Ethics for the Information Age (8th Edition) PDF

Ethics for the Information Age Eighth Edition Chapter 2 Introduction to Ethics Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Learning Objectives (1...

Ethics for the Information Age Eighth Edition Chapter 2 Introduction to Ethics Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Learning Objectives (1 of 2) 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Subjective relativism 2.3 Cultural relativism 2.4 Divine command theory 2.5 Ethical egoism 2.6 Kantianism Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Learning Objectives (2 of 2) 2.7 Act utilitarianism 2.8 Rule utilitarianism 2.9 Social contract theory 2.10 Virtue ethics 2.11 Comparing workable ethical theories 2.12 Morality of breaking the law Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 2.1 Introduction Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved The Ethical Point of View Most everyone shares “core values”, desiring: – Life – Happiness – Ability to accomplish goals Two ways to view world – Selfish point of view: consider only your own self and your core values – Ethical point of view: respect other people and their core values Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Defining Terms Society – Association of people organized under a system of rules – Rules: advance the good of members over time Morality – A society’s rules of conduct – What people ought / ought not to do in various situations Ethics – Rational examination of morality – Evaluation of people’s behavior Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Why Study Ethics? (1 of 6) “I changed as a person during this course because I can look at situations from different viewpoints now, viewpoints that I didn’t really have before taking this course.”  Quote from a student evaluation Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Why Study Ethics? (2 of 6) “I like to think that I do a good job of listening to someone else’s perspective but learning the ethical theories has allowed me to better understand the other person’s side and not just hear it.”  Quote from a student evaluation Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Why Study Ethics? (4 of 6) “It is apparent that most of what I have learned was information that I did not know that I did not know. In other words, it had never even occurred to me to ask the questions that were discussed in the course.”  Quote from a student evaluation Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Introduction to Ethical Thinking For each scenario – Everyone reads the scenario – Everyone reads the questions following the scenario – Each person reflects on their own responses to the questions – Students share their responses Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Scenario 1 (1 of 2) Alexis, a gifted high school student, wants to become a doctor. Because she comes from a poor family, she will need a scholarship in order to attend college. Some of her classes require students to do extra research projects in order to get an A. Her high school has a few older PCs, but there are always long lines of students waiting to use them during the school day. After school, she usually works at a part-time job to help support her family. One evening Alexis visits the library of a private college a few miles from her family's apartment, and she finds plenty of unused PCs connected to the Internet. She surreptitiously looks over the shoulder of another student to learn a valid login/password combination. Alexis returns to the library several times a week, and by using its PCs and printers she efficiently completes the extra research projects, graduates from high school with straight As, and gets a full-ride scholarship to attend a prestigious university. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Scenario 1 (2 of 2) Was Alexis deceitful? Did Alexis treat anyone unfairly? Did Alexis violate anyone’s rights? Who benefited from Alexis’s course of action and how great were the benefits? Who was harmed by Alexis’s course of action of how great were the harms? Would you call Alexis a good role model for other students? Are there better ways Alexis could have accomplished her objective? Did Alexis do the right thing? Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Scenario 2 (1 of 2) An organization dedicated to reducing spam tries to get Internet service providers (ISPs) in an East Asian country to stop the spammers by protecting their email servers. When this effort is unsuccessful, the antispam organization puts the addresses of these ISPs on its blacklist. Many ISPs in the United States consult the blacklist and refuse to accept email from the blacklisted ISPs. This action has two results. First, the amount of spam received by the typical email user in the United States drops by 25 percent. Second, tens of thousands of innocent computer users in the East Asian country are unable to send email to friends and business associates in the United States. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Scenario 2 (2 of 2) Did the antispam organization do anything deceitful? Was the organization unfair to anyone? Did the organization violate anyone’s rights? Who benefited from the organization’s action and how great were the benefits? Who was harmed by the organization’s action and how great were the harms? Could the organization have achieved its goals through a better course of action? Did the organization do the right thing by creating the blacklist? Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Scenario 3 (1 of 2) To address the problem of accidents caused by speeding, the East Dakota State Legislature passes a law authorizing the East Dakota State Police (EDSP) to install video cameras on all of its freeway overpasses. The cameras are connected to computers that can reliably detect cars traveling more than five miles per hour above the speed limit. Sophisticated image recognition software enables the system to read license plate numbers and capture high-resolution pictures of vehicle drivers. If the picture of the driver matches the driver's license photo of one of the registered owners of the car, the system issues a speeding ticket to the driver, complete with photo evidence. The new system receives extensive media coverage, and six months after the system is put into operation, the number of people speeding on East Dakota freeways is reduced by 90 percent. The FBI asks the EDSP for real-time access to the information collected by the video cameras. The EDSP complies with this request. Three months later, the FBI uses this information to arrest five members of a terrorist organization. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Scenario 3 (2 of 2) Did the East Dakota State Police do anything deceitful? Was the EDSP unfair to anyone? Did the EDSP violate anyone’s rights? Who benefited from the actions of the EDSP and how great were the benefits? Who was harmed by the actions of the EDSP and how great were the harms? What other courses of action could the EDSP have taken to achieve its objectives? Did the EDSP do the right thing by complying with the request of the FBI? Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Scenario 4 (1 of 3) You are the senior software engineer at a start-up company developing an exciting new mobile app that will allow salespeople to generate and email sales quotes and customer invoices from their smartphones. You were given stock options when you joined the company, and if it has a successful initial public offering of stock, you will be able to sell these options for at least $10 million. Your company's sales force has led a major corporation to believe your product will be available next week. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Scenario 4 (2 of 3) Unfortunately, at this point the software still contains quite a few bugs. The leader of the testing group has reported that all of the known bugs appear to be minor, but it will take another month of testing for his team to be condent the product contains no catastrophic errors. Because of the fierce competition in the mobile app industry, it is critical that your company be “first to market." To the best of your knowledge, a well-established company will release a similar product in a few weeks. If its product appears first, your start-up company will probably go out of business. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Scenario 4 (3 of 3) Consider at least three possible actions, and for each of them, answer the following questions: What are the most likely benefits and harms that will result from this action? Do you have any obligations to people who may be negatively affected by your action? Does this action require you to be dishonest, deceitful, or unfair to others? Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved More on Ethics Ethics: rational, systematic analysis – Conclusions must be supported – Best explanations based on facts, shared values, logic Ethics focuses on people’s voluntary, moral choices Workable ethical theory: produces explanations that might be persuasive to a skeptical, yet open-minded audience Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved A Good Ethical Theory Enables You to Make Persuasive, Logical Arguments Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 2.6 Kantianism Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Critical Importance of Good Will Good will: the desire to do the right thing Immanuel Kant: Only thing in the world that is good without qualification is a good will Reason should cultivate desire to do right thing Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Categorical Imperative (1st Formulation) Act only from moral rules that you can at the same time will to be universal moral laws. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Illustration of 1st Formulation (1 of 2) Question: Can a person in dire straits make a promise with the intention of breaking it later? Proposed rule: “I may make promises with the intention of later breaking them.” The person in trouble wants his promise to be believed so he can get what he needs. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Illustration of 1st Formulation (2 of 2) Universalize rule: Everyone may make & break promises Everyone breaking promises would make promises unbelievable, contradicting desire to have promise believed The rule is flawed. The answer to the question is “No.” Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Another Way to Reason It out (1 of 2) Question: Can I make a promise with the intention of breaking it later? I want my false promise to be believed. In order for my false promised to be believable, I want everyone except myself to be truthful all the time. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Another Way to Reason It out (2 of 2) In other words, I want to privilege my needs and desires over those of everyone else. Contradiction between what I want to do and what I want others to do. Therefore, what I am considering doing is wrong. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved A Quick Check When evaluating a proposed action, reverse roles What would you think if that person did the same thing to you? Negative reaction → evidence that your will to do that action violates the Categorical Imperative Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Categorical Imperative (2nd Formulation) Act so that you treat both yourself and other people as ends in themselves and never only as a means to an end. This is usually an easier formulation to work with than the first formulation of the Categorical Imperative. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Plagiarism Scenario Carla – Single mother – Works full time – Takes two evening courses/semester History class – Requires more work than normal – Carla earning an “A” on all work so far – Carla doesn’t have time to write final report Carla purchases report; submits it as her own work Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Kantian Evaluation (1st Formulation) Carla wants credit for plagiarized report Rule: “You may claim credit for work performed by someone else” If rule universalized, reports would no longer be credible indicator’s of student’s knowledge, and professors would not give credit for reports Proposal moral rule is self-defeating It is wrong for Carla to turn in a purchased report Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Kantian Evaluation (2nd Formulation) Carla submitted another person’s work as her own She attempted to deceive professor She treated professor as a means to an end – End: passing the course – Means: manipulate professor What Carla did was wrong Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Case for Kantianism Treats all persons as moral equals Gives all people moral worth as rational, autonomous beings Holds everyone to the same standard Produces universal moral guidelines Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Perfect and Imperfect Duties Perfect duty: duty obliged to fulfill without exception – Example: Telling the truth Imperfect duty: duty obliged to fulfill in general but not in every instance – Example: Helping others Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Case Against Kantianism Sometimes no rule adequately characterizes an action Sometimes there is no way to resolve a conflict between rules – In a conflict between a perfect duty and an imperfect duty, perfect duty prevails – In a conflict between two perfect duties, no solution Kantianism allows no exceptions to perfect duties Conclusion: Despite weaknesses, a workable ethical theory Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 2.7 Act Utilitarianism Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Principle of Utility (1 of 2) Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill An action is good if its benefits exceeds its harms An action is bad if its harms exceed its benefits Utility: tendency of an object to produce happiness or prevent unhappiness for an individual or a community Happiness = advantage = benefit = good = pleasure Unhappiness = disadvantage = cost = evil = pain Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Principle of Utility (Greatest Happiness Principle) An action is right (or wrong) to the extent that it increases (or decreases) the total happiness of the affected parties. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Principle of Utility (2 of 2) Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Act Utilitarianism Utilitarianism – Morality of an action has nothing to do with intent – Focuses on the consequences – A consequentialist theory Act utilitarianism – Add up change in happiness of all affected beings – Sum > 0, action is good – Sum < 0, action is bad – Right action to take: one that maximizes the sum Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Bentham: Weighing Pleasure/Pain Intensity Duration Certainty Propinquity Fecundity Purity Extent Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Highway Routing Scenario State may replace a curvy stretch of highway New highway segment 1 mile shorter 150 houses would have to be removed Some wildlife habitat would be destroyed Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Evaluation Costs – $20 million to compensate homeowners – $10 million to construct new highway – Lost wildlife habitat worth $1 million Benefits – $39 million savings in automobile driving costs Conclusion – Benefits exceed costs – Building highway a good action Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Case for Act Utilitarianism Focuses on happiness Down-to-earth (practical) Comprehensive Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Case Against Act Utilitarianism Unclear whom to include in calculations and how far out into the future to consider Too much work Ignores our innate sense of duty We cannot predict consequences with certainty Susceptible to the problem of moral luck Conclusion: Overall, a workable ethical theory Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 2.8 Rule Utilitarianism Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Applying Principle of Utility to Rules We ought to adopt moral rules which, if followed by everyone, will lead to the greatest increase in total happiness Act utilitarianism applies Principle of Utility to individual actions Rule utilitarianism applies Principle of Utility to moral rules Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Anti-Worm Scenario August 2003: Blaster worm infected thousands of Windows computers Soon after, Nachi worm appeared – Took control of vulnerable computer – Located and destroyed copies of Blaster – Downloaded software patch to fix security problem – Used computer as launching pad to try to “infect” other vulnerable PCs Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Evaluation Using Rule Utilitarianism (1 of 2) Proposed rule: If I can write a helpful worm that removes a harmful worm from infected computers and shields them from future attacks, I should do so Who would benefit – People who do not keep their systems updated Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Evaluation Using Rule Utilitarianism (2 of 2) Who would be harmed – People who use networks – People who’s computers are invaded by buggy anti- worms – System administrators Conclusion: Harm outweighs benefits. Releasing anti- worm is wrong. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Case for Rule Utilitarianism Not every moral decision requires performing utilitarian calculus Moral rules survive exceptional situations Avoids the problem of moral luck Reduces the problem of bias Appeals to a wide cross-section of society Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Case Against Utilitarianism in General All consequences must be measured on a single scale. – All units must be the same in order to do the sum – In certain circumstances utilitarians must quantify the value of a human life Utilitarianism ignores the problem of an unjust distribution of good consequences. – Utilitarianism does not mean “the greatest good of the greatest number” That requires a principle of justice – What happens when a conflict arises between the Principle of Utility and a principle of justice? Conclusion: Despite weaknesses, both act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism are workable ethical theories Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 2.9 Social Contract Theory Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Basis of Social Contract Theory Thomas Hobbes – In a “state of nature” our lives would be “solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short” – We implicitly accept a social contract ▪ Establishment of moral rules to govern relations among citizens ▪ Government capable of enforcing these rules Jean-Jacques Rousseau – In ideal society, no one above rules – That prevents society from enacting bad rules Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved James Rachels’s Definition “Morality consists in the set of rules, governing how people are to treat one another, that rational people will agree to accept, for their mutual benefit, on the condition that others follow those rules as well.” Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Kinds of Rights Negative right: A right that another can guarantee by leaving you alone Positive right: A right obligating others to do something on your behalf Absolute right: A right guaranteed without exception Limited right: A right that may be restricted based on the circumstances Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Convenience Stores Scenario Bill owns chain of convenience stores Collects information about purchases from customers Constructs profiles of customers – Who owns a pet, who cares for an infant, etc. Sells profiles to direct marketing firms Some customers happy to receive more mail order catalogs; others unhappy at increase in “junk mail” Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Evaluation (Social Contract Theory) (1 of 2) Consider rights of Bill, customers, and mail order companies. Does customer have right to expect name, address to be kept confidential? If customer purchases something from Bill, who owns information about transaction? Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Evaluation (Social Contract Theory) (2 of 2) If Bill and customer have equal rights to information, Bill did nothing wrong to sell information. If customers have right to expect name and address or transaction to be confidential without giving permission, then Bill was wrong to sell information without asking for permission. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Case for Social Contract Theory Framed in language of rights Explains why people act in self-interest in absence of common agreement – Tragedy of the commons Provides clear analysis of certain citizen/government problems – Why okay for government to deprive criminals of certain rights – Why civil obedience can be morally right action Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Case Against Social Contract Theory No one signed social contract Conflicting rights problem May unjustly treat people incapable of upholding contract Conclusion: Despite weaknesses, a workable theory Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Critique of Enlightenment Theories Kantianism, utilitarianism, social contract theory ignore important moral considerations – moral education – moral wisdom – family and social relationships – role of emotions Virtue ethics – arete, virtue, excellence: reaching highest potential – Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (4th century BC) Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Virtues and Vices Two types of virtue – intellectual virtues: virtues associated with reasoning and truth – moral virtues: virtues of character (e.g., honesty) Moral virtues – developed by habitually performing right action – deep-seated character traits – disposition to act in a certain way and feel in a certain way Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Aristotle on Happiness According to Aristotle, happiness derives from living a life of virtue. You acquire moral virtues by repeating the appropriate acts. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Summary of Virtue Ethics A right action is an action that a virtuous person, acting in character, would do in the same circumstances. A virtuous person is a person who possesses and lives out the virtues. The virtues are those character traits human beings needs in order to flourish and be truly happy. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Vices Vices are opposite of virtues Vice: a character trait that prevents a human being from flourishing or being truly happy Often, a virtue situated between two vices – Courage between cowardliness and rashness – Generosity between stinginess and prodigality Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Case for Virtue Ethics It often makes more sense to focus on virtues than obligations, rights, or consequences Personal relationships can be morally relevant to decision making Theory recognizes our moral decision-making skills develop over time With this theory there are no irresolvable moral dilemmas Emotions play an important role in living a moral life Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Case Against Virtue Ethics Reasonable people may disagree on character traits needed for human flourishing Cannot use virtue ethics to guide government policy Virtue ethics undermines attempts to hold people responsible for their bad actions Conclusion: Despite weaknesses, virtue ethics a workable theory Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 2.11 Comparing Workable Ethical Theories Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Ethical Objectivism vs Relativism er us Ethical objectivism: Morality has an existence outside the human mind Relativism: Morality is a human invention Divine command theory, ethical egoism, Kantianism, utilitarianism, social contract theory, and virtue ethics examples of ethical objectivism Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Workable Ethical Theories We seek theories with these characteristics: – Based on the ethical point of view – Objective moral principles developed using logical reasoning based on facts and commonly held values Workable ethical theories – Kantianism – Act and rule utilitarianism – Social contract theory – Virtue ethics Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Comparing Workable Ethical Theories Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 2.12 Morality of Breaking the Law Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Social Contract Theory Perspective Everyone in society bears certain burdens in order to receive certain benefits Legal system supposed to guarantee people’s rights are protected Everything else being equal, we should be law-abiding Should only break law if compelled to follow a higher-order moral obligation Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Law and Social Contract Theory According to social contract theory, we have a prima facie obligation to obey the law. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Kantian Perspective Everyone wants to be treated justly Imagine rule: “I may break a law I believe to be unjust” If everyone acted according to this rule, then laws would be subverted Contradiction: Cannot both wish to be treated justly and allow laws to be subverted Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Rule Utilitarian Perspective What would be consequences of people ignoring laws they felt to be unjust? Beneficial consequence: Happiness of people who are doing what they please Harmful consequences: Harm to people directly affected by lawless actions, general loss of respect for laws, increased burden on criminal justice system Harms greater than benefits Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Act Utilitarian Perspective Possible to conceive of situations where benefits of breaking law exceed harms Suppose give poor, bedridden friend copy of CD Friend benefits (value of CD) I benefit (satisfaction of helping friend) No Harm (no significant lost sale, no police involvement) With benefit exceed harm, action is determined to be good Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Summary Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Insights Offered by Various Theories (1 of 2) Kantianism: Every person is equally valuable, and when you interact with other people you should always respect them as rational beings. It is wrong to privilege your needs and desires over those of other people. Utilitarianism: You should consider the consequences of an action before deciding whether it’s right or wrong. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Insights Offered by Various Theories (2 of 2) Social contract theory: We should collectively promote human rights, such as the rights to life, liberty, and property. Virtue ethics: You can count on a good person to do the right thing at the right time in the right way. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Copyright This work is protected by United States copyright laws and is provided solely for the use of instructors in teaching their courses and assessing student learning. Dissemination or sale of any part of this work (including on the World Wide Web) will destroy the integrity of the work and is not permitted. The work and materials from it should never be made available to students except by instructors using the accompanying text in their classes. All recipients of this work are expected to abide by these restrictions and to honor the intended pedagogical purposes and the needs of other instructors who rely on these materials. Copyright © 2020, 2017, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved