Strathmore University Lecture Notes on Principles of Ethics

Week 1 HED 2101: Principles of Ethics Course Facilitator: Dr. Maria Rosario Catacutan  These course notes were prepared by Maria Rosario G. Catacutan, PhD, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Strathmore University for purposes of teaching the unit Principles of Ethics for the semeste...

Week 1 HED 2101: Principles of Ethics Course Facilitator: Dr. Maria Rosario Catacutan  These course notes were prepared by Maria Rosario G. Catacutan, PhD, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Strathmore University for purposes of teaching the unit Principles of Ethics for the semester April to July 2024. The author requests that her permission be obtained by students or lecturers of the university who wishes to use this presentation for purposes other than what is intended by the author. In this session Course outline Core textbooks Course delivery plan Course deliverables Course outline Course outline Course outline Course textbook Ethics, Learning to Live by Patricia Debeljuh (SU library) – Basement – left section Course Notes (provisional translation of the textbook prepared by Dr. Catherine Dean) – SU library Assessment References Mode of delivery Group Presentations Elearning Enrolment key: POETHICS204 Course Outline: Module leaders- volunteers – [email protected] Submission of group names and members What are the humanities? School of Humanities and Social Sciences Video: The School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SU) What are the humanities? What are the humanities? study of how people process and document the human experience. – Since humans have been able, we have used philosophy, literature, religion, art, music, history and language to understand and record our world. (Stanford University) field of study within university settings, a group of “subjects” including history, music, art, languages, philosophy, religion, and literature. learning concerned with human culture- literature, history, art, music and philosophy (Oxford dictionary) What are the humanities? “Deals with the branches of knowledge that examine the most human in man, and what distinguish man from other creatures such as thought, language, the capacity for artistic creation, freedom, and personal history. In the 15th century, the term ‘studia humanitas’ was used by Italian humanists to denote the study of grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, philosophy, ancient Greek and Latin (Britannica Enc.) What is the importance of studying the humanities? Why study the humanities? “The notion that every well educated person would have a mastery of at least the basic elements of the humanities, sciences, and social sciences is a far cry from the specialized education that most students today receive.” (Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winner for Economics, 2001) Why study the humanities? “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason but no morals. … We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” —Martin Luther King Jr., speech at Morehouse College, 1948 SHSS Courses in SU SHSS courses First year (Foundational courses- all must take) – Philosophical Anthropology – Principles of Ethics Second year (Electives: Students will choose either Languages or History/philosophy track) – Elective 1: Language 1 or Intro to Philo – Elective 2: Language 2 or World Civilization 1/East Africa Societies Third year – Elective 3: Language 3 or World Civilizations 2/Great Books1/ Social and Political Philosophy – Elective 4: Language 4 or Business Ethics/Great Books 2 The relevance of the humanities for my future career Why study the humanities if I am a non-philosophy major? Looking past questions about earning potential, the windows on the human experience opened by the humanities reveal many different kinds of people and ways of thinking about life, the universe and everything. I think they teach us how to be humane — how to be good people — wherever we live and whatever we do. (Prof. David Behling) Slack, CEO, Stewart Butterfield, Philosophy CEOs with a degree in the humanities Top American CEOs with a humanities degree Starbuck CEO, Howard Schultz (Communications) HBO CEO, Richard Pleper (Political Science) Youtube CEO, Susan Wojcicki (History and Literature) Wholefoods CEO, John Mackay (Philosophy and Religion) Hewlett Packard CEO, Carly Fiorina (Philosophy and History) Chipotle, CEO, Steve Ells (History) Alibaba CEO, Jack MA (English) CEOs with a degree in the humanities When I graduated from Stanford my plan was to become a professor and public intellectual. That is not about quoting Kant. It's about holding up a lens to society and asking 'who are we?' and 'who should we be, as individuals and a society?' And finally…. “It is in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.” Topic 1  What is ethics? Rules that tell us what is right or wrong moral principles Do animals have moral experience? Can you say that a dog is morally good or bad? Human behaviour/human actions (moral or not) What is philosophical anthropology? Philosophical study of the human person What is man? What is the nature of man? What makes us different from other life forms? Rational beings Feelings, truth, knowledge, free will What is ethics? Ethics is all about… Philosophical anthropology vs. Ethics  Video 1: Ethics Defined: Moral Philosophy Think-write-watch Video 1: Ethics Defined: Moral Philosophy University Of Texas, Mccombs Business School  Guide Questions 1. In this video, ethics is defined as moral philosophy. What is moral philosophy? What is the focus of its investigation? 2. What are the three branches of moral philosophy / ethics? 3. What are the three most common ethical frameworks?  Video 2: Ethics: An introduction What is ethics? In class reading (15 minutes) Access the elearning and read the course notes on “What is ethics”? (individually) Answer the guide questions that follow (in pairs and be ready with your answers for discussion) Guide Questions for the Reading: On the nature of ethics 1. Why is ethics important for our life? 2. What is the definition of ethics? (the notes provide several definitions….) 3. The word “Ethics” originated from 2 Greek words. What is the meaning of these Greek words in English? 4. What is the definition of Science? Distinguish: science (scientific knowledge) from opinions…. 5. What does the term “material object of ethics” mean? What does the term “formal object of ethics” mean? Guide Questions for the Reading: On the nature of ethics 6. What is the material object of ethics? Why is it important to clarify what the “material object” of ethics is all about? 7. What is the formal object of ethics? Why is it important to clarify what the “formal object” of ethics is all about? 8. What are the three types of goodness? Which of these three is considered in ethics? 9. Ethics is a theoretical, practical and normative science. What is the meaning of these terms? Ethics: definition science that aims at clarifying the nature of man’s moral life from the rational and philosophical point of view study of human actions from the point of view of their rightness or wrongness (good/bad) as means for achieving human happiness (Gichure) Origin of the term: Greek => customs that guide society => character of a person => what is character? “Object” of ethics “Object” of ethics “Object” of any science (biology, physics, mathematics, philosophy, ethics) Material object: – scope, subject matter or field of inquiry => What is the subject matter of neurology and psychiatry? – Material object => what is the subject matter of ethics? => human actions (behaviour, human conduct) Formal object – perspective/focus used in studying the subject matter => What is the difference between neurology and psychiatry? – Formal object of ethics=> perspective => we are studying human actions (material object) from the perspective of their morality, whether they are good or bad (formal object) What is the formal object of ethics Ethics studies the moral value of human actions, that is, whether they are good or bad. Why do we need to specify the material and formal object of ethics (as a science)? Morality of human actions (formal object of ethics) Ethics studies the moral value of human actions, that is, whether they are good or bad. The term ‘good’ can be understood in different ways: ontological goodness, technical goodness, moral goodness Types of goodness Ontological goodness Goodness of things (not necessarily actions) in themselves This chapatti is really good! (the word “good” is used not in the moral sense) Technical goodness Goodness of human actions Goodness in a particular skill; some ability to carry out a particular task: John is good at coding.. programming Moral goodness: focus of ethics Goodness of human actions Goodness in terms of moral character: John is good because he is an honest programmer, or he is an honest person Ethics studies goodness or badness of actions Which sort of actions can we consider “good/bad”, “ethical/unethical” Can this action be considered “ethical” or “unethical”? Can this action be considered “ethical” or “unethical”? Can this action be considered “ethical” or “unethical”? Can this action be considered “ethical” or “unethical”? Can this action be considered “ethical” or “unethical”? Can this action be considered “ethical” or “unethical”? Can this action be considered “ethical” or “unethical”? Ethics as a practical, theoretical and normative science Ethics as a theoretical, practical, normative science Theoretical (Meta ethics) – Ethical knowledge is based on concepts, principles, theories about the nature of man’s moral activity: “ – Entails answering the “Big picture questions”: What is truth? What is justice? What is morality? Practical (Applied ethics) – Ethics is not supposed to be a form of abstract knowledge – “We do not study Ethics to know what is virtue but to learn how we can make ourselves virtuous and good; otherwise it will be a useless study.” (Aristotle) Normative (Normative ethics) – Ethics formulates value judgments, rules and norms of behaviour to guide one’s actions. – Link between theory, practice and rules (the “why” of rules) – To be ethical is not simply a matter of “following the rules” End of presentation Topic 1 Part 2 In this session Ethical reflection is based on moral experience - Reading and class discussion (Course notes, elearning) Ethics a science – Philosophical induction: method used in ethics as a philosophical discipline Ethics and its relation with other disciples - Personal study (course notes) – Ethics and psychology – Ethics and sociology – Ethics and law Reading: Access the course notes from the Elearning: “Ethics as a philosophical discipline: Moral experience and ethical reflection” Ethical reflection and moral experience Philosophical reflection begins from human experience Ethical/philosophical reflection about “what is right or wrong” is based on ordinary moral experience – External experience – Internal experience – Moral “language” Philosophical reflection on our moral experiences is necessary: why? – Examples? Philosophical induction Method used in ethics as a philosophical discipline – Judgements on what is right or wrong, good or bad are not based on feelings, preferences… – Ethics requires using reason to reflect about one’s moral experience – Derive conclusions (general principles) by (1) comparing particular actions (moral experiences) with first moral principles (self-evident to us); (2) using our intellect (in a scientific manner) to understand the reasons as to why such actions are good or bad (3) formulate general conclusions that we can use to judge similar or related actions Ethics in relation to other fields of study Ethics and psychology – What do these two have in common? – How do they differ? Ethics and sociology – What do these two have in common? – How do they differ? Ethics and law – What do these two have in common? – How do they differ? End of presentation TOPIC 2