Ethics Midterm PDF

**Moral Character Development** **Moral development** refers to changes in moral beliefs as a person grows older and gains maturity. Moral beliefs are related to, but not identical with, moral *behavior*: it is possible to know the right thing to do, but not actually do it. It is also not the same...

**Moral Character Development** **Moral development** refers to changes in moral beliefs as a person grows older and gains maturity. Moral beliefs are related to, but not identical with, moral *behavior*: it is possible to know the right thing to do, but not actually do it. It is also not the same as knowledge of *social conventions*, which are arbitrary customs needed for the smooth operation of society. Social conventions may have a moral element, but they have a primarily practical purpose. Conventionally, for example, motor vehicles all keep to the same side of the street (to the right in the United States, to the left in Great Britain). The convention allows for smooth, accident-free flow of traffic. But following the convention also has a moral element, because an individual who chooses to drive on the wrong side of the street can cause injuries or even death. In this sense, choosing the wrong side of the street is wrong morally, though the choice is also unconventional. Moral character is formed by one's actions. The habits, actions and emotional responses of the person of good character are all united and directed toward the moral and the good. (Mitchell, 2015) Embedded in this rather ordinary example are moral themes about fairness or justice, on the one hand, and about consideration or care on the other. It is important to keep both themes in mind when thinking about how students develop beliefs about right or wrong. A **morality of justice** is about human rights---or more specifically, about respect for fairness, impartiality, equality, and individuals' independence. A **morality of care**, on the other hand, is about human responsibilities---more specifically, about caring for others, showing consideration for individuals' needs, and interdependence among individuals. Students and teachers need both forms of morality. In the next sections therefore we explain a major example of each type of developmental theory, beginning with the morality of justice. Moral reasoning refers to the processes involved in how individuals think about right and wrong and in how they acquire and apply moral rules and guidelines. The psychological study of morality in general is often referred to as the study of moral reasoning, although moral psychology is now understood as encompassing more than just the reasoning process. Many of the topics that social psychologists were originally interested in (such as obedience and conformity) had to do in one way or another with questions of moral judgment and behavior. Despite this early interest in morality, the study of moral reasoning specifically had its beginnings in the work of moral philosophers and developmental psychologists rather than in social psychology.' **The 7 steps of moral reasoning** Making ethical choices requires the ability to make distinctions between competing options. Here are seven steps to help you make better decisions: 1. 2. 3. - - 4. 5. 6. - - - - 7. Virtue Theory Virtue ethics is currently one of three major approaches in normative ethics. It may, initially, be identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to the approach that emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that emphasizes the consequences of actions (consequentialism). Suppose it is obvious that someone in need should be helped. A utilitarian will point to the fact that the consequences of doing so will maximize well-being, a deontologist to the fact that, in doing so the agent will be acting in accordance with a moral rule such as "Do unto others as you would be done by" and a virtue ethicist to the fact that helping the person would be charitable or benevolent. Golden Mean The Golden Mean is a sliding scale for determining what is virtuous. Aristotle believed that being morally good meant striking a balance between two vices. You could have a vice of excess or one of deficiency. This is known as Virtue Ethics. It places the emphasis on high character and not on duty or seeking good consequences. So, true courage would be a balance between too much courage, recklessness, and too little courage, cowardice. A person is courageous out of practice rather than duty or to produce some desired effect. The Golden Mean is a means of assisting a person in practicing good character as they strive to make it second nature. Aristotle believed that the good life lived from exercising capacity to reason. Practicing virtue is a practice of intellectual reason. Aristotle did not promote virtue in itself as being ethical though. He wrote that the study of ethics is not precise. So, modern virtue ethicists believe that a good ethical theory is necessarily imprecise. Rather than giving precise rules as in the case of deontology and utilitarianism. These are two competing ethical theories. Moral Exemplar - Moral exemplars have succeeded in integrating moral and professional attitudes and beliefs into their core identity. Going against these considerations for moral exemplars is tantamount to acting against self. Acting in accordance with them becomes second nature. - Moral exemplars often achieve their aims with the support of \"support groups.\" In fact, moral exemplars are often particularly adept at drawing support from surrounding individuals, groups and communities. This goes against the notion that exemplars are isolated individuals who push against the current. (Not all exemplars need ft as heroes into Ayn Rand novels.) Moral exemplars often do not go through periods of intensive and prolonged deliberation in order to hit upon the correct action. Eudamonia In its simplest (translated) form, *eudaimonia* is often taken to mean *happiness* (Deci & Ryan, 2006; Huta & Waterman, 2014; Heintzelman, 2018). Sometimes it is translated from the original ancient Greek as *welfare*, sometimes *flourishing*, and sometimes as *well-being* (Kraut, 2018). The concept of Eudaimonia comes from Aristotle's *Nicomachean Ethics*, his philosophical work on the 'science of happiness' (Irwin, 2012). We'll look at this idea of 'the science of happiness' a little more closely later in this article. Eudaimonia is about individual happiness; according to Deci and Ryan (2006: 2), it maintains that: *"...well-being is not so much an outcome or end state as it is a process of fulfilling or realizing one's daimon or true nature---that is, of fulfilling one's virtuous potentials and living as one was inherently intended to live."* As there are so many different ways to translate the term into English, it may even be helpful to look at the etymology. If it helps to provide more context, *eudaimonia*is a combination of the prefix *eu* (which means good, or well), and *daimon* (which means spirit) (Gåvertsson, n.d.). The latter also appears in various related forms in contemporary literature, such as the idea of a *dæmon* as one's soul in Philip Pullman's bestselling *Northern Lights* (Oxford Dictionaries, 2019). Natural law" means moral law -- in particular, the fundamental moral principles that are built into the design of human nature and lie at the roots of conscience.  Natural law thinking is the spine of the Western tradition of jurisprudence.  Historically, it has provided the basis for talking about all of the \'hot button\' issues in past and present culture wars.  If you wanted to talk about war, slavery, political liberty, or relations between men and women, you talked about natural law.  The distinctive mark of natural law thinking is that it begins from what the mind can know about these things by reasoning alone, rather than by the authority of revelation.  This is in no way to deny revelation, for although the earliest natural law thinkers were pagans, the most influential natural law thinkers have been Christians who held that reason and revelation work together.