their power for self preservation
• Hobbes' second natural law states that a man is willing to aly down this right to all things
• Hobbes' third natural law states that justice means keeping covenants
• Covenant involves giving up self-governance to an authority, authorized via force/voluntariness
• Rand's ethical egoism means learning to value yourself, fighting for your happiness
• Rand's theory is an encouragement for individual freedom and responsibility that is good for humankind
• False dilemma presents only two options
• Strawman fallacy distorts/exaggerates arguments before attacking them
• Reductio ad absurdum makes opposing arguments seem ridiculous
• Arguments for ethical egoism are:
• It avoids paternalism, promoting everyone's interests if each pursues their own
• It avoids sacrificial ethical altruism by valuing both individual's lives
• Less radical ethical egoism recognizes moral reasons beyond self-interest, but it doesn't answer the question of harm
• Arguments against ethical egoism:
• It doesn't provide conflict solutions
• It expresses logical inconsistencies
• It asserts partiality
• Universal ethical egoism advocates self-interest for all, regardless of others
• Rand termed it 'Rational Ethical Egoism - Objectivism'
• Individual ethical egoism asserts everyone should act in my self-interest
• Personal ethical egoism dictates acting in my self-interest without prescribing others' actions

Week 3: Value and Values

• Hedonists believe all pleasure is good and should be pursued
• Non-hedonists argue something besides pleasure is good
• Monism states there is a single intrinsic value that is not pleasure
• Pluralism sees both pleasure/enjoyment and other intrinsic goods
• The objectivist perspective argues values are worthy of desire, regardless of being desired
• The subjectivist perspective argues values depend on or relate to desires
• Plato's metaphysics is the study of first principles
• Particulars are belief/perception instances of universals
• Universals are forms of particulars understood via reason
• Three metamorphoses refers to camel which carries burdens and hardships
• Lion which preys on victory and revenge and the child which is innocent rebirth
• Bentham promoted hedonistic utilitarianism where right actions maximize pleasure and minimize pain
• The utilitarianism calculus includes:
• Intensity
• Duration
• Certainty/uncertainty
• Propinquity/remoteness
• Fecundity
• Purity
• Extent
• Nozick introduced the Experience Machine thought experiment
• We want to do things, be a certain type of person
• Humans are limited to constructed reality, which is deeper than anything people can construct

Week 4: Value and Values Continued

• Ross's four objective values:
• Virtuous disposition and action: desiring to bring good into being, give pleasure, save pain, or do one's duty
• Deserved pleasure: considering worlds with widespread pleasure versus pain
• Justice: duty when virtuous experience is pleasure and vicious experience is pain
• Knowledge: is a universe better with or without it?
• Subjectivist account of welfare states something benefits us if we find interest/positivity in it
• Objectivist account of welfare states some beneficial things are good for us even without our desire
• Narrow hedonism maximizes pleasure and minimizing pain for happiness
• Preference hedonism defines the best mental states as those desired most
• The desire fulfillment theory states good is fulfilling desires
• The objective list theory determines certain things are objectively good or bad, regardless of desires
• Heathwood equates "faring well" with "getting what you want"
• Combination theory states that wanting and knowing good are needed, appreciating beauty, and engaging in rational activity

Week 5: Utilitarianism

• Normative ethics is a branch of moral philosophy that is concerned with what is right and wrong
• Teleological ethics values good before right (consequentialist)
• Deontological ethics values right before good (Kantianism, prima facie ethics)
• Mill's eudaimonic utilitarianism recognizes some pleasures are more desirable, to bring out the most utility
• Critiques of utilitarianism:
• It may have wrong consequences
• Mundane actions can become moral
• It can undermine trust
• the utility monster argument
• It can lead to oppression
• It lacks backward-looking reasons
• It exhibits partiality
• The problem of negative responsibility where you are in trouble for the things you do and don't do
• Frye used the birdcage analogy to illustrate barriers trapping/restricting motion
• Frye used the double bind analogy to illustrate situations with few option that are penalty or censor

Week 6: Utilitarianism

• Act utilitarianism states actions are right if it produces the highest net pleasure, "Will action X maximize utility?"
• Rule utilitarianism states actions are right if permitted by a rule maximizing overall utility "Will utility be maximized if everyone followed this rule/did X?"
• Threshold Effect: Actions with little impact individually can have significant effects collectively
• The AU critique of undermining trust states method cases are a case-by-case evaluation, which action makes people less predictable.
• The AU critique is too demanding, it requires impartiality for all peoples needs.

Week 7: Deontology

• Rationalism is the foundation of knowledge in reason
• Empiricism is the foundation of knowledge in experience
• Kant's morality is a human's unique capacity to rationally decide through free will
• Kant's moral worth depends on the volition principle, regardless of desires
• Synthetic a priori judgments mean knowing something exists without verification with experience
• Perfect duties are inflexible duties of justice
• Imperfect duties allow exceptions based on extent
• Kant's two imperatives are:
• hypothetical, achieving desired results via prudence
• categorical, acting by rationality not goals
• Universal law formulation is acting according to that maxim if it becomes a universal law without contradiction
• Maxim is a subjective volition principle
• Universal law must always be done
• Herbert critiqued Kant against blind rule worship, for authors of our actions instead.

Week 8: Virtue Ethics

• Virtue ethics states goodness stems from one's character, not actions
• Moral exemplar is a virtuous individual used as a role model
• Eudaimonia is human flourishing and living according to virtue
• Moral imagination involves envisioning possibilities to solve moral issues
• Unity of virtues involves balancing all virtues not just vices
• Aristotle's Doctrine of Mean finds virtue in the golden mean between deficiency/excess
• Moral particularism is the metaethical view as moral facts are particular not general rules
• Issues with virtue ethics:
• It can become duty-based ethics
• It can be mistaken for ethical subjectivism
• Applying it to moral decision-making isn't easy
• Vice of deficiency examples include cowardice, stinginess etc
• Virtue examples include courage generosity, modesty and righteous indignation
• Vice of excess examples include foolhardiness, prodigality etc

Week 9: Existentialist Ethics

• Frankena states morals need both traits (being) and principles (doing)
• Ethics of ambiguity addresses freedom, ambiguity, relationships etc
• Values are created through actions in concert with others
• Freedom is important for morality, that allows valuation
• Beauvoir defined 6 attitudes towards freedom:
• The subman rejects existence and they go by passive meaning
• The serious man turns himself into pure facticity for a purpose
• The nihilist believes life to be meaningless
• The adventurer lives in the moment of freedom
• The passionate man is obsessed with projects and treats others as instruments
• The free man wills freedom for self and others
• Beauvoir believed ethical imperatives is to will ourselves and others free