Transcript A Universal Theory of Ethics

A Universal Moral Theory
Dennis R. Cooley
Department of History
North Dakota State University
19 January 2003
Supported by a USDA/CSREES/IFAFS grant,
“Consortium to Address Social, Economic, and
Ethical Aspects of Biotechnology.”
Utilitarianism
The creed which accepts as the foundation of
morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle,
holds that actions are right in the 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.
--John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism: Its Meaning.
A Practical Problem with
Utilitarianism
 Utilitarianism classifies actions according to their
actual consequences.
 Since we are unable to foresee with absolute
certainty what the consequences of an action are,
we merely guess at what the best action is for us.
 Sometimes, we will make mistakes about which
actions have the best consequences.
 It is unfair to hold us morally responsible for
making a mistake based upon a lack of information
which is caused by no fault of our own.
Reasonable Person Utilitarianism
 (RPU) An action is morally right only if a
reasonable person in the same circumstances
in which the agent finds herself would
reasonably believe that the action has at least
as much utility as any alternative to the
action.
The Categorical Imperative
 Act in such a way that you always treat
humanity, whether in your own person or in
the person of any other, never simply as a
means, but always at the same time as an
end.
--Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the
Metaphysic of Morals: The Formula of the
End in Itself.
Practical Problem for the
Categorical Imperative
 If we are morally required to treat people as ends in
themselves, then we need to know specifics of how to treat
people as ends in themselves.
 Law of Universalizability:
 If it would be wrong for everyone to do something, then
it is wrong for you to do it.
 Law of Reversibility:
 If it you do not want something done to you, then do not
do it to others.
Treating Others as Ends
 We want to be respected in both thought and
deed as valuable beings.

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
Good intentions
Good motives
Good mental states
The Quasi-Categorical Imperative
 (QCI) An action is morally right only if in
doing the action, the agent does not treat
anyone as a mere means.
A Practical Theory of Ethics
 In order for an action to be morally right, the
action must satisfy both RPU and QCI.
 Generally gets it right.
The Moral Saint Test
 Select a person whom you would like to emulate.
 Critically evaluate the character of the individual to
determine if the person possesses negative traits.
 Eliminate the negative traits from your image of the
person. (The result will be your moral saint.)
 Present your decision and its justification to your
moral saint.
Evaluation
 If your moral saint would agree with your
decision and its justification, then you have
used RPU and QCI correctly.
 If your moral saint would disagree with your
decision and its justification, then you have
not used RPU and QCI correctly.

Using the new and old information, go back and
re-evaluate the situation.
Conclusion
 The greatest benefits to using RPU, QCI, and
the Moral Saint Test are:
1. Generally arrive at the correct solution.
2. Capture our universal intuitions about
morality.
3. Practicality.