test 1 Flashcards
(26 cards)
The moral right action is
Ethical
general normative ethics
- Want to answer which moral normal for guidance and evaluation of conduct should we accept and why
moral theories
Moral theories
1) Explanation of what makes an action right or what makes a person or thing good
2) Not all theories are of equal work need to find what is best
Use moral adequacy to theories
3 critter for moral theories
1) Consistency with considered judgements
2) Consistency with our moral experiences
3) Usefulness in moral problem solving
consequentialist theory
ethical egotism and utilitarianism
ethical egoism and criticism
:ethical if produces the most favourable balance of good and evil for oneself
Says we should act in our own self interests
Humans by nature are selfish
Difference in psychological and ethical egoism
Criticism:
1) Psychological egoism is implausible
2) Egoism is not a moral principle
3) Gives no direction is cases of genuine conflict of interest
Utilitarianism and criticism
:action is right (ethical) if produces most favourable balance of good and evil, everyone considered
act
: morally right action that directly produces the most favourable balance of good and evil everyone considered
rule
: morally right action if a rule is generally followed will produce the most favourable good and evil for everyone involved
Criticism
Some actions are wrong even if they produce good results
Utilitarianism is not really workable
Overlooks considerations of justice and distribution of happiness
non consequence
Kantian
virtue
divine command theory
natural law theory
Descriptive vs Meta ethics
Descriptive
o Describes ethical practices within societal group
o Principles change over time
o Sociologists analyze
Meta-ethics
o understanding of meaning and function of ethical terms such as good and bad
Carrs thoughts on bluffing
- If you want a seat in business world need to master this game
- To be a winner a man must play to win
Kantian Ethics and criticism
- deontology
- Two key ideas
o 1) only good will has ultimate moral value
o 2) moral rules must be universal and binding for all rational beings
Who cares if there are 5 important people all people are worth the same
Everyone’s life is priceless
Criticism
o View of moral worth is too restrictive
o Categorical imperative is not sufficient test of right or wrong
o Find difference between treating people as means and respecting them as ends in themselves may be difficult in practice
Kants ethics -onara o neill
- hard to understand
o Treat other well and not a means to the end
o Each of our acts reflect on or more maxims - Maxim (intentions) is the principle on which on sees oneself acting
Norman Bowie article
Respect of workers as autonomous agents who can self govern
Hochschild
- the working day- Karl Marx
-child were the instruments of labour - gives example of airline attendants
and
Bruce Barry
- freedom of expression
taxonomy of expression - venue
- topic
- publicness
- venue
- Why issue is becoming more important
o Legal rulings and precedents
o Changes in the workplace
o Peoples spending more time at work
o Advances in tech
o Growing awareness among researcher and managers
o US law has not evolved to allow for
Virtue ethics and criticism
- :Highlights the role of the agent in moral deliberations
o Differs from deontology and utilitarianism as they both try to develop universal criteria to classify as morally good or bad - Our purpose is in part to bring qualities to world, these qualities are our virtues
o Beauty, courage, trust, loyalty, trust, friendship, honour, and self-conscious
Criticism
- Problem of functional and normative sense of good
- How do we find a completely virtuous person
- How do role models know what to do in difficult situations
The good life reading (philosophers, Aristotle, Epicurus, Kant, Solomon)
Aristotle
- Argues that a good life is fundamentally a happy life
- A happy life is one that is full of thoughtfully chosen enduring pleasures (like friendship)
- More in line with utilitarianism consequentialist (be careful as he wrote before was a thing)
Kant
- Good life if about fulfilling duty and doing obligations
Solomon
- “Greed”
- The paradox of greed
o Doing something you think will produce a good life
o How did we get it that we were acting in a greedy way?
o In your work or economic life, if trying to get a good life, want to spend less then you earn
If have good money management
Can make us frugal (cheap)
* Can be seen as greedy
Meta Ethical Theories
Objectivism
: view that some moral principles are valid for everyone
* Issue as people do not have same views on everything
* Can come to understand it
Subjective Relativism
: The view that an action is morally right if one approves of it
* Idea of good and bad is relative to the person
* Issue as we all have different views on what’s good
Emotivism
: View that moral utterances are neither true nor false but are expressions of emotions or attitudes
* Moral utterance = not good to kill
Cultural Relativism
: view that an action nis morally right if one’s culture approves of it
Cultural relativism
- To many different cultures have different moral codes- has seemed the key to understanding morality
- Idea of universal truth is a myth
- Issue with Kant ethics
o As not a universal moral code - Issue with Unitarianism
o Goes with one culture not another when determining how to get the most people happy
Cultural difference argument
1) Different cultures have different moral codes
2) Therefore, there is no objective “truth” in morality. Right and wrong are only matter of opinion, and opinion vary from culture to culture
- On strictly logical terms this is not a valid argument
claims of cultural relativism
- Different societies have different moral codes
- suicide in some is right
a. We may witness actions we think should not be done
2. There is no objective standard that can be used to judge on societal code better then another
3. The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is merle one among many
4. There is no universal truth in ethics that is there are no moral truths that hold for all people at all times
a. One person is
5. The moral code of society determines what is right in society; certain action is right so it is right, at least within this society
6. It is mere arrogance for us to try to judge the conduct of other peoples, We should adopt an attitude of tolerance toward the practices of other cultures
why not to take CR seriously
1) We could no longer say that the customs of other societies are morally inferior
o Argument:
P1 – People in some cultures have thought that slavery was right
P2 – Slavery was wrong for those people
C – Therefore, it is not true that if a culture believes that something is right then it is right for that culture
- (2) We could decide whether actions are right or wrong just by consulting the standards of our society
- (3) The idea of moral progress is called into doubt
Mary midgley
moral isolationism
* Can not understand any culture but our own well enough to make judgements on it
* Says makes no sense at all
need to judge other cultures
Robert Audi 3 questions for ethics
- Am I doing the right thing
- Am I doing it the right way
- Am I doing it for the right reasons