Transcript ethics - Peda.net

ETHICS
TOK LAJM
ORIENTATION
• (1) When was the last time you did something
wrong/ bad?
– What was the action? What made it wrong/ bad?
• (2) When was the last time you did something
right/ good?
– What was the action? What made it right/ good?
I Basic Concepts
• Morals
– views of right and wrong
• Ethics
– study of morals
TASK: morals or ethics?
• You betrayed me!
• You did that on
purpose!
• If you don’t care, you
could at least refrain
from worsening my
situation
• Agreements are
considered as morally
obligatory, so braking
agreements is wrong
• We are responsible of
the intentional harm we
inflict on others
• The minimum
requirement for moral
action is to refrain from
hurting another
I Basic Concepts
• Moral values
– attributes that make
some things good and
worth pursuing
– goals of our actions
• Moral values guide our
moral actions
TASK
• What kind of things are
valuable and important
to you?
– write a list of at least five
different things that you
value
– try to do a hierarchy:
what is the most
important value to you?
– can your values conflict
each other? How?
I Basic Concepts
• Intrinsic values
– values that are
important for their own
sake
• Instrumental values
– values that are
important as means to
other values
TASK
• What are intrinsic and
instrumental values in
your list of important
things ?
– mark intrinsic and
instrumental values into
your list
• Compare your list to
your neighbours list
– how different or similar
are they?
TASK
• Compile a code of
conduct for a school
which core value is:
– (1) physical
attractiveness
– (2) equality between
sexes
– (3) patriotism
– (4) reputation
– (5) respect for traditions
I Basic Concepts
• Moral norms
– rules of behaviour that
protect certain values
• Values create norms
TASK
• Carefully read through
the IB learner profile
– what values and norms
can you find from the
profile?
– from your own
perspective how
relevant are the values
and norms mentioned in
the profile?
TASK
• How can you study/
research morality?
II Branches of Ethics
• Each branch studies
morality on a different
level
1. Descriptive Ethics
• Describes people’s
beliefs about morality
– doesn’t prescribe how
we should act
2. Normative Ethics
• Evaluates and justifies
ethical theories and
principles
– prescribes how we
should act
3. Meta-ethics
• Studies the nature of
ethics and the language
of ethics
4. Applied Ethics
• Describes, evaluates
and justifies values and
norms in a particular
issue in life
– e.g. clinical ethics and
business ethics
TASK
• How are these
statements different?
– (1) There is a whiteboard
in the classroom
– (2) Teacher is strangling
a student
– (3) It is wrong to strangle
III Factual And Normative Statements
• Factual statements
state how things are
– e.g. teacher is strangling
a student
• Normative statements
state how things ought
to be
– e.g. you should not
strangle anyone
TASK
• Make up normative and
factual statements
related to your list of
valuable things
– what kind of norms can
you derive from your
values?
– what kind of factual
statements can you
make from your values?
• What kind of facts are
related to your list of
valuable things?
– can you derive your
important values from
these facts?
IV Hume’s Guillotine
• ”No ought from is”
– we cannot derive moral
values and moral norms
from facts
V Ethical Fallacies
• Naturalistic fallacy
– assuming that if something is ’natural’, it is
therefore morally good
– unjustified jump from ’is’ to ’ought’
• Moralistic fallacy
– assuming that if something is considered morally
good, it must be so in nature
– unjustified jump from ’ought’ to ’is’
TASK
• Do we have universal
moral values?
• Do we have universal
moral standards to
evaluate what is morally
good and morally
wrong?
VI Moral Relativism
• (P1) Values differ from
culture to culture
• (P2) We do not have a
universal method to say
which culture is
ultimately right
• (CON) There are no
universal values
TASK
• Is moral relativism
right?
– can you find any counter
arguments against moral
relativism?
Arguments Against Moral Relativism
• (1) A relativist must
admit, that a same
thing can be morally
right and morally wrong
at the same time
– brakes the law of
contradiction ~(A&~A)
• (2) If moral relativism is
argued in the name of
tolerance, then
tolerance is considered
to be a superior or
universal moral value
– contradicts the very
definition of moral
relativism
Arguments Against Moral Relativism
• (3) According to
empirical research,
people’s conceptions
about right and wrong
tend to be quite similar
across cultures
– we can have some
universal core values
• (4) We can form rational
arguments for our
moral principles and
values
– morality seems be
something more than
just a matter of taste
VII Theories of Normative Ethics
• Systematic and coherent
approaches to good life
and right action
• Stress different things in
moral evaluation
1. Virtue Ethics
• Virtue
– a morally admirable
feature in a person
• Approaches life as a
whole
– life has a telos, a
purpose or a final end
– telos is reached through
virtuous activity which
leads to happiness
1.1. Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics
• Every species have a
telos of their own
• To live a good life is to
strive for the telos of
their own species
TASK
• What is the telos for
humans?
– what could be the
purpose or the final end
for humans?
– what could be the
virtues to achieve it?
• Form groups and make
a poster of human telos
and the related virtues
1.1. Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics
• Human telos: what
distinguishes humans
from other species?
– rationality and morality
• Happiness is achieved
through morally
virtuous activity in the
guidance of reason
1.1. Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics
• Virtues are tendencies
to act in a morally
right way in different
situations
• Virtues are acquired
through nurture and
practise
1.1. Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics
• Intellectual virtues
– wisdom, intellectual
reason
– practical reason
• Virtues of character
– an ability to choose the
golden mean between
two vices
TASK
• How different of similar
was Aristotle’s
conception of human
telos and related virtues
compared to your own?
TASK
• Aristotle presumes that
the human telos is more
or less universal
– do we have a universal
human telos?
– can we have at least
some virtues that are
universally accepted?
TASK
• What kind of basic
capabilities humans
have?
– form groups and make a
list of human capabilities
• Compare your list to
Martha Nussbaum’s list
of The central human
capabilities
1.2. Modern Virtue Ethics
• Martha Nussbaum
(1947–)
– societies should be
organized in a way that
enables citizens to use
their basic human
capabilities in a best
possible way
2. Deontology
• Concentrates on moral
rules and principles
– is NOT concerned with
the consequences of our
actions
• Can be divided into duty
based and rights based
deontology
2.1. Kantian Duty Ethics
• Sets reason as a
foundation to morality
• Through reason one can
reach categorical
imperative which
functions as a universal
moral principle, duty
2.1. Kantian Duty Ethics
REASON
MORAL LAW
DUTY
RIGHT ACTION
2.1. Kantian Duty Ethics
• First formulation of
categorical imperative:
– ”Act only according to
that maxim whereby you
can at the same time will
that it should become a
universal law without
contradiction.”
• Second formulation of
categorical imperative:
– ”Act in such a way that
you treat humanity,
whether in your own
person or in the person
of any other, never
merely as a means to an
end, but always at the
same time as an end.”
2.1. Kantian Duty Ethics
• Kant’s categorical
imperatives in brief:
– we should be able to
universalize the principle
guiding our action
without contradiction
– we should not treat
humanity as an
instruments
2.1. Kantian Duty Ethics
• Only those actions that
are rationally based on
categorical imperative
are moral
– emotions and
consequences are NOT
part of morality
TASK
• According to categorical imperative, is it right:
– (1) to lie?
– (2) to save a human from drowning?
– (3) to collect edible food from supermarket’s trash
cans?
– (4) not to give money to charity while knowing that
you are doing well and some others miserably?
– (5) to lend money to a friend knowing that he/she can
never pay it back?
– (6) to commit suicide because life contains more
suffering than pleasure?
TASK
• Evaluate kantian ethics
– what are the problems in
kantian duty ethics?
– is it applicable in
everyday life?
– does it lead to good life?
2.2. Rights Based Deonthology
• Discards kantian duties,
but accepts reason as a
universal foundation to
morality
2.2. Rights Based Deonthology
• General formulation:
– (P1) It is a part of humanity to reach towards a
goal that leads to ones welfare
– (P2) If A wants to reach for goal x, he/she cannot
deny the same from others
– (P3) Everyone has the right to pursue one’s goals,
if it doesn’t contradict with other’s equal right
– (CON) Always act according to your own rights
and others rights
2.2. Rights Based Deonthology
• We should have rights
that are fulfilled
regardless of
consequences
TASK
• What rights should we
have absolutely?
• Can rights contradict
one another?
• How can we solve the
possible conflicts
between rights?
• To what are the rights
based on?
3. Utilitarianism
• Concentrates on the
consequences of our
actions
• There is only one moral
value: experienced
well-being, utility
• There is only one moral
principle: maximizing
experienced well-being
TASK
• Try to define utility
values for different
actions
– how much utility do
certain actions cause?
• Try to place actions in
order according to their
utility values
TASK
• Compile rules and try to
evaluate their
consequences
– what kind of rules
produce maximum
amount of well-being?
• Try place rules in order
according to their utility
value
3. Utilitarianism
• Act utilitarianism
– compares individual
actions in certain
situations
– which action causes the
biggest amount of wellbeing?
• Rule utilitarianism
– compares which rule
causes the biggest
amount well-being
TASK
• What is the difference
between rule
utilitarianism and
deontology?
TASK
• Evaluate utilitarian
ethics
– what are the problems in
utilitarianism?
– is it applicable in
everyday life?
– does it lead to good life?
Summary
• Virtue Ethics
– Does our action promote the human telos?
=> moral evaluation focuses on life as a whole
• Deontology
– Is our action in accordance with a moral principle?
=> moral evaluation focuses on the act itself and the
principle guiding the act
• Utilitarianism
– Are the consequences of our actions good?
=> moral evaluation focuses on the consequences
TASK
• How do we know what
is right and what is
wrong?
– try to answer the
question through
different WOK’s
• What kind of AOK’s are
related to ethics?
Picture sources
• http://www.wiringthebrain.com/2011/06/wh
ere-do-morals-come-from.html
• http://www.arborinvestmentplanner.com/wh
at-is-the-big-deal-about-intrinsic-value/
• http://www.salvationarmy.org/csld/truefreed
om
• http://www.incomemakeover.com/cgisys/suspendedpage.cgi
• http://typotic.com/i/happiness-2/
Picture sources
• http://teachingisntsobad.blogspot.fi/2013/07/
be-good-and-other-ineffective-rules.html
• https://reverenceoflifeteam5.wordpress.com/
2015/06/11/dignity-something-owned-byeverybody/
• http://www.kokomoschools.com/domain/330
• http://jeasprc.org/visual-ethics-guidelinesjoin-online-and-yearbook-information/
Picture sources
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ethics_
en.svg
• http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/needsalt.
html
• http://simplyphilosophy.org/applied-ethics/
• http://kr.123rf.com/photo_17197868_abstractword-cloud-for-meta-ethics-with-related-tagsand-terms.html
• http://kegelpearl.com/kegel-pearl/
Picture sources
• https://amandareneedayafterday.wordpress.com
/2013/09/10/fact-or-whacked-painted-dropcloth-curtains/
• https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume
• https://unitedfamiliesinternational.wordpress.co
m/2015/03/11/the-dangers-of-moral-relativism/
• http://thinkingaboutphilosophy.blogspot.fi/2012/
05/problems-of-moral-relativism.html
• https://philosophynow.org/issues/97/Moral_Rela
tivism_Is_Unintelligible
Picture sources
• http://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/cecourses
• http://mnpropaintball.com/stores/virtue
• http://communicationtheory.org/aristotle’scommunication-model/
• http://woodmontyg.com/tag/camp-telos/
• http://genius.com/Aristotle-metaphysics-book-1annotated
• http://www.iep.utm.edu/aristotl/
• http://aortiz95.pressbooks.com/chapter/i-aureamediocritas/
Picture sources
• https://aquileana.wordpress.com/tag/nicomache
an-ethics/
• http://quotesgram.com/virtue-quotes/
• http://shortbiography.org/aristotle.html
• http://www.cafepress.co.uk/+trust_me_im_a_de
ontologist_225_button,205615414
• http://tokthomas.blogspot.fi/2013/10/animalsand-ethical-theory.html
• http://ht.walgan.us/images.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant
Picture sources
• http://www.aphex.it/index.php?Interviste=557D03012
20208755672727677
• http://www.meetup.com/Seattle-Analytic-PhilosophyCLUB/events/145398762/
• https://tbpd.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/un-heroekantiano/kantian_hero/
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iustitia.svg
• http://suomenkuvalehti.fi/jutut/kotimaa/poliisi-loysikasinopelurin-miljoonat-taman-vuoksi-syyte-jainostamatta/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism
Picture sources
• http://all-free-download.com/freevector/download/balance_scale_clip_art_10655.
html
• http://www.michogsusse.com/2015_02_01_archi
ve.html
• http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-isdeontology-different-from-utilitarianism.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill
• http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/info/125160/interdisciplinary_ethics_applied_centre