UNIT-IV-Group-1-SS-112 PDF

**Lesson 13: UTILITARIANISM** **Utilitarianism** is known as a consequentialists theory, a subclass teleological moral theory. derived from the Greek term Telos which means ' purpose', teleological ethical system judge the rightness of an act in terms of an external goal or purpose. **Consequentia...

**Lesson 13: UTILITARIANISM** **Utilitarianism** is known as a consequentialists theory, a subclass teleological moral theory. derived from the Greek term Telos which means ' purpose', teleological ethical system judge the rightness of an act in terms of an external goal or purpose. **Consequentialist ethics** suggests that actions, rules, or policies should be ethically measured and evaluated by their consequences, not by the intentions or motives of the agent. Utilitarianism is the most influential consequentialist theory. Derived from the Latin term **utilis** which means **'useful'**, utilitarianism basically *states that what is useful is good, and that the moral value of actions is determined by the utility of its consequences*. This opposes to ethical theories that consider God's will to be the final arbiter of morality  **Bentham's Utilitarianism** Bentham begins his Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation with this classic statement: "Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do." To be subject to pleasure and pain is a fact we all recognize, and it is also a fact that we desire pleasure and void pain. Bentham distinguishes four sources from which pleasures and pains can come, and he identifies these as causes of our behavior, calling them sanctions. A sanction is what gives binding force to a rule of conduct or to a law, and he terms these four sanctions the physical, the political, the moral, and the religious. The physical source, for him, is the basis of all others. **Quantitative Approach** Bentham said that pleasures differ only in their amount-that is, that different ways of behaving produce different quantities of pleasure. Bentham was so committed to the simple quantitative measurement of pleasure as the chief test of the morality of an act that he even suggested that "there ought to be a moral thermometer" could measure the degrees of happiness or unhappiness. This analogy reveals Bentham's exclusive emphasis on quantity in his treatment of goodness and pleasure. **Mill's Utilitarianism** Mill's purpose in writing his famous essay on Utilitarianism was to defend the principle of utility, which he learned from his father and Bentham. In the course of his defense, however, he made such important modifications to this theory that his version of utilitarianism turned out to be different from Bentham's in several ways. His definition of utility was perfectly consistent with what Bentham taught: Mill writes, The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals Utility, or the greatest Happiness Principle, holds that action are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By 'happiness' is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by 'unhappiness', pain, and the privation of pleasure. **Qualitive Approach** Mill sought to defend utilitarianism against the charges that utilitarians are moral relavists favoring each person's subjective opinion about what is good, but in the course of his defense, he was drawn into the position of altering Bentham's quantitative approach to pleasure by substituting a qualitative approach. The qualitative aspect of pleasure, Mill thought, was as much an empirical fact as was the quantitative element on which Bentham placed his entire emphasis. Mill departed even further from Bentham by grounding the qualitative difference between pleasures in the structure of human nature, thereby focusing on certain human faculties whose full use were to be the criterion of true happiness and therefore, of goodness. **Lesson 14: NATURAL LAW** **Who is Thomas Aquinas?** - Born in 1225 at family castle in Roccasecca. - Died 49 years later on March 7, 1274, in Fossanova, 20 kilometers from birthplace. - **Father of natural law theory** - One of 33 Doctors of the Catholic Church - A philosopher and theologian - Greatest work was Summa theologiae - Teachings are currently used in ethics, civil law, religious morality, and politics. **NATURAL LAW** - Natural law is a theory in ethics and philosophy that says that human beings possess intrinsic values that govern our reasoning and behavior. Natural law maintains that these rules of right and wrong are inherent in people and are not created by society or court judges. - Aquinas wrote most extensively about natural law. He stated, \"the light of reason is placed by nature \[and thus by God\] in every man to guide him in his acts.\" Therefore, human beings, alone among God\'s creatures, use reason to lead their lives. This is natural law. **What are the basic principles of natural law theory?** \(1) the natural law is given by God; \(2) it is naturally authoritative over all human beings; and \(3) it is naturally knowable by all human beings. **What are the 4 natural laws according to Aquinas?** Aquinas recognizes four main kinds of law: the ***eternal***, the ***natural*,** the ***human*,** and the ***divine.*** The last three all depend on the first, but in different ways. Were we to arrange them in a hierarchy, eternal would be at the top, then natural, then human. **ETERNAL LAW** - Eternal law was God\'s perfect plan, not fully knowable to humans. It determined the way things such as animals and planets behaved and how people should behave. **NATURAL LAW** - Applied to all humans and was unchanging, human law could vary with time, place, and circumstance. Aquinas defined this last type of law as \"an ordinance of reason for the common good\" made and enforced by a ruler or government. He warned, however, that people were not bound to obey laws made by humans that conflicted with natural law. **DIVINE LAW** - Divine law, primarily from the Bible, guided individuals beyond the world to \"eternal happiness\" in what St. Augustine had called the \"City of God.\". **LAW IN GENERAL** - Aquinas describes law as \"a certain rule and measure of acts whereby man is induced to act or is restrained from acting.\" Because the rule and measure of human actions is reason, law has an essential relation to reason; in the first place to divine reason; in the second place to human reason, when it acts correctly, i.e., in accordance with the purpose or final cause implanted in it by God. - Law is directed by its nature to the good, and especially to the universal or common good. It is addressed not primarily to private persons but to the whole people meeting in common or to persons who have charge of the community as a whole. **KIND OF LAW** - It is easier to find a few wise persons who can make good laws than to find many who, in the absence of laws, can judge correctly in each instance. - Lawmakers can deliberate at length before making laws while many particular cases must be judged quickly, when they arise. - Lawmakers judge in the abstract and are less likely to be swayed by emotions evoked by concrete circumstances or by the kinds of things that tend to corruption. There is less danger of perversion of law, which is formulated in general, than there would be perversion of judgment in particular cases where no law exists to guide judgment. - Law is directed to the common good, and human law is no exception. The promotion of virtue is necessary for the common good, and human laws are instruments in the promotion of virtue. - Aristotle already pointed out that most people are kept from crime by fear of the law. Thomas accepts this judgment, suggesting that by coercion even men who are evilly disposed may be led in the direction of virtue. **\ ** **Lesson 15: DEONTOLOGY** - comes from the Greek word deon, which means "being necessary". Hence, refers to study of duty and obligation. - The moral that evaluates actions are done because of duty. - **Immanuel Kant (1742-1804)** He was a German Enlightenment philosopher who wrote one of the most important works on Moral Philosophy, **Groundworks towards Metaphysics of Morals (1785).** - **In this work, Kant brings our attention to the fact that the human beings have the faculty called rational will**, **which is the capacity to act according to principles that we determine for ourselves.** **RATIONAL WILL** - The objective principle of volition, is a principle that regulates every rational will. **DUTY & AGENCY** (refer to the example) **Duty**- is to pass the exam which is part of a bigger goal/principle which is to earn her degree **Agency**- ability of a person to act based on his/her intentions and mental states. **AUTONOMY** AUTONOMY vs. HETERONOMY **Ex.** Children (unaware of the principle of maintaining oral hygiene) brushing their teeth according parent's law/rules by using threats or incentives; **THREAT** "Hey, Ryan, go brush your teeth now or else your teeth will rot!" **INCENTIVES** "Come on now, Liza, if you brush your teeth in five minutes, I will let you play your computer game tonight". **UNIVERSALIZABILITY** **KINDS OF MORAL THEORIES** 1\. **Substantive Moral Theory**- immediately promulgates the specific actions that comprise that theory. As such, it identifies the particular duties in a straightforward manner that the adherents of the theory must follow. Example: TEN COMMANDMENTS 2\. **Formal Moral Theory**- does not supply the rules or commands straightaway. It does not tell you what you may do or may not do. Instead, a formal moral theory provides us the "form" or "framework" or the moral theory. To provide the "form" of a moral theory is to supply a procedure and the criteria for determining, on one's own, the rules and moral commands. **CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE** - Provides a procedural way of identifying the rightness and wrongness of an action. **FOUR KEY ELEMENTS OF CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE** **1.** Action **3.** Will **2.** Maxim **4.** Universal Law **Lesson 16: VIRTUE ETHICS** - Virtue ethics is the ethical framework that is concerned with understanding the good as a matter of developing the virtuous character of a person. - Virtue ethics, on the other hand, focuses on the formation of one's character brought about by determining and doing virtuous act. The two major thinkers of Ancient Greece: - **Aristotle's** discourse of ethics departs from the *Platonic understanding of reality and conception of the good*. **Both Plato and Aristotle affirm rationality as the highest faculty of a person and having such characteristics enables a person to realize the very purpose of her existence. But at the end, they differ in their appreciation of reality and nature, which, in turn, results in their contrasting stand on what the ethical principle should be**. For **Plato**, the *real is outside the realm of any human sensory experience but can somehow be grasped by one's intellect.* The truth and ultimately, the good are in the sphere of forms or ideas transcending daily human condition. On the other hand, for Aristotle, the real is found within our everyday encounter with subjects is the world. What makes nature intelligible is its character of having both form and matter. Therefore, the truth and the good cannot exist apart from the subject and are not independent of our experience. \ **Aristotle(384-322 BCE)\ **Aristotle was born in Macedonia and studied\ philosophy under Plato in Athens. He was\ considered to be brightest among Plato's students\ in the former's school, the Academy. He later\ founded his own school, Lyceum, where he become\ a very productive intellectual, having written\ numerous works on different topics such as the theoretical and practical sciences, and logic. He was also known the tutor of Alexander the Great who tried to conquer the world. Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is his major work in moral philosophy. **HAPPINESS AND ULTIMATE PURPOSE** - Aristotle begins his discussion of ethics by showing that every act that a person does is directed toward a particular purpose, aim, or what the Greeks called telos. There is a purpose why one does something, and for Aristotle, a person's manifests for. Every pursuit of a person hopes to achieve a good. One eats for the purpose of the good that it gives sustenance to the body. A person pursues a chosen career, aiming for a good, that is, to provide a better future for her family. A person will not do anything which is not beneficial to her. Even drug user "thinks" that substance abuse will cause her good. Therefore, for Aristotle, the good is considered to be the telos or purpose for which all acts seek to achieve. Aristotle discusses the general criteria in order for one to recognize the highest good of man. - First, the highest good of a person must be final. As a final end, it is no longer utilized for the sake of arriving at a much higher end. - Second, the ultimate telos of a person much be self-sufficient. Satisfaction in life is arrived at once this highest good is attained. Nothing else is sought after and desired, once this self-sufficient goal is achieved, since this is already considered as the best possible good in life. No amount of wealth or power can be more fulfilling than having achieved the condition of happiness. One can imagine a life being wealthy, powerful and experiencing pleasurable feelings and yet, such life is still not satisfying without happiness. Once happiness is achieved, things such as wealth, power, and pleasurable feelings just give value-added benefits in life. The true measure of well-being for Aristotle is not by means of richness of fame but by the condition of having attained a happy life. - The local saying "Madaling maging tao, mahirap magpakatao" can be understood in the light of Aristotle's thoughts on the function of a good person. Any human being can perform the activity of reason; thus being human is achievable. However, a good human being strives hard in doing an activity in an excellent way. Therefore, the task of being human becomes more difficult because doing such activity well takes more effort on the part of person. **VIRTUE AS EXCELLENCE** **What exactly makes a human being excellent?** - Aristotle says that excellence is an activity of human soul and therefor, one needs to understand the very structure of a person's soul which must be directed by her rational activity in an excellent way. For Aristotle, the human soul is divided in into two parts: - The irrational element and the rational faculty. - The irrational element of man consists of the vegetative and appetitive aspects - The vegetative aspects of the soul follows the natural processes involved in the physical activities and growth of a person. Whereas, the appetitive aspects work as a desiring faculty of man. - In contrast, the rational faculty of man exercises excellence in him. One can rightly or wrongly apply the use of reason in this part. This faculty is further divided into two aspects: moral, which use concerns the act of doing, and intellectual, which concerns the act of knowing. These two aspects are basically where the function of reason is exercised. - One rational aspect where a person can attain excellence is in the intellectual faculty of the soul. As stated by Aristotle, this excellence is attained through time, one learns from the vast experiences in life where she gains knowledge on these things.a There are two ways by which one can attain intellectual excellence: - Philosophic - Practical **Philosophic wisdom** deals with attaining knowledge about the fundamental principles and truths that govern the universe (e.g., general theory on the origins of the things). It helps one understand in general the meaning of life. **Practical wisdom**, on the other hand, is an excellence in knowing the right conduct in carrying out a particular act attain a wisdom that can provide us with a guide on how to behave in our daily lives. It seems that for Socrates, moral goodness is already within the realm of intellectual excellence. Knowing the good implies the ability to perform morally virtuous acts. For Aristotle, however, having intellectual excellence does not necessarily mean that one already has the capacity of doing the good. Knowing the good that needs to be done is different from doing the good to that one needs to accomplish. Therefore, rational faculty of a person tell us that she is capable of achieving two kinds of virtue: moral and intellectual. In discussing moral virtue, Aristotle says that is it attained by means of habit. A morally virtuous man for Aristotle is someone who habitually determines the good and does the right actions. Moral virtue is acquired through habit. Being morally good is a process of getting used to doing the proper act. The saying "practice makes perfect" can be applied to this aspect of a person. **MORAL VIRTUE AND MESOTES** - As stated by Aristotle, developing a practical wisdom involves learning from experiences. Knowledge is not inherent to a person. Knowing the right thing to do when one is confronted by a choice is not easy. One needs to develop this knowledge by exercising the faculty of practical reason in her daily life. - Based on Aristotle, a morally virtuous person is concerned with achieving her appropriate action in manner that is neither excessive nor deficient. - On has to function in a state that her personality manifests that right amount of feelings, passions, and ability for a particular act. Generally, feelings and passion are neutral which means that, in themselves, they are neither morally right nor wrong. - A morally virtuous person targets the mesotes. For Aristotle, the task of targeting the mean is always difficult because every situation is different from one another. Thus, the mesotes is constantly moving depending on the circumstance where she is in. The mean is not the same for all individuals. - Moral virtue is firstly the condition arrived by a person who has a character identified out of her habitual exercise of particular actions. One's character is seen as a growth in terms of the continuous preference for the good. Secondly, in moral virtue, the action done that normally manifests feelings and passions is chosen because it is the middle. - Thirdly, the rational faculty that serve as a guide for the proper identification of the middle is practical wisdom. The virtuous person learns from her experiences and therefore develops the capacity to know the proper way of carrying out her feelings, passions, and actions. - Aristotle's clarifies further that not all feelings, passions, and actions have a middle point. When a mean is sought, it is in the context of being able to identify the good act in a given situation. - Aristotle also provides examples of particular virtues and the corresponding excesses and deficiencies of these. This table show some of the virtues and vices. +-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+ | **Excess** | **Middle** | **Deficiency** | | | | | | | | **Impulsiveness | **Self-control* | **Indecisivenes | | | ** | * | s** | | | | | | | | **Recklessness* | **Courage** | **Cowardice** | | | * | | | | | | **Liberality** | **Meaness** | | | **Prodigality** | | | | +-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+ In the table, Aristotle identifies the virtue of courage as the middle, in between the vices of being coward and recklessness. Cowardice is a deficiency in terms of feelings and passions. This means that one lacks the capacity to muster enough bravery of carrying herself appropriately in a given situation. Recklessness, on the other hand, is an excess in terms on one's feelings and passions. In this regard, one acts with a surplus of guts that she overdoes an act in such rashness and without any deliberation. The virtue of having courage is being able to act daringly enough but able to weigh up possible implications of such act that she proceeds with caution. It is only through the middle that a person is able to manifest her feelings, passions, and actions virtuously. For Aristotle, being superfluous with regard to manifesting a virtue is no longer an ethical because one has gone beyond the middle. Being overly courageous ("super courageous") for instance does not make someone more virtuous because precisely in this condition, she has gone beyond the middle. Filipinos have the penchant of using superlative words like "over"," super", "to the max", and "sobra" in describing a particular act that they normally identify as virtuos. Perhaps, Aristotle's view on virtue is prescribing a clearer way by which Filipinos can better understand it. **Lesson 17: JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS** **JUSTICE VS. FAIRNESS** **JUSTICE** - In the context of conflict, the terms justice\' and \'fairness\' are often used interchangeably. - Justice is action in accordance with the requirements of some law. - Justice stems from God\'s will or command, while others believe that justice is inherent in nature itself. - Justice consists of rules common to all humanity that emerges out of some sort of consensus. - Justice is often thought of as something higher than a society\'s legal system. **TYPES OF JUSTICE** - **Social Justice-** is the notion that everyone deserves equal economic, political, and social opportunities irrespective of race, gender, or religion. - **Distributive Justice-** refers to the equitable allocation of assets in society. - **Environmental Justice-** it is the fair treatment of all people with regard to environmental burdens and benefits. - **Restorative or Corrective Justice-** Seeks to make whole those who suffered unfairly. - **Restributive Justice-** seeks to punish wrongdoers objectively and proportionately - **Procedural justice-** refers to implementing legal decisions in accordance with fair and unbiased processes. **FAIRNESS** - Fairness often has been used with regard to an ability to judge without reference to one's feelings or interests. - It refers to ability to make judgements that are not overly general but that are concrete and specific to a particular case. - Product of moral judgement, the process by which people determine what is morally right and what is morally wrong. **PRINCIPLES OF FAIRNESS** - Treat all people equitably based on their merits and abilities and handle all essentially similar situations similarly and with consistency. - Make all decisions on appropriate criteria, without undue favoritism or improper prejudice. - Never blame or punish people for what they did not do, and appropriately sanction those who violate moral obligations or laws. - Promptly and voluntarily correct personal and institutional mistakes and improprieties. - Never blame or punish people for what they did not do, and appropriately sanction those who violate moral obligations or laws. **PRINCIPLES OD JUSTICE** - DESERTS - EQUITY - EQUALITY - NEED **DESERTS** - **The idea that a punishment should be proportional to severity of a crime or the unfair advantage the offender gained by breaking the law.** - **The concept of desert is the idea that how a person should be treated is based on their character.** **EQUITY** - **Focuses on fairness and ensuring that everyone has access to the same opportunities and resources, regardless of their background or circumstances.** - **It is often applied in the context of;** - **education** - **healthcare** - **social services ** **EQUALITY** - **Often spoken in the same breath as justice, brings its unique essence to the social fabric. It refers to the state of being equal, especially in terms of rights, opportunities, and status.** **NEEDS** - **Needs are relevant to just distribution only in so far as they express actual burdens, not in their own right.** - **To the extent to which unmet, important needs are a burden in one's life and constitute an important impediment to achieving one's life-plans,** - **They should be considered as creating a disequilibrium of benefits and burdens.** **PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS** - Impartiality - Consistency - Standing - Trust **IMPARTIALITY** - **A principle that decisions should be based on objective criteria rather than bias, prejudice, or personal preference. Impartiality is also known as *evenhandedness* or *fair-mindedness*** **.** **CONSISTENCY** - **A principle that the *same rules are applied consistently*.** **STANDING** - **Principle that requires that *similar cases are treated in the same way*, justice is opposite of arbitrariness.** **TRUST** - **A foundation of actions that builds over time with experience. Trust is built on a *foundation of honesty*, which is a pre-requisite or fairness, respect, and responsibility.**